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Shout out to Liberty Ballers community member gramercy riffs, who has already made a fanpost about a Sixers intrasquad fantasy draft. We’re tweaking his idea a bit and putting the draft to a community vote in this exercise.
We are five picks along in our intrasquad fantasy draft, and thus far, things have been very chalky. The last remaining projected starter in the player pool, Josh Richardson, was selected fifth, receiving 86 percent of the vote to join Ben Simmons on the Sixers White squad.
That duo should have the ability to smother opposing ball handlers in our hypothetical round robin tournament. In real life, the ability of both players to guard much smaller guards will be one of the linchpins in the viability of the jumbo starting lineup Elton Brand has assembled. Can they keep up with high-powered jitterbug guards in the conference like Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, or Trae Young? Time will tell, but Simmons’ job against D’Angelo Russell in the first round last April is certainly cause for optimism.
Now, we shift to who to pair with Joel Embiid on the Sixers Red squad. The next two picks will both join JoJo in this snake draft format, so there are a number of different directions voters could go from here. The gravity of a stretch four like Mike Scott would help create room for Embiid to operate in the post. Maybe you think this unit needs a perimeter stopper of its own and want to roll the dice with the upside of a Zhaire Smith or Matisse Thybulle? Or perhaps a primary ball handler is your avenue of choice? I’m actually excited to see what a Trey Burke-Joel Embiid pick-and-roll might look like in reality.
Most importantly, which remaining teammate has the foot skills to work with Embiid out on the pitch?
“Maracanã” #Skillz pic.twitter.com/4UQBFZUmQZ
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) August 30, 2019
In the interest of a transparent process, I’m going to throw all ten remaining players from the active roster into the poll. It’s going to look like a Democratic debate stage down there.
Sixers Red: Joel Embiid
Sixers White: Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson
Sixers Blue: Tobias Harris, Al Horford
Who should join Joel Embiid on Sixers Red?
Poll
With the sixth pick, Sixers Red selects:
This poll is closed
-
45%
Mike Scott
(204 votes) -
3%
James Ennis
(17 votes) -
24%
Zhaire Smith
(109 votes) -
9%
Matisse Thybulle
(44 votes) -
0%
Kyle O’Quinn
(2 votes) -
0%
Jonah Bolden
(2 votes) -
2%
Raul Neto
(13 votes) -
10%
Trey Burke
(46 votes) -
1%
Furkan Korkmaz
(6 votes) -
0%
Shake Milton
(3 votes)