Sixers Offseason Thread Part 2

[Jailblazers7]

I actually think the bigger priority to maximize Embiid is easing the rebounding & defense load off him. Those are the areas he’s asked to expend the most physical effort & put at the greatest risk of injury. I hate to say it but that’s why I’d much rather target a guy like Draymond than PG13.

I don’t think Embiid is ever going to take a backseat offensively because 1) ego & 2) it’s really hard to find a better option than an MVP who averages 30 ppg. But we can find guys who offer rebounding & secondary rim protection that allow Embiid to save more energy for offense.

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

[Mik317]

Again the moment you realize that having a consistent third option makes it harder for defenses to defend Biid AND Maxey is the moment you’d get the point lol

Biid has to be better and one way I think the team can assist with that is making it so he doesn’t have to be near perfect for the team to squeak out wins.

Luka has been great and if only due to his position and play style is a better guy to build around than a big injury prone center with focus and fitness issues BUT this is the first year in which he doesn’t have to score 50 for his team to win a game. Tatum has been ok but because the rest of his team is able to stay ahead it doesn’t matter he hasn’t been incredible

I don’t understand why this is tough concept to grasp

Perhaps it won’t matter and perhaps Biid doesn’t want to adjust but that’s the idea and it’s more realistic than trading him and yet somehow still attracting fa here like you want

Typical response. On NFL boards when a team has an inadequate quarterback, everybody starts talking about how they need a better offensive line, better receivers, a better run game, and a better defense. Good luck with that. All you need to do is pull off the unlikely feat of surrounding the inadequate integral player with sufficient talent across the board. Meanwhile the great quarterbacks win all the championships.

if you are just going to go "nuh-uh" then what is the point of any discussion lol.

this very city won a super bowl off the back of Nick Foles having an out of body experience...backed up by an elite defense, top tier running game, and enough weapons to get it done.

The issue is that you see Biid as Zach Wilson level so it doesn;t matter in your eyes.

Jayson Tatum is literally being carried right now as we speak lol.

[Black Mage]

I took the article more as not recommending a top heavy, vet min-filled roster with zero depth, which is exactly what we'll have if Morey is shortsighted enough to bring in one of these geriatric max deal players. It isn't as much about age and health as it is roster fit, and being able to afford a solid 6-7 deep roster to compliment your stars.

However Dallas and Boston went about it, they located and had the assets and cap space to acquire useful pieces that fit what was needed to compliment what their stars can and can't do. If we sign a third max player, those opportunities won't be available, and we'll be right back to having a half-assed roster too dependent on vet min guys and being prisoners to the health and playoff availability of our stars. In other words, same old same old.

If that was your take away or the article was trying to make that point; then you both you and the author conveniently gloss over that the Celtics are currently TOP heavy with 4 guys making over 30 mil a year. Like, did you even bother to look at the Celtics payroll? The Celtics go 6 deep before hitting vet min guys. Like seriously, how in the world did you come away thinking the Celtics did it differently?

PhillyFan11 beat me to it - the point isn't that there is only one way to get there, but the idea is locating players who fit your scheme and maintaining assets to be able to go and get them when opportunities arise. However the Celtics did it, they made sure they were always in a position to strike when opportunities presented themselves, and they didn't waste payroll on dead weight (ie Tobias).

There's also some chance involved, as in Dallas gambling on Kyrie and him growing up and becoming a leader. Their decision to tank last season netted them Lively, something I thought about when we decided to activate Embiid for a playoff run that had zero chance of success. It didn't happen overnight for either franchise, just as it took a few seasons for Denver to put together that championship team.

Anyone who seriously believes that one off season of signing an old max player and piecing together a roster made up of mostly vet mins will result in anything approaching a title run needs their head examined. If that's the plan, I would just as soon put Embiid on the market, tear it down, and rebuild starting with Maxey and draft capital.

I hope you didn't strain your back while moving those goalposts.

