Apr 22, 2023; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Shake Milton (18) dribbles up court against the Brooklyn Nets during the second quarter of game four of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Big changes could be coming for the 76ers rotation this offseason and we’re imagining what everything could look like when the dust settles.
The 76ers started their offseason much earlier than they were hoping, getting knocked out by the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. That series revealed numerous problems with the roster, including whether James Harden can give the 76ers what they need and whether he’s worth the enormous extension he’ll be looking for when he presumably opts out of the final year of his contract.
They’ve already gotten things started, firing Doc Rivers and hiring Nick Nurse to replace him. They still need to figure out whether they’d like to re-sign Harden and whether he’s even willing to return or has already made up his mind about going back to Houston. But more changes are coming and here’s what the roster could look like when they’re done.
Predicting the 76ers’ 2023-24 starting lineup:
Point Guard: Shake Milton
If James Harden leaves for Rockets, the 76ers will have an enormous challenge in front of them and not a lot of great options for replacing his production. There are some big names on the free-agent point guard market — D’Angelo Russell, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving but none of them really make sense for Philadelphia, for self-evident reasons. Fred VanVleet would have been an interesting option but he’s probably out now that they’ve hired Nick Nurse as their new head coach. Given all that, letting De’Anthony Melton continue to run the second unit and re-signing Milton on a reasonable deal to take over as the starter probably makes the most sense.
Milton will be 27 next year and has found himself in and out of Philadelphia’s rotation over the past few years. But he was a reliable bench piece last year, shot a career-high 37.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 20.3 points, 7.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game in 13 starts last season. Asking him to replicate those numbers across a full season is a stretch but he can he be productive and the 76ers can use the rest of the cap space left behind by Harden to add depth elsewhere.