Sixers envision Jerryd Bayless as 'lightning in a bottle'

The 76ers signed Jerryd Bayless last summer to be the yang to Ben Simmons' yin.

Bayless was destined to become the play-off-the-ball starting point guard who knocks down three-pointers, and Simmons would be the primary ballhandler. Bayless was also supposed to lock down opposing point guards, while Simmons defended power forwards.

None of that happened, however.

Simmons missed last season because of a Jones fracture in his right foot. Meanwhile, Bayless played only three games because of torn ligaments in his left wrist. And the Sixers changed Bayless' role after drafting Markelle Fultz and acquiring J.J. Redick in free agency this off-season.

They now want him to star in a reserve role.

The role "we talked a lot about is trying to be the lightning-in-a-bottle scorer off the bench at the start of the game," coach Brett Brown said.

Kind of like the role Manu Ginobili had for the San Antonio Spurs while Brown was a longtime assistant with that squad.  It's a role in which Jamal Crawford, three-time NBA sixth man of the year, excels. And one in which former guard Eddie House thrived.

Every NBA team wants a reserve who can score.

"We want to turn him loose," Brown said. "We want to let him play. We want to let him come in with a very much attack-mode mentality and empower him through the vision at the start of first [substitutions] of the game."

Bayless had a similar role with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2015-16 season.

The 29-year-old ranked fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage (43.7) during that campaign. Developing into a spot-up shooter, Bayless took 53 percent of his field-goal attempts from beyond the three-point line. He averaged 10.4 points and 3.1 assists in 28.9 minutes per game.

Bayless did start 18 games that season for the Bucks because of the benching of former Sixer Michael Carter-Williams and injuries to O.J. Mayo and Greivis Vasquez. Those 18 starts were one fewer than his career high, despite his being sidelined 30 games with ankle and knee injuries.

So the 10th-year veteran is accustomed to coming off the bench.  As a result, he's not concerned about how the wrist injury cost him an opportunity to shine as an everyday starter.

"Part of the mind-set to me is help this team win," Bayless said. "They have a collection of really good players. Just being a part of that and helping this team win in different ways on a nightly basis is something I'm looking forward to."

Helping the team win as the spark from the bench is what the Sixers want. And he's all in.

"I think I can be really good at that," Bayless said. "So hopefully, it goes well."