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.
The Sixers’ rookie curse has struck again, but my non-existent sources have informed me that Matisse Thybulle is still all-systems-go for Sixers White in our intrasquad scrimmage. Meanwhile, Sixers Red made its second-to-last selection in Raul Neto, who received 72 percent of the previous vote.
Though the Liberty Ballers community seems to have gravitated towards Trey Burke in the backup point guard debate, Neto was the earlier signing between the two and may be the way head coach Brett Brown ultimately decides to go. We’ve seen in the past how important it is in the playoffs not to have a subpar defender opposing teams can target. While Neto’s career minus-0.5 DBPM isn’t exemplary, it’s light years ahead of Burke’s minus-2.7 figure, and the eye test backs up Raul as the superior stopper. Granted, the regular season is a different animal and you need various guys to step up throughout the long campaign, but Brown may want to establish some continuity with what he considers his go-to rotation for the postseason.
Unfortunately, another reason Elton Brand might have felt it necessary to bring in another option is Neto’s lack of durability during his career. After playing 81 games during his rookie season, Neto logged just 40, 41, and 37 games played across his subsequent three years. Some say the best ability is availability and Neto simply hasn’t displayed that trait during his time in the NBA. Still, for a quick intrasquad tournament, the Brazilian guard should fit nicely helping to space the floor for Joel Embiid.
Sixers Red will now complete its five-man grouping with just three options left on the board. Jonah Bolden seems like a bad fit here, unless you want Mike Scott guarding opposing threes. Furkan Korkmaz is coming off a great summer of international play with the Turkish national team. The idea of him as a “dead-eye shooter” is obviously a great fit with Embiid, but his 32.6 percent from 3 in his two NBA seasons has far from lived up to that reality. Shake Milton struggled in Vegas Summer League with more ball-handling responsibility, but he did shoot 36.9 percent from 3 with the Delaware Blue Coats last season, so maybe more of a spot-up role would suit him just fine.
Sixers Red: Joel Embiid, Mike Scott, Zhaire Smith, Raul Neto
Sixers White: Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Kyle O’Quinn
Sixers Blue: Tobias Harris, Al Horford, James Ennis, Trey Burke
Who should join Joel Embiid, Mike Scott, Zhaire Smith, and Raul Neto on Sixers Red?
Poll
With the 13th pick, Sixers Red selects:
This poll is closed
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15%
Jonah Bolden
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61%
Furkan Korkmaz
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23%
Shake Milton