Postseason playing time already there for taking
PHILADELPHIA >> The NBA roster is designed to be sculpted, with the head coach responsible for taking 15 or more eligible pieces and spending 82 games chipping it down to a postseason masterpiece.
The idea: Form a nine-man playoff rotation. Eight maybe. Never 10. And then tell everyone else to sit and watch.
Already this season, Brett Brown’s team has been remade twice. And while that has left him sufficient time to decide on a postseason personnel plan, it has required a quick tempo for that musical chairs dance.
Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick are exempt from the audition. So are T.J. McConnell and Boban Marjanovic. That leaves one, and maybe two opportunities for meaningful postseason action for James Ennis, Jonathon Simmons, Furkan Korkmaz, Mike Scott and Jonah Bolden.
All are capable. Several are experienced. And all, in keeping with a theme that Brown volunteered Tuesday, are on the bubble.
“There is sort of a quiet tournament going on, with Furkan and Jonathon Simmons and James Ennis,” Brown said. “Which one of those will emerge? There is an undercurrent that I don’t want to forget about Jonah Bolden. So if something happens with one of those three wings that I am not happy with, or I don’t feel is moving in the right direction for the playoffs, then I have the ability to bring Tobias back to a three and bring in Jonah into a four.
“So there is a flexibility that I will learn more about. And I have 20-whatever games left to do that.”
After a game Tuesday against Boston, he would have 25, including one in New York at 7:30 Wednesday night. That’s not much time to choose from among Ennis, Scott and Jonathon Simmons, all capable veterans, none particularly young, all with playoff experience. Or maybe Korkmaz, who has maintained a spot in Brown’s immediate plans despite seeming to have been lost in the mix earlier in the season, can win a spot.
Tuesday, Brown’s plan was to take a good look at Jonathon Simmons matching up defensively against difficult Boston point guard Terry Rozier. Simmons played just three minutes Sunday against the Lakers. But that’s the nature of the competition. The Sixers will need a defensive specialist against smaller guards. So it was his turn at the open mic.
“It’s just about opportunity right now and taking advantage,” Simmons said. “I’ve competed since I have been in the NBA for playing time. And it’s just another opportunity for me and on a better team. So I feel good about it.
“I am looking forward to it. Big time. It’s what I do.”
The competition will be real. But if it is not perfectly balanced, Brown will not apologize.
“I don’t know how it is going to play out,” Brown said. “I am not of the mindset that I feel like I have to proportion-out ‘fairness’. Some of it is horses for courses, based on who we are playing. If it plays out that it is nice and equitable, that’s great. But I don’t feel the need to do that.
“I feel as time unfolds and it gets to that stage of the season in April, I think I am going to know.”
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The NBA has concluded that there was nothing untoward about contact between the Sixers and Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson regarding Ben Simmons.
Sunday, Johnson shared that the Lakers had been contacted about Simmons meeting with him about the nuances of playing point guard at 6-10. Aware of tampering rules, Johnson was quick to stress that nothing would happen without the Sixers, the NBA and others signing off on the contact.
Since Simmons can be an unrestricted free agent after the 202021 season, any non-sanctioned contact with another NBA team before then would not be permitted.
“We have concluded that Magic Johnson’s statements regarding Ben Simmons do not constitute a tampering violation,” the NBA said, in a statement. “The Philadelphia
76ers initiated the contact with the Los Angeles Lakers by requesting a meeting between Johnson and Simmons. Both organizations ultimately concluded that such a meeting did not make sense at this time but in that context, Johnson’s response to a media inquiry regarding Simmons does not run afoul of league rules.”
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Shake Milton remains out and will be re-evaluated in two or three weeks after undergoing successful surgery Tuesday to repair a broken finger.
Milton was injured in a Feb. 5 GLeague game. His last appearance in a Sixers game was Feb 2.
He has averaged 4.2 points in 13 games.