The Philadelphia 76ers don’t have to worry about Kawhi Leonard anymore. The former Toronto Raptors star is now with Paul George on the Los Angeles Clippers, and save for a magical bounce, it might have been Philly that was in the NBA Finals.
Next season’s penultimate playoff series seems wide open with both the Golden State Warriors and the reigning champion Raptors questionable heading into 2019-20. It’s the perfect opportunity for the 76ers to take advantage of the Eastern Conference.
Although the Sixers lost JJ Redick to the New Orleans Pelicans and Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat, they did add Al Horford and re-upped Tobias Harris. Now they’ve folded a talented youngster into the mix in Trey Burke.
Via Twitter:
Free agent guard Trey Burke has agreed to a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 25, 2019
Burke’s advanced numbers with the Dallas Mavericks last season were trending in the right direction, and the 26-year-old point guard should add a much-needed PG presence to a team that flubbed around a little bit with Ben Simmons trying to run the point forward. At this juncture, Burke is more of a scorer than a distributor, but his 3-point shooting should at least help stretch Philly’s floor a little bit.
Philadelphia will still rely on the health of Joel Embiid over everything else, but adding Burke to the mix is the kind of team building we should expect out of championship-hopeful franchises like the 76ers.
