Philadelphia 76ers: Pursue a pass-first point guard like Elfrid Payton

The Philadelphia 76ers‘ backcourt is looking pretty, pretty, pretty good.

They have a speedy, energetic dynamo in Tyrese Maxey, who finished out his sophomore season in the 99th percentile finishing around the rim and with the third highest three point shooting percentage of any player in the association,  a legit two-way machine in De’Anthony Melton who can shoot, steal, block, and defend with the best of them, and… oh yeah, James “Freakin'” Harden, who needs no introduction at this point.

In the playoffs, that’s a pretty good trio; in 2022, Doc Rivers only really used two guards in his playoff rotation, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz, and Melton is an immediate upgrade over that home-grown duo.

But there’s a problem: teams have to get to the playoffs before they can shrink their rotation for it. While a team with Joel Embiid in the paint is basically guaranteed to make the playoffs, the Sixers would be wise to fill out their roster with 82-game players as well as 16-game players, especially since in the NBA, members of the former group can end up in the latter in the blink of an eye.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, that means filling out their roster with complementary players, including a backup passing point guard, who they do not have on their roster right now but could probably use.

Don’t pass on adding another point guard, the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers only have one “traditional” point guard: James Harden.

Yes, Tyrese Maxey started at the one for much of the 2021-22 season, and was used as a point guard from October through February but at his heart, the Sixers’ 2020 first round pick is a score-friendly combo guard in the vein of Allen Iverson who is becoming more of a floor spacer off the ball but remains a work-in-progress as a passer.

Sure, there’s also De’Anthony Melton and Jaden Springer, who figure to play into the team’s plans moving forward, but they too are more combo guards than traditional points and have never averaged more than 3.5 assists per game either in college or as a pro.

No, unless Aminu Mohammed both becomes an elite passer and makes the roster after signing an Exhibition 10 contract, which is exceedingly rare, the Sixers will instead have to address the position in free agency with a player like Elfrid Payton, Goran Dragić, Rajon Rondo, or Delon Wright. For my money at least, Payton is the play, as Gragić looks Dallas bound, Rondo is, like, really old, and Wright is probably out of the team’s price range.

A one-time draftee of the Sixers who was traded for the right to Dario Saric all the way back in 2014, Payton is a P(ass)-and-D point guard who, at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds with a 6-foot-7 wingspan, can guard multiple positions, play the passing lanes, and contribute on the boards as a backcourt player. Though his stats have been down over the past two seasons due to limited on-court action, Payton has still retained a career average of 5.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while serving as a pass-first point capable of running an offense with the ball in his hands.

Would it be better if Payton was 6-foot-5 like Wright? You bet; that would unlock interesting lineups with both Maxey and Melton at the two but hey, for the price of a veteran minimum deal, you’d give up two inches for all of the positive aspects the one-time Philly draftee brings to the table.

If anything, Payton’s notoriously tall hairdo should compensate for “only” standing 6-foot-3.

Though far from their biggest need – that would be a big wing – adding a passing point guard could make every player on the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster better. A player like Elfrid Payton could benefit off-ball guards like Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton with delightful dimes, allow Harden to play some minutes off the ball if need be, and, most obviously of all, ensure that Joel Embiid gets the ball in his hands when he needs it to be. For the price of a veteran minimum contract, that could be incredibly valuable indeed.