Philadelphia 76ers NBA Trade and Roster Rumors: Sixers Plan to Add Another Stretch-Four
The Philadelphia 76ers may have a bright future ahead of them with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric on the roster, but they will have to address some issues this summer if they want to field a competitive squad next season.
The Sixers did the right thing by trading away Ersan İlyasova at the trade deadline to free up more playing time for Saric, but the Croatian forward don't really have a reliable backup off the bench. Unless they move Robert Covington to power forward, of course.
After conducting the exit interviews after the end of the regular season, Sixers coach Brett Brown and president Bryan Colangelo acknowledged the need to add more depth at the position and they specifically talked about adding another stretch-four.
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"How can we all not see what Ersan İlyasova and Dario Saric provided as two legitimate stretch-fours?" Brown said, according to PhillyVoice.com.
"I think the stretch-four position is something, backing up Dario or starting in front of Dario, whichever it is if we can find someone that's better," Colangelo added during the interview.
It sure sounds like Brown and Colangelo really like the idea of having someone with İlyasova's skillset on the team. So, why not bring him back for another run next season? That's a viable option.
İlyasova will hit the open market this summer as an unrestricted free agent and the Sixers can certainly give him another look. He played really well before the trade and he complements Embiid well.
"We all know this whole reconstruction centers on Joel Embiid, and at no point this season did Embiid play better than when he was in the starting lineup beside İlyasova — a player who both opened up the floor with his outside shooting and possesses terrific interior passing skills," The Philadelphia Daily News' Bob Cooney said in his report.
Embiid will definitely start at center and the Sixers want Simmons to play point guard. Other than that, the other starting roles should be up for grabs.
