Today at 3:30 the 76ers will have their first NBA scrimmage in the bubble against the Memphis Grizzlies. This will be their first game in 135 days since playing the Detroit Pistons on March 11th. While this is not an official game for the restart it allows us to see what the 76ers have in terms of talent and lineups as things have seemed to change heavily with who is playing.

Who: Memphis Grizzlies (Scrimmage)

Where: NBC Sports Philadelphia

When: 3:30 PM Eastern

Three Things to Watch: 

1: Ben Simmons shooting

The one thing that it seems like the entire NBA is waiting to see with the Philadelphia 76ers is if Ben Simmons will start to shoot the basketball more. Every year there is always the question of if this is going to happen but with this restart, the hype is higher then ever. Brett Brown has made statements saying Ben has been shooting more in practice than ever before and has had the encouragement of his teammates to take those shots. If there would be any time to see Ben shoot the ball, it would be today. I personally don’t think he will shoot that much but I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled up a little bit. Just that small amount will make defenders step up and have him be much more dangerous. 

2: Shake Milton starting:

The big change to the 76ers lineup sees Shake Milton moving into a starting role and sliding Ben Simmons over to Power Forward and Al Horford to the bench. Shake Milton has played incredibly well the last 2 months before play was suspended and is exactly what the Sixers need in a point guard. Milton isn’t afraid to take the shots and is also good at handling the ball. Not to mention he also has a massive 7 foot 1 wingspan so is a good option on defense also. So while Shake is taking over the main point guard duties this allows Ben to work off-ball and play a different style of basketball, likely to what we saw in the Toronto series. Often down low in the dunker spot with secondary point guard possessions. This change seems to likely benefit both parties and help the team on offense a lot more. Al Horford moving to the bench also gives you an elite backup center and with Brett Brown saying that he and Joel haven’t shared the floor once in restart it seems that this move with Shake is permanent. 

3: New-look bench:

As I have said before, this 76ers bench is easily the deepest they have ever been with Brett Brown. Hitting on rookies like Matisse, the development of Furkan Korkmaz, and acquiring Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks for pennies on the dollar shows that this bench has everything they need. Although they are not as deep as a team like the Clippers, the 76ers have the tools necessary to win. Burks likely to be the backup ball-handler and adding a premium backup in Al Horford, this group should likely be able to punish other teams benches if they play to their strengths.

With all of these and more, there is a lot to look forward to with the Sixers getting rolling again. For here at The Liberty Line lookout for postgame recaps, pregame previews, as well as new episodes of Process to Progress, and Steven Conrad’s Youtube reactions.