After suffering two losses by 20 or more points in their last two contests, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to be buyers at the trade deadline and added some much-needed shooting to their bench rotation. The Sixers traded a trio of future second-round picks to the Golden State Warriors for Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks. This was an absolute necessity as the 76ers’ bench has been underperforming in almost every statistical category this entire season.
The players averaging the most minutes for Philadelphia coming off the bench have been Mike Scott, Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, James Ennis, and Kyle O’Quinn. Between the five of them, they combine to average only 28.6 points per game. With a few other players adding a point here and there, the 76ers have the third-worst performing bench in the NBA this year, averaging only 29.1 points combined. Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks will most certainly improve these numbers with their versatility and shot-making ability.
This season, Robinson III is averaging his personal NBA best in points with 12.1 per game on an impressive 48.1 shooting percentage. Burks is also having a career year averaging 16.1 points per game and is shooting 37.5 percent from the three-point arc. Both of these players’ statistics may be a bit inflated due to the fact that they had been playing for a very bad Golden State team but there is no question that their shot-making ability will be a very welcome addition to this Philadelphia team.
If head coach Brett Brown can figure out a way to get these two involved at the right times, this trade deadline could very well be the turning point for the 76ers’ season.
