Bench leaves reason for some deep concerns

PHILADELPHIA >> Jimmy Butler needed at least another night to recover from a groin injury Friday, and Brett Brown’s lineup solution was to give Furkan Korkmaz his second career start.

His rotations jostled, Brown would calmly turn to Landry Shamet to provide outside shooting, a guard with 29 games of NBA experience.

Before halftime of a 113101 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Brown would trust Shake Milton, career pro basketball experience, two games. For frontcourt punch, he used Mike Muscala, but only after he’d made sure to hustle Jonah Bolden back from the minor leagues, just in case.

Is that any way to project NBA royalty, as Brown often admits to seeking?

Is that any way to begin to build a rotation for what Brown has openly declared to be a push for a spot in the NBA Finals?

Are the Sixers that brittle, that shallow, that thin through the middle that the loss of one star turns them into a virtual summer league outfit?

“I think this: That our current team, as it’s constructed, and our bench, as it’s constructed, will be given tremendous opportunity of playing basketball, and NBA minutes, and real roles,” Brown said. “It’s exacerbated when there are injuries.”

From the top down, the Sixers have a roster reasonably positioned to make a lengthy playoff run. Joel Embiid, who scored 28 of his 40 points Friday before halftime, can be the MVP. Ben Simmons is developing as a handful of a power forward, while still providing backcourt excellence. Butler is injured, but his groin troubles are not believed to be chronic. He’s a star. Wilson Chandler has been in the NBA for 10 years. The Sixers have never had a better shooter than J.J. Redick. T.J. McConnell is well past being regarded as an over-achieving former walk-on. Maybe sputtering Amir Johnson can find his way.

But that is not an experienced, playoff-tested bench. Muscala, who has battled injury and more recently a respiratory issue, has not been a reasonable replacement for the departed Ersan Ilyasova. Friday, he shot 1-for-8. Shamet, a firstround draft choice, can be overwhelmed by bigger opponents at the defensive end, and he has not been the game-night given product that the Sixers enjoyed late last season with Marco Belinelli.

The exchange of Dario Saric and Robert Covington for Butler was as necessary as it was wise, the Sixers landing the best player in the deal. But that effective two-for-one made Brown dig a little deeper for expected production. Thus, the question: Is there enough there for him to mine?

“I won’t just sort of throw water on it and say, ‘No matter what, we need help,’” Brown said. “I’m prepared to watch Furkan grow in this environment for a while. And Landry. And is Amir going to get back on track? And Mike Muscala? All that stuff.”

It was only minutes after formally introducing Butler when general manager Elton Brand stressed that the job was incomplete and that he would continue to seek help. At the time, there were whispers of adding Hall of Famer-elect Carmelo Anthony, but he would have clogged Brown’s ball-movement offensive system. There was some buzz that the Sixers could acquire Kyle Korver, who instead was traded by Cleveland to Utah. The Suns had Trevor Ariza available, but he’s reported to be heading to Washington.

There will be veterans to be had at the Feb. 7 trade deadline. That’s how the Sixers wound up last year with Belinelli and Ilyasova, and it was a large reason why they were able to end the season on a 16-game winning streak. Brand knows he cannot expect Brown to compete for a championship with Korkmaz and Shamet so prominent in a springtime rotation. But until then?

“We’re paying attention, and we’re paying attention to the people on our new bench,” Brown said. “They have opportunities to say, ‘No.’ They’ll get opportunities to draw their own line in the sand and say, ‘You do all you want, but here I am.’

“So like I usually say at the start of the season, they will show us. We’re going to be aggressive. Elton will be aggressive on how we ultimately design this team. We’ve admitted that the time line has changed. We genuinely believe our time line is now.”

With Korkmaz and Shamet, who both have talent, that time line will have to be later, if at all. Muscala has been disappointing. Friday, Chandler shot 0-for-4. All of that contributed to Embiid looking exhausted in the second half, after dominating the first.

Butler will help. But someone will have to help him, too.

“You’re left with Furkan and Landry,” Brown said. “We know who it is. And we know where we are going to play them. Now, are they going to produce? For me, it’s not a mystery: Here they are. It’s not like you can go down the list and have a wide variety to choose from, unless you want to throw Shake into that mix.

“It’s time to give those guys time to expedite their birth certificates. They both felt Indiana’s physicality. I thought both Furkan and Landry struggled defensively.”

Without Butler, the Sixers have lost their last two, both at home. Friday, it was to a physical team loaded with veterans and playoff experience. But Wednesday, it was only the Brooklyn Nets.

“We will try to deliver something in April and May,” Brown said, “that has a chance to go deep.”

As for December, that has yet to be accomplished.