With exactly 30 days left before the Sixers play their final regular season game of this hellish campaign, the focus the rest of the way is clear: developing young talent. With that in mind, this week's edition of Friday film takes a closer look at some of the players looking to solidify themselves as NBA-caliber pieces for the Sixers in the years ahead:
Adem Bona
Giving Bona steady run should be one of the Sixers' greatest priorities for the next month. The rookie second-round pick has demonstrated a clear need for more polish as he gets acclimated to NBA speed and strength, while also needing to cut down on his exorbitant foul rates. However, Bona has also displayed genuine upside in the form of tantalizing flashes in which he utilizes tremendous athleticism and a motor that never stops.
Bona had the best game of his NBA career on Sunday, posting 14 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in a win over the Utah Jazz. Bona also only committed two fouls in that game, possibly the most encouraging part of it all. The Sixers need Bona to learn how to stay on the floor so that he can do things like this:
Bona does not have much offensive utility beyond screens, rebounds and dunks, so it was interesting to see him pull out a left-handed running hook earlier this week in Atlanta:
Ultimately, Bona will make his money doing all of the dirty work, a role he has relished for a very long time. There are just not many players who play with levels of intensity and physicality than Bona, who has his foot on the gas nonstop:
Bona has a chance to seize this opportunity with a strong month of play and work himself firmly into the mix for backup center minutes next season. It would be a wonderful outcome for his rookie year.
Ricky Council IV
Only Kelly Oubre Jr. and Guerschon Yabusele have appeared in more games than Council for the Sixers this season, in part a function of Council being the only player on the team who has been active for all 65 games so far. But Council has still failed to gain consistent trust from head coach Nick Nurse and his staff, and while Council has seen significant playing time of late due to injuries across the roster, he has struggled to earn any sort of faith that his decision-making has improved. Council continues to wind up taking questionable shots like these, all from just the last few games:
Aside from the ill-advised shot attempts that every player might be more liable to take in the team context Council is part of right now, the second-year wing has still struggled with the sort of focus and execution that can endear him to any coaching staff:
There is no doubt Council has the athleticism, ability and desire to be a rotation player in the NBA. He said after a recent practice that his goal for the season was to prove just that, and acknowledged it has not happened yet. But the questionable decisions have to be cleaned up eventually for Council to have the complete trust of his coaches. He is only 23 years old with just 88 NBA games under his belt, so the window has certainly not closed.
Jared Butler
Butler has received increased opportunity of late as a result of Tyrese Maxey's absence -- which will continue at least one more game -- and the Sixers' second trade deadline acquisition is making the most of it. Butler's chops as a pick-and-roll ball-handler have really stood out, and he is in a rhythm right now playing an old school sort of point guard game.
But the 24-year-old floor general has also shown more willingness to fire away from beyond the arc of late, attempting six triples in each of his last three games, making three of them in back-to-back games before knocking down two on Wednesday night in Toronto:
Teams have always gone under screens with Butler as the ball-handler, because he has not proven he can make teams pay for doing so by knocking down triples. If he could become a credible threat from long range, it would go a long way for his long-term prospects trying to solidify himself as a rotation point guard in the NBA.
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