The Philadelphia 76ers have not had a perfect start to their season by any means. Here are five things that could make them better.
How does one define a perfect season? One could argue that there is no such thing, and that a measure of successs in the NBA is more about the narrative — ups and downs of the story, while ultimately coming out on top. You could argue that success is measured more by your long-term success than your short-term (I mean, come on, the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals after losing just 10 games in a season) or you could argue that success is up to the definition of each individual team and player, and that success can be discussed and defined in many different ways.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, success has been evident this season. After a bit of a rocky start, and several lost games, some fans were down on the team yet again, but over time, the Sixers began to win and that negativity changed to positivity. I would argue that the Sixers, although far from the end goal, have seen a lot of success this season, especially compared to their start from last season.
As the Christmas day NBA games near, and the NBA begins to pick up steam and come to the forefront of the sports universe as the NFL season begins to wind down, the Sixers do still have a ton of room for improvement, even without the draft or free agency in mind. The Sixers, after their road win over the Phoenix Suns, established that they no longer have the worst record in the NBA (hey, thanks Mavericks!), but there is room to do more.
If the Sixers can just tweak a few things, and wait on the return on some players, we could see them go from being considered still a bottom-feeder Eastern Conference team to a team that is able to keep up with most of the Eastern Conference teams for all four quarters.
Trading a big man
Of course, the biggest thing that the Sixers can do to boost their success is trading a frontcourt player. What’s intriguing about this situation — a situation that has been easy to see as an issue since last year — is that it really has changed tremendously as the Sixers have waited far too long to trade a big man.
Whether or not there will ever be another “correct” time to trade a big man is unknown, and whether or not there ever was a correct time to trade is up for debate. This is the result of drafting best player available with lottery picks for three straight years.
It seemed sort of smart to keep both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor around while Joel Embiid was still an unknown as far as whether or not his injury could remain not problematic, but now it’s looking more and more foolish to keep all of them on the same roster.
Last season, it wasn’t clear who would bring in the most value — Okafor or Noel. Embiid was out of the picture as far as a trade since he would bring in little to no value due to the massive question marks surrounding his health (he had played a grand total of zero NBA games at that time). Now, the situation has flipped completely, and teams would probably give up a lot for Embiid compared to what they would give up for Okafor or Noel.
Regardless, the Sixers can not trade Embiid since he looks like he will easily become a cornerstone of their franchise alongside Ben Simmons, as long as he can keep his foot healthy as well throughout what he has claimed will be a two-decade career. So the Sixers are back to square one, deciding on if they should trade Okafor, Noel, or potentially both.
Okafor is a solid offensive player, who, when he puts his mind to it, can defend decently. When he does put his mind to it and does defend well, the Sixers play phenomenally. When he doesn’t, he, as well as the team, looks bad.
Noel, on the other hand, is solid defensively and on the rebounding front, but not a great offensive player.
Embiid offers good things on the offensive side of the court and the defensive side, making him the clear-cut option for the Sixers moving forward as the starting center. Still, it would be nice to have a solid backup to Embiid, and Okafor or Noel could be transitioned to fill out that role.
Solidifying player roles
One thing that would help a lot of players out individually — and subsequently help the team out as well — is solidifying the roles of players and making it more clear what they should and should not be doing on the floor. There are a lot of players on the team that currently have varying roles on a night-by-night basis. This is the fault of the coaching staff, of course, but it’s not all controllable factors that play into those things when coach Brown is making those types of player role decisions.
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The Sixers have entered this season with crippling injury issues, and those injuries — both the long-term ones and the ones that pop up on a night-by-night basis — are hard to deal with for Brown and his staff. Figuring out how to strategize your roster in those situations can be very hard.
Because of that, players like Dario Saric and Richaun Holmes have had to fill into different roles on different nights. Saric, who came into this season with expectations around him of being a shooter and a passer, has not always had to fill into that role. There have been nights where the Sixers didn’t have Embiid, Okafor, or Noel, and because of that Saric has had to battle with the big men at times, becoming more of a rebounder and less of a passer and a shooter.
Even when Saric hasn’t had to do that, it looks as if the coaching staff is still trying to carve out a defined role for Saric. If they could give him some more specifics, it would be much easier for him to find success in the NBA.
Do they want him to pass more? Or do they want him to primarily become a shooting and screen-setting player on offense? Based on the playbook we’re seeing unfold so far this season, it looks like that hasn’t been made clear for Saric.
The same can be said for Richaun Holmes, who has not gotten a ton of minutes to work with this year. I’m one who would be okay with the Sixers moving forward with him as the backup and trying to move both Okafor and Noel to other teams. Both of the aforementioned players could be starters on decent teams, and I’m not sure they’re willing to take a backseat to Embiid and do a good job with it.
