After a month of ballhandling by committee, should backup point guard be a Sixers trade-deadline target?

A sarcastic chuckle snuck out of Georges Niang when asked about the 76ers’ equal-opportunity ballhandling duties outside of Tyrese Maxey, particularly with the second unit.

“It’s kind of done by committee, right?” Niang said following Friday’s 107-98 loss at Dallas.

Shake Milton, who has been Maxey’s backup at point guard for much of the season, missed his 17th game in a row Sunday at Chicago and does not appear to be close to returning from his back injury. That means the responsibility has largely fallen on Seth Curry and Furkan Korkmaz, and even front-court players such as Niang, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid.

» READ MORE: Sixers are unlikely to trade Ben Simmons before June’s NBA draft despite James Harden chatter, sources say

The Sixers have largely managed during their surge since Christmas, going 16-5 over their past 21 games including a big 119-108 victory Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Their offense ranked 12th in the NBA in efficiency (111.5 points per 100 possessions) entering Monday’s games. But this week offers a chance to shore up that spot for the stretch run. Aside from a potential blockbuster deal involving Ben Simmons, backup point guard seems to be the position that makes most sense for the Sixers to target as Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline approaches.

“We don’t have a backup point. We haven’t had one all year,” coach Doc Rivers said Friday. “We’ve been makeshift the entire season that way, using Seth at times, Furk at times, Shake at times. The other night [in a loss to Washington], we didn’t have any of them on the floor, and that stretch hurt us a little bit.

“That’s who we are. We talked to the team [Friday] about it. If that happens again, we need Tobias, Georges, guys [like that to] bring the ball up the floor.”

The Simmons situation pushed Maxey into starting duty, a role in which he has largely thrived while using his speed to get in the paint to finish and create for others while mixing in an increasingly dangerous three-pointer. Milton, who is also more of a scoring combo guard than pure point guard, has been spotted recently doing light shooting after team workouts and watching film with staffers before games. Rivers added Friday that Milton has progressed to running, but has not yet returned to any basketball activities with his team. Korkmaz, meanwhile, missed three games last week with knee soreness, and Curry was out for five of seven games with ankle soreness and back spasms before returning Friday in Dallas.

Rivers and his players have insisted all season that their ball-movement offensive system is not dependent on having a traditional point guard. During training camp, the coach was already encouraging non-backcourt players to push the ball up the floor immediately after a rebound — sometimes resulting in Embiid lumbering down the floor with it. Yet that deficiency is exposed in games such as that Washington loss last Wednesday, when Curry’s and Korkmaz’s absences meant two-way rookie Myles Powell needed to play for a second-quarter spurt during which “he didn’t handle it very well, honestly,” Rivers said.

Curry was back starting alongside Maxey on Friday at Dallas, though Maxey also played with the second unit at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. The Sixers played a stretch late in the second without Maxey, with Curry and Harris bringing the ball up as part of a lineup with Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, and Danny Green. Korkmaz, who plays point guard with the Turkish national team, was the primary offense-initiator with the second unit upon his return Sunday against the Bulls.

“Actually, I feel really good,” Korkmaz said after scoring nine points on 3-of-8 shooting and adding two assists in 17 minutes in Chicago. “When I bring the ball down, I feel like I’m in a rhythm more. … One thing that makes me happy, I’m trying to play pick-and-roll. I’m trying to create for my teammates, not just for my shot.

“I was saying this all the time, I just don’t want to be remembered as a shooter, you know? I can put the ball on the floor. That’s why I’m really happy about that role.”

Reserve point guards on expiring contracts, which make them potential short-term trade options, include New Orleans’ Tomas Satoransky (2021-22 salary: $10 million), Atlanta’s Delon Wright ($8.5 million), Washington’s Raul Neto ($2.1 million), and Phoenix’s Elfrid Payton ($2.2 million). Boston’s Dennis Schroder ($5.9 million) and Toronto’s Goran Dragic (who has been away from the team for months to handle a personal matter and has a $19.4 million salary) are bigger names who are also reportedly available at the deadline. Additionally, there could be options on the buyout market after the trade deadline.

Backup point guard is not the only potential spot where the Sixers could try to fortify their roster for the playoff push in a tightly competitive East.

They are still the worst rebounding team in the NBA, a product of being undersized at virtually every position but center and a weakness on display when the Mavericks grabbed a barrage of timely offensive boards in their comeback victory. They could also use some scoring punch off the bench, a role that could theoretically be satisfied by a guard who can create shots in addition to facilitating and initiating on offense.

The Sixers’ most tradable contract for a non-Simmons deal is likely Green’s, whose salary is $10 million this season and next. Korkmaz, meanwhile, will make $4.6 million this season, $5 million next season and $5.4 million in 2023-24. The Sixers also have their own first-round pick in each of the next three drafts, plus second-round picks in 2023, 2024 and 2028.

Adding a player at a positional weakness does not guarantee the issue will be fixed, however. Exhibit A is George Hill, the veteran who struggled mightily after the Sixers acquired him at last season’s deadline. He averaged just six points over 16 regular-season games with the Sixers, then shot 30.4% from the floor and 22.2% from three-point range in the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Atlanta. He was waived in August to avoid paying him his $10 million salary for this season, though $1.2 million of that is still on the Sixers’ books.

For now, the Sixers will continue their backup ballhandling by committee, especially while Milton remains out.

“We’ve done a good job of getting stuff done, and getting it done as a team,” Niang said. “I think we’re going to continue to do that. I don’t think it’s on any one person in the second unit, outside of Tyrese when he’s in there.

“We just try to manufacture good shots and get guys involved and move the ball.”