National Basketball Association

The Philadelphia 76ers Have 3 Versions Of Carson Wentz

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz has been raising eyebrows with his cool poise and proficiency. But the Philadelphia 76ers have three players who could raise eyebrows in their rookie season this year.

The Philadelphia 76ers enjoyed the first pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, while the Philadelphia Eagles selected the second pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. In both cases, each team is emerging from a less than hoped for three year trend, and was placing the hopes of the team’s future into the hands of a highly touted rookie: Carson Wentz and Ben Simmons.

In each case, the prospects were highly coveted – not only from their own talent level, but in the drop off of perceived talent quality after the top two selections were made in their respective drafts.

While the Philadelphia Eagles were patient, planned to enter the season with little to know pressure on their new quarterback, and allowed his own rapid development to dictate handing him the keys to the franchise so early, the Philadelphia 76ers had already followed that very path: Ben Simmons will play point guard at some point.

Just heard from Brett Brown. Ben Simmons will play power forward. Starting him at point would be “borderline cruel” pic.twitter.com/TH222wAu9m

— Don Bell (@DonBellonCBS3) June 24, 2016

But when will that happen? Well, he’s on the same development track as Wentz.

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Simmons Playing Behind Two Veterans

In nearly an identical fashion, the Philadelphia 76ers have brought Ben Simmons onto the team with the intention of playing him at the point guard eventually. However, the team already had a one year point guard on the roster in T.J. McConnell, and had gone out and added Real Madrid’s veteran point guard in Sergio Rodriguez.

You might even consider McConnell to be a roster casualty of the 15 man roster reduction, in which case you could slide Jerryd Bayless into the point guard role.

In each scenario, the team has insulated the rookie from automatically earning the keys to the franchise publicly. But much like Wentz, expect to see the transition to Simmons happen rapidly, if not opening night. It’s about natural development, in stark contrast to assumed anointing, which propels rookie stars into their role:

Here’s Brett Brown on why Ben Simmons won’t be the Sixers’ point guard initially. pic.twitter.com/HvmZEXOIik

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) June 24, 2016

Verbage like this was used frequently by Eagles head coach Doug Pederson when discussing the role of Carson Wentz. But where the Eagles have one rookie sensation, the Philadelphia 76ers have three such debuting rookies.

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Embiid Debut

Joel Embiid has been awaiting this debut in the NBA for over two years. However, the team had an opportunity to fill the center role, and did so, with both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Now with three players competing for one position, the 76ers have themselves stacked at a valuable position in the NBA.

How did the Eagles address that logjam at quarterback? As the team assured themselves at 100 percent confidence that Wentz could handle the load, the front office seized a last second opportunity to get fair market value for starting quarterback Sam Bradford.

Could a similar development happen in the Philadelphia 76ers future? I think so. Keep in mind that despite the willingness to consider dealing a center, the Philadelphia 76ers have yet to hear a deal with a fair offer in exchange:

“What we are comfortable doing is saying we’re not going to make a bad deal just to make a deal,” the Sixers GM Bryan Colengelo said. “I think we could be a better basketball team if we could distribute that talent better, and maybe take one of those assets and address other needs on the roster. But I think right now, it’s best to say we like all of them [and] we want to see if we can make the most out of each of them in terms of their contributions to this team. At the end of the day, the reality says one probably has to go at some point — but only when the deal is right.”

Sound Familiar? Much like the Eagles quarterback situation, the 76ers have a trio of NBA starting caliber players, and are in the process now of convincing themselves that Joel Embiid is ready. When that moment happens, the team could trade one of the other two centers rather rapidly.

However, there is one other rookie debuting this season, and he’s come a very long distance to play this season.

Saric Debut

It seemed like a pipe dream to believe that Dario Saric would join the Philadelphia 76ers this season. Economically, Saric would earn much more by playing in Europe one additional year. Career-wise, he would likely have benefited from the Olympics hype as well as allowing the Philadelphia 76ers to sort through all the new faces this year.

But he gave his word.

As such, he will fall into the ranks alongside veteran Elton Brand and returning rookie Richaun Holmes. You may even add Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, and Shawn Long to the mix as well. But Saric is already special. After a strong performance in the Olympics, he has earned his reputation as a gutsy big man who can take a few bumps and make big plays in even bigger moments of the game.

Saric has not been guaranteed a start in the NBA. But like Wentz, he will earn it. This is a young man whose blue collar style and determination will resonate beautifully with the gritty basketball-loving fans of Philadelphia.

Let’s face it. The Philadelphia Eagles have been blessed by what may very well be the rookie of the year in Carson Wentz. But don’t fill-up on the rookie debuting too quickly Philly. That’s just the appetizer.

The Philadelphia 76ers are about to serve you a three entree main course.