Boban Marjanovic of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball against the Brooklyn Nets.
The loveable 7’3″ big man who makes grown NBA players look like small children, Boban Marjanovic is one of the most fun players to watch in the NBA. While unable to play extended minutes due to the fact that his body is simply too big to haul up and down the court for 30+ minutes per night, Marjanovic has some of the best Per 36 and advanced statistics in the history of the game.
Though a bit of a liability when forced to switch onto smaller players, Marjanovic provides instant offense and his size alone forces uncomfortable shots on defense. While the Sixers struggled to implement him last year, Marjanovic still showed to be his same old unstoppable self at times on the year.
Boban Marjanovic Free Agency: Lakers Among Best Fits
The Lakers are desperately in need of a traditional center on their roster and given the fact that they have the versatile Anthony Davis (capable of playing either power forward or center) they can afford to limit Boban’s minutes while still giving Davis 15-20 minutes a night at his preferred position – power forward.
Playing Davis next to Boban would also help to alleviate his defensive deficiencies as Davis is one of the best help defenders on the planet and could slide over to pick up defenders that sneak by Boban on the perimeter. The jumbo set could be a deadly counter to small-ball lineups – giving the Lakers a unique edge.
Boban is likely going to be picked up on a veteran minimum and while the 76ers hold his bird rights, given their cap situation it is unlikely they budge beyond the minimum.
Boban Marjanovic Free Agency: Return to 76ers Strong Fit
Boban is interested in returning to the 76ers and fills a major need for Philadelphia. The Sixers struggled with backup center play prior to Boban’s arrival and while he helped to stem the bleeding, the second unit still struggled a bit. While the backup center position and Boban bore the brunt of the criticism, the fact of the matter is the Sixers lacked depth across the board and didn’t have the proper pieces to play around their monstrous backup big man.
The Sixers should look fairly different this year and with a new crop of players, bringing back Boban could make sense. Especially as Embiid improves his conditioning, Boban won’t need to play an extraordinarily heavy role and can likely be kept in his golden zone of 15 minutes a night off the bench.