Philadelphia 76ers: 3 reasons trading Richaun Holmes was a mistake

3. Winning mentality

There is one thing that head coach Brett Brown won’t be able to replace in Holmes: his passion and high-intensity character that embodies not only 76ers basketball, but Philadelphia sports as a whole.

Holmes is a young and hungry role player who has shown progress each year, even with the limited action he’s received.

Taking statistics out of the equation, the Sixers will be missing the spark plug reserve that has lifted them in adverse situations throughout the course of each season. In each of his 20 career games started for Philly, he stepped up for the team to fill other frontcourt players’ absences — most notably, Joel Embiid.

The 37th overall pick from 2015 came into the NBA with a huge chip on shoulder and a “never back down” mentality, and it doesn’t seem like that will go away as he makes the transition to Phoenix. He has already proved many doubters wrong going into his fourth year, so don’t be surprised if doesn’t stop here.