The Philadelphia 76ers are now down 0-2 to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Now, as the series shifts to the City of Brotherly Love, they are now feeling the pressure. After all, if they fail to defend home court, they could very well get eliminated in four games or face another 3-1 deficit, but against a much healthier squad this time around.
But so far in these playoffs, the 76ers seem to have quietly decided on a stance with one of their players, specifically Adem Bona. Before Joel Embiid got sidelined for Game 2 versus New York, the sophomore big man was dropped from the rotation in favor of veteran center Andre Drummond. If anything, this is essentially an indictment of his future with the franchise.
Heck, even with Embiid out of commission in their most recent game, it did not take long before Nick Nurse and his staff decided to pull the plug on Bona. They eventually went with Dominick Barlow to soak up the available minutes at center, and moving forward, this is likely to harden into a status quo that is sure to limit his ceiling with this group.
The 76ers seem to have made up their mind on Adem Bona
Bona was able to snatch the main backup job to Embiid at the latter half of the season, but the push came to shove, the coaches went back to deploying Drummond as their go-to center off the bench –– and it is easy to see why. At this point in time, the 76ers need a more reliable hand to help anchor their second unit down low, and Drummond simply offers more production even at his declined state.
Aside from being the better rebounder and –– as strange as this sounds –– the better floor spacer, Bona's advantages over Drummond (being a vertical spacer and a rim deterrent) have not held up well consistently, which waters down the value of favoring him in the rotation.
As a traditional big man who has neither acumen out on the perimeter nor acuity as a playmaking hub, Bona's ceiling is heavily limited and tethered to being a backup big man. Unfortunately, the 76ers are not exactly in need of someone who plays conventionally for the center position. As such, suffice to say that the front office will most likely want to move away from him when his deal expires.
After all, getting benched is one thing. But getting sequestered away in favor of a declining veteran is probably a quiet way of implying a lasting loss of confidence. That is how things currently look like for Adem Bona and the 76ers.