Holmes, on the other hand, has shown glimpses of improvement in all areas of his game, and has shown he’s ready to be a great backup. I think he deserves an increased role, a more defined role, and perhaps an endorsement from coach Brown or someone in the chain of command.
Jul 9, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) yells from the court during an NBA Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Los Angeles won the game 70-69. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Ben Simmons and his return
Sixers fans always seem to have to wait longer than they should for their young stars. The first overall pick from this season, Ben Simmons, is no different, having missed the entire season so far due to recovering from reparative surgery on a Jones Fracture in his foot. This injury occurred after Summer League this year, but prior to preseason.
His return is almost certain this season, and as soon as he hits the floor he’s going to make the Sixers better — assuming there are little to no restrictions on his actual gameplay as a result of the injury. His individual impact will be as good as or greater than Joel Embiid’s has been so far, and his impact on the players around him will be even greater.
Embiid has not had the best players around him, and Simmons will be able to set him up with passes that are above average by NBA standards. According to Brian Seltzer, the Sixers are near the top of the league (and have, at times, been the top team) in passes per game. With Simmons on the squad, that number will only go up, as his forte is passing.
Simmons can drive to the rim and score when he needs to, but the Sixers are clearly a team that has put an emphasis on passing the ball. Sixers fans are believing in everything Simmons is advertised as, and they should. He’s a solid player with a skill set that is hard to match from any young player in the league with his build.
Kick-starting second unit with Sergio
With Ben Simmons returning, a whole lot of dominoes start to fall. One of those dominoes is the role of Sergio Rodriguez, as he is likely to be demoted to the bench. While Sergio and fans could look at that as a negative thing and a blemish on Sergio’s season, it could potentially be looked at as less of a demotion and more of an overall role change that helps the team.
Rodriguez has done well in his first season back as an NBA player, and has really taken advantage of the positive opportunities he has gotten as a result of other players’ injury misfortunes.
With Simmons being the primary passer and ball handler, there isn’t a whole lot of reason for having Sergio in as the starting point guard, since he works best with the ball in his hands. Simmons is expected to play the position of the traditional point guard, and he will likely carry the ball up the floor on most plays. He will initiate the plays, which is the bulk of what Rodriguez has done in set plays this year. This renders Rodriguez, for the most part, useless.
Having Rodriguez on the floor with Simmons just doesn’t make sense. But having him with the second unit is going to be something really beneficial for a lot of those players coming off of the bench, and will make the Sixers a force to be reckoned with on all fronts.
Nik Stauskas is already doing well this season coming off of the bench, and that’s without him having Rodriguez next to him for a lot of the plays creating good looks for him. The same could be said for Dario Saric (on nights that he doesn’t start), Jahlil Okafor, and even Hollis Thompson.
The Sixers bench has been consistently pretty good by league standards (they have managed to stay in the top 30 percent of the league for most of the season so far), but it will only be increased by Sergio Rodriguez.
Again, Sergio’s likely move to the bench once Simmons is back should not be looked at as a demotion, but more of a role change that helps several players on the team.
Running Jerryd Bayless alongside Simmons
Jerryd Bayless’ start to the season has been a major cause for concern for the Sixers. While he started the year as the marquee free agency signing, Bayless has discoursed dramatically due to issues with his wrist.
The injury he has sustained with his wrist is largely uncertain and not yet pinpointed, and that’s a huge question mark for both him and the team. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his career, so he was certainly looking to build on that, and the Sixers were certainly looking forward to latching into his success and using him to their advantage.
Lucky for them, one of he reasons he was such a good signing was because of the perfect fit he has alongside Ben Simmons. Simmons is a player that needs the ball in his hands to be most effective. It took the Milwaukee Bucks a few seasons to truly figure out that Giannis Antetokounmpo was a point forward, and looking to avoid that mistake, head coach Brett Brown has already said Simmons will be the primary ball handler.
That, typically, causes turmoil in the point guard position because of how the traditional point guard operates. In past years, the point guard brings the ball up, sets the play, and either scores or facilitates. With Simmons doing that, what does the player who occupies the point slot actually do?
In the case of the Sixers, that player moves off of the ball and feeds off of the production that the point forward offers. Bayless and his style of play molds to that perfectly. He is a point guard that is effective, but doesn’t demand for the ball to be in his hands in order for him to play well. It makes sense, for Simmons to be most effective, and subsequently for the team to be most effective, to have Bayless run the starting lineup and then have Sergio come off of the bench with the second unit.
