Philadelphia 76ers: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20

3. Who is the backup point guard?

With T.J. McConnell now in Indiana, the backup 1 spot is a bit in flux. I’ve never been an advocate of McConnell’s on-court value, but at least he was a constant to be in the regular season rotation.

Now, the Philadelphia 76ers have superior options to fill that hole. Initially it was thought to be Raul Neto, but just last week, the team also signed Trey Burke to a partially guaranteed minimum deal.

Neto is a valuable player when healthy. He’s an OK defender for his size, stabilizes the offense like a backup point guard should and is a willing shooter off the catch (something McConnell could never do).

Unfortunately, he’s been active for under half the Jazz’s contests over the last three seasons, mostly due to nagging injuries.

Burke feels like a “why not?” signing and possibly a hedge against Neto’s health concerns. His upside could be a primary option among bench units, as he’s a willing shooter and ball handler who initiates well out of the pick-and-roll.

Burke does take some head-scratching shots, which could frustrate Brett Brown enough to keep him out of the rotation.

Considering the types of players Brown likes to deploy, Neto feels like the favorite to eat the minutes that Ben Simmons is absent for. He manages the offense better and can play a complementary role off of the stars.

Burke is more of a spark-plug scorer, someone who won’t always make the right play, but when hot can take the offense to new heights when the stars are taking a break. Considering how Brown likes to stagger his pillars, it’s unlikely that someone of Burke’s ilk will be necessary.

Ideally, two of Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson will occupy the court at any given time. They will all be featured quite a bit, meaning that there’s not really a need for a sixth man scorer.

Should Burke be able to convert his microwave scoring into a catch-and-shoot role and up his efficiency, he may earn more minutes. For now, the edge goes to Neto.