[mjkvol]

If that was your take away or the article was trying to make that point; then you both you and the author conveniently gloss over that the Celtics are currently TOP heavy with 4 guys making over 30 mil a year. Like, did you even bother to look at the Celtics payroll? The Celtics go 6 deep before hitting vet min guys. Like seriously, how in the world did you come away thinking the Celtics did it differently?

PhillyFan11 beat me to it - the point isn't that there is only one way to get there, but the idea is locating players who fit your scheme and maintaining assets to be able to go and get them when opportunities arise. However the Celtics did it, they made sure they were always in a position to strike when opportunities presented themselves, and they didn't waste payroll on dead weight (ie Tobias).

There's also some chance involved, as in Dallas gambling on Kyrie and him growing up and becoming a leader. Their decision to tank last season netted them Lively, something I thought about when we decided to activate Embiid for a playoff run that had zero chance of success. It didn't happen overnight for either franchise, just as it took a few seasons for Denver to put together that championship team.

Anyone who seriously believes that one off season of signing an old max player and piecing together a roster made up of mostly vet mins will result in anything approaching a title run needs their head examined. If that's the plan, I would just as soon put Embiid on the market, tear it down, and rebuild starting with Maxey and draft capital.

I hope you didn't strain your back while moving those goalposts.

No idea what you're talking about. All I've been saying all along is that a deep, balanced roster is the optimum way to win today. How you get there might not always be the exact same way, but the idea is to put together a good fitting rotation with quality players, and maintain flexibility to make moves when opportunities arise.

[FlightBrothers]

I really would love to add our Rip Hamilton/Jamal Murray type player. They both functioned with bigs and were able to tire out the defense and relentlessly run through screens to get their shots off. I really think Malik Monk could be a great player to play off of Maxey and Embiid. Grab him and then add high level role players with moveable contracts (if need be for the future flexibility/trades with our draft picks).

I want to see Embiid + future 4 setting hard picks and letting Maxey and Monk go ham on the other team. Maybe Miles Bridges, Draymond, Naz Reid (or a similar player to him) and I think we can do some damage.

Find our Rip Hamilton (Monk)
Find our Josh Hart (Bridges)
Find our backup 1/2 via trade? (Caruso)
Bigman to play 4/5 (Naz Reid type)
Resign Oubre (MLE)
Vet Min - Lowry
Sign Batum

Doable?

[Ferry Avenue]

I actually think the bigger priority to maximize Embiid is easing the rebounding & defense load off him. Those are the areas he’s asked to expend the most physical effort & put at the greatest risk of injury. I hate to say it but that’s why I’d much rather target a guy like Draymond than PG13.

I don’t think Embiid is ever going to take a backseat offensively because 1) ego & 2) it’s really hard to find a better option than an MVP who averages 30 ppg. But we can find guys who offer rebounding & secondary rim protection that allow Embiid to save more energy for offense.

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

And if you have that player you might as well let him do his thing, as opposed to having him function in an "Embiid support" role.

[Ferry Avenue]

I actually think the bigger priority to maximize Embiid is easing the rebounding & defense load off him. Those are the areas he’s asked to expend the most physical effort & put at the greatest risk of injury. I hate to say it but that’s why I’d much rather target a guy like Draymond than PG13.

I don’t think Embiid is ever going to take a backseat offensively because 1) ego & 2) it’s really hard to find a better option than an MVP who averages 30 ppg. But we can find guys who offer rebounding & secondary rim protection that allow Embiid to save more energy for offense.

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

How do you figure that if Embiid takes a larger role defensively and a smaller role offensively, he'll have more energy overall? Is there some sort of maxim in the NBA whereby defense requires less energy than offense? If you're running around blocking more shots and getting more rebounds, are you conserving energy, simply because you're playing less offense? It's entirely possible that if you increase Embiid's workload defensively and decrease his workload offensively it makes him less healthy and available.

[Ferry Avenue]

Again the moment you realize that having a consistent third option makes it harder for defenses to defend Biid AND Maxey is the moment you’d get the point lol

Biid has to be better and one way I think the team can assist with that is making it so he doesn’t have to be near perfect for the team to squeak out wins.

