CHARLESTON, S.C.–The Philadelphia 76ers have one of the deeper rosters in the league as they head into the 2022-23 season. They are led by a star duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden and they have a deep supporting cast they can rely on in order to succeed.
The bench unit has been overhauled as they are now led by De’Anthony Melton, Danuel House Jr., and Montrezl Harrell as well as some mainstays in Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, and Paul Reed. The bench unit projects to be much more steady than it has been in the past as it was up and down before.
“We haven’t found who the second group is yet,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It’s difficult because it’s not gonna be five guys, there’s gonna be two guys in the starting lineup with that group as well, most likely, and we just don’t know who that is yet.”
In the past, Tobias Harris would run with that second unit. This time around, Rivers would like Tyrese Maxey to join Harris and have them run with the bench unit to give them a boost.
“We wanna throw two guys in with that group,” Rivers explained. “It could be Tyrese and Tobias. We like the Tyrese and De’Anthony combination, so we’ll see.”
As far as who will be the big man with Harris, Maxey, and the others, Rivers has some options he can roll with.
“I look at them as combinations, more,” Rivers added. “Paul Reed and Trez, Tuck (PJ Tucker) are the three guys right now and they’ll all get a crack at it.”
As far as who will play in the preseason opener on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets, that remains to be seen. Rivers will have to see how his guys feel after practice on Sunday in Charleston, SC.
“I’ll check with our guys after the practice and see where they are health-wise,” he said. “If they feel great, I’ll play some of them. If they don’t, I won’t. I’m not concerned by it.”
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire