NBA: 5 positional battles to watch as training camps begin
By Sean Carroll
Philadelphia 76ers: Seth Curry vs. Danny Green vs Matisse Thybulle vs Shake Milton
Remember just before the Orlando restart, everyone started talking about Shake Milton as if he were the second coming of Allen Iverson? I’m kidding, but there was a little too much Shake buzz.
They added several great role players who in theory seem perfect next to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and will likely usurp Shake from his spot.
Philly has a unique opportunity here with Simmons playing at the power forward position on defense while handling the ball on offense, the team doesn’t need a traditional ball-dominant point guard at the one.
Enter, Seth Curry. Curry can play the lead guard role while sprinting off-ball and around screens just like JJ Redick, an archetype that new head coach Doc Rivers is very accustomed to using in his time. If Embiid ever learns how to pass out of a double team, he’ll have a quick shooter in Curry nearby to find the opening.
The downside to playing Curry is that he’s a below-average defender, so Doc will have to pick between Danny Green or Matisse Thybulle at the other guard position since both are much more adept on that end of the court. This could be a tougher decision as Green, entering his age-34 season, is entering the tail-end of his career while Thybulle is ten years younger, but not nearly as talented the shooter that Green is right now.
We’ve all seen what it looks like when there’s not enough shooting around Ben Simmons and I’m not going to sit here and hope he develops a shot overnight, that’s unrealistic.
If Matisse can shoot better than 35 percent, from 3, he might be in for an incredible season as the starting two-guard. We’ll see how much he shows off at training camp.