76ers Recall Jaden Springer From Blue Coats After Facing Warriors

Doc Rivers and the Philadelphia 76ers felt comfortable with their depth going into their Friday night matchup against the Golden State Warriors.

As De’Anthony Melton was set to return after missing a matchup due to back tightness, and Danuel House Jr. was coming back from a three-game absence after healing up from a foot laceration, the Sixers assigned their young guard Jaden Springer to the Delaware Blue Coats on Thursday night, allowing him to travel to face the Westchester Knicks on the road.

In hindsight, it was a risky move for the Sixers, who lost multiple players before the Warriors game.

“Obviously, [the Warriors] had a ton of guys out, but we do too every night,” said Rivers. “You just got to find a way each night. The late scratch games like [Furkan Korkmaz] and [Tobias Harris] tonight are difficult. You kind of have them in your plan, and then you pull them out and look around, and you have no guards left. We sent Jaden down thinking we had all of our guards and some back, you know, we literally didn’t have enough guys today.”

Instead of serving as a depth piece for the Sixers in Philadelphia, Springer was coming off the bench for the Blue Coats in the G League on Friday.

Checking in for 21 minutes, Springer chucked up 11 shots from the field. He knocked down nine shots and went 6-6 from the free-throw line. Springer finished the night with 24 points, tying Sixers’ two-way guard Saben Lee for the team’s scoring leader.

After an impressive showing down in the G League, Springer will return to the 76ers this weekend. On Saturday morning, the team announced he’s been recalled. Although the Sixers are off on Saturday, they’ll likely return to the practice court on Sunday to prepare for their Monday night matchup at home against the Toronto Raptors.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.