The Philadelphia 76ers started the season with a lot of hope. The thinking was Philly would build on the success they had last season and come back this season united and stronger after the way they lost in the playoffs to Boston. Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned.

The 76ers did get their first win of the season on the road though on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers. The season is still young, but there are some issues they have to work out. One of those issues is the starting lineup. Last season, JJ Reddick was starting alongside Ben Simmons as the 76ers were making their push to the playoffs.

This season things have changed. JJ Reddick is back in Philadelphia after re-signing with the team for one more season, but he is not the starter this year. The 76ers decided to move 2017 number one overall pick Markelle Fultz into the starting lineup. And so far, the results have not been that great with him in there. Ultimately, the best decision may be to bring Fultz in off the bench and not have him in the starting lineup.

Markelle Fultz, Sixers, Brett Brown

Fultz didn't play very much at all last season and is still getting acclimated to the NBA game, but one thing he cannot do that Reddick can is spread the floor. Many conversations have been had about the weird shooting odyssey Markelle Fultz had when it came to finding his shot. It looked painfully awkward last season and this season it looks better, but it isn't quite there just yet.

Where his lack of shooting becomes a problem is when it comes to spreading the floor.

The 76ers need someone out there to spread the floor for guys like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and Fultz rarely shoots from distance. JJ Reddick can do that and has done that over his entire career in the NBA. Although his three-point shooting has gone down to 35.3% this season, he still is a threat on the court everytime he is out there. Just the thought of him getting on a roll shooting the basketball scares teams enough to not leave him when he is on the court. That threat alone creates room for Simmons and Embiid to have an easier time. Teams are already going to help off Simmons when he is hanging out on the perimeter, so having two guys out there teams can help off of makes things worse when Fultz joins Simmons on the court.

Markelle Fultz, Sixers
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Another reason it would be better to bring Markelle Fultz off the bench would be for his confidence. During his career in college, he was used to having the ball in his hands. That ability to run the offense and have things flow through him has definitely changed in the NBA. Simmons is the point guard for the 76ers and does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

With that being said, why not put Fultz in the most comfortable position possible? Bringing him in off the bench and maybe having him replace Simmons in the lineup some off the bench allows him to commandeer the Sixers offense while putting him in his comfort zone. And with Landry Shamet showing he can play without the basketball, there would be no problems with Fultz being the floor general while Shamet plays without the ball in his hands.

There are some murmurs that Fultz is only starting to give other teams a chance to see him before the trade deadline and that could be true. When it comes to the outcome of this team though, starting him is not good for their long-term results and goals. Eventually it may come time to move Fultz on to another team.

markelle fultz

As of this time though, the best option is to move him to the bench and let Reddick be the starter he was for them last season. The Markelle Fultz experiment as a starter is ultimately not going to serve the 76ers well.

And for Fultz personally, the yoyo of playing time and not fully knowing his role is something that could damage him far more than not starting a basketball game. The 76ers definitely need to think about that part of this decision that ultimately has to be made as well.