76ers' Brett Brown Compares Alec Burks to Lou Williams

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown recently compared Alec Burks to future legendary sixth man, Lou Williams.

Philadelphia 76ers veteran reserve Alec Burks hasn't been in a Sixers uniform for long. Back in February, the guard was with the Golden State Warriors on a one-year deal looking for a new long-term contract out in California.

But the Warriors had other plans at the time. Knowing the Sixers needed veteran shooters to help them with their playoff run, the Warriors were willing to trade Burks and Glenn Robinson III to acquire multiple draft picks. 

The Sixers had Burks on board for 11 games before the NBA suspended action. At times, it felt as if the Sixers might've wasted a trade as the season was headed towards cancellation. Fortunately, that's not what happened.

The NBA created the bubble for the restart and offered each team a schedule of eight games to improve their seeding. For the Sixers, they failed to move up from the sixth seed in the East, but that doesn't mean the eight games were a waste.

Not only did the eight games offer the Sixers a chance to get into a groove -- but it also allowed a player like Alec Burks to really find his fit with the team. After appearing in seven out of the eight games, Burks simply looked like one of the best players for the Sixers down in the bubble.

And to Brett Brown, Burks looked like one of the NBA's best sixth-men -- former Philadelphia 76ers guard, Lou Williams. "All of the good teams have somebody that does what Alec does," Brown said after Friday night's game against the Rockets.

"We had one in Philadelphia before me in Lou Williams," Brown explained. "Lou Williams is instant offense, and Alec has been lightning in a bottle since we've all come back from the break here in Orlando, and all good teams need one. He has provided that and along that path provided a secondary ball-handler, a backup point guard if you will."

Down in the bubble, Burks averaged 20 points-per-game while shooting 45-percent from deep. The former Warriors guard realistically shown enough to be considered for the starting lineup, but Brown prefers Burks to remain like Lou Williams and offer a scoring punch off the bench. 

In previous years, the Sixers struggled to find consistent scoring off the bench for the playoffs. Now, it seems they trust that Burks will be a reliable scorer in the postseason as he's had a fantastic showing down in the bubble so far. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_