By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
The Sixers will look to close out the preseason on a winning note Friday night, as they head to Manchester, New Hampshire to take on the Celtics. More important than getting a win and ensuring the team finishes ahead of Brooklyn in the Atlantic Division preseason cellar though, the Sixers will use this contest as one last on-court evaluation before making final cuts for opening night.
Currently, the roster sits at 20 players, which will have to be trimmed down to 15 by 3pm Monday afternoon. As it stands, there are 7 players on the bubble with only room for 2 to stay. Those players are T.J. McConnell, Pierre Jackson, Scottie Wilbekin, Jordan McRae, J.P. Tokoto, Christian Wood, and Furkan Aldemir. McRae, Tokoto, and Jackson all seem like surefire cuts at this point (mostly due to continued bad luck with injuries in Pappy Jack’s case). The other two spots will seemingly come from the two position battles between McConnell and Wilbekin, and Wood and Aldemir.
Unfortunately for evaluation purposes, both Aldemir (right foot plantar fascia injury) and Wilbekin (right ankle sprain) will be sitting out Friday’s preseason finale. Yet again, Aldemir has shown nothing this preseason beyond an ability to rebound the basketball (2nd on the team in REB% this preseason). We’ve seen nothing of the outside shooting that was his big offseason project, and as always with him, you’re not getting any rim protection or offensive punch. Christian Wood has outplayed him on both ends this preseason. Take a look at their preseason numbers on a per-36 minute basis.
Wood: 19.3 points on 50.0% shooting, 12.6 rebounds, 0.7 turnovers, 1.5 blocks, 3.7 personal fouls.
Aldemir: 9.5 points on 47.1% shooting, 11.4 rebounds, 2.9 turnovers, 1.0 blocks, 5.6 personal fouls.
Clearly, Wood has been the better player across the board; one more solid outing from Wood against Boston, and I think the team will seriously consider eating the guaranteed $3M and finally cutting ties with Furkan.
As for Wilbekin, he’s done a nice job shooting the basketball this preseason. He leads the team in true shooting percentage at 64.5%, thanks to shooting a respectable 37% from three on a high volume of attempts. However, while Scottie has played more of an off guard role, T.J. McConnell has looked much more like the back-up point guard the Sixers need at the moment. The former Arizona Wildcat has the highest AST% on the team at 39.0%, and he’s been a pest defensively (recording a team-high 4.2 steals per 36-min, versus just 1.2 for Wilbekin). I think Wilbekin ultimately has the better shot of a pro career, but McConnell fits what the team is looking for as the regular season is set to kick off.
Prediction:
In: McConnell, Wood
Out: Aldemir, Wilbekin, Jackson, McRae, Tokoto
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