Luka has been great and if only due to his position and play style is a better guy to build around than a big injury prone center with focus and fitness issues BUT this is the first year in which he doesn’t have to score 50 for his team to win a game. Tatum has been ok but because the rest of his team is able to stay ahead it doesn’t matter he hasn’t been incredible

I don’t understand why this is tough concept to grasp

Perhaps it won’t matter and perhaps Biid doesn’t want to adjust but that’s the idea and it’s more realistic than trading him and yet somehow still attracting fa here like you want

Typical response. On NFL boards when a team has an inadequate quarterback, everybody starts talking about how they need a better offensive line, better receivers, a better run game, and a better defense. Good luck with that. All you need to do is pull off the unlikely feat of surrounding the inadequate integral player with sufficient talent across the board. Meanwhile the great quarterbacks win all the championships.

if you are just going to go "nuh-uh" then what is the point of any discussion lol.

this very city won a super bowl off the back of Nick Foles having an out of body experience...backed up by an elite defense, top tier running game, and enough weapons to get it done.

The issue is that you see Biid as Zach Wilson level so it doesn;t matter in your eyes.

Jayson Tatum is literally being carried right now as we speak lol.

OK so you're looking for the "exception to the rule" championship, rather than implementing the formula that provides the greatest probability of one.

[Negrodamus]

"Exception to the rule" about how a QB is necessary to win a Super Bowl and how that parallels to the NBA...

I think the plot has been lost here.

[SixersSince82]

I actually think the bigger priority to maximize Embiid is easing the rebounding & defense load off him. Those are the areas he’s asked to expend the most physical effort & put at the greatest risk of injury. I hate to say it but that’s why I’d much rather target a guy like Draymond than PG13.

I don’t think Embiid is ever going to take a backseat offensively because 1) ego & 2) it’s really hard to find a better option than an MVP who averages 30 ppg. But we can find guys who offer rebounding & secondary rim protection that allow Embiid to save more energy for offense.

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

We just see Embiid very differently.

I think being a defensive anchor and active screener is a pretty standard ask for starting caliber centers. Especially one's capable of what Joel is capable of on that end. There's no excuse for Joel not to do it.

Offensively I agree, he's gassed late games. But I dont think him being more fresh would create a crisp and active offense. Joel's not a facilitator. He's become the Carmelo of centers. Isos, pump fakes and jab steps into jumpers. We are one dimensional playing through him.

But yeah, if you're suggesting he take a step back to be "one part of the offense" I agree, absolutely. I think he should really be the 3rd option on offense and go win DPoY. Unless he can make a serious effort to become more of a facilitator.

[Ferry Avenue]

"Exception to the rule" about how a QB is necessary to win a Super Bowl and how that parallels to the NBA...

I think the plot has been lost here.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl while throwing very few passes in the playoffs because he had perhaps the greatest defense of all time, which required him to score very few points to win. Anything short of that and he very likely wouldn't have won one. The problem is, compiling one of the greatest defenses of all time is a tall and highly unlikely order, as is compiling the surroundings necessary to win a championship with an Embiid-centric team. This is of course why the team has never advanced beyond the second round during the Embiid era, despite trying to compile the necessary surroundings around him the entire time. It's an unlikely proposition -- you'd need an exception to the rule to pull it off, and those are by definition unlikely.

[Negrodamus]

"Exception to the rule" about how a QB is necessary to win a Super Bowl and how that parallels to the NBA...

I think the plot has been lost here.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl while throwing very few passes in the playoffs because he had perhaps the greatest defense of all time, which required him to score very few points to win. Anything short of that and he very likely wouldn't have won one. The problem is, compiling one of the greatest defenses of all time is a tall and highly unlikely order, as is compiling the surroundings necessary to win a championship with an Embiid-centric team. This is of course why the team has never advanced beyond the second round during the Embiid era, despite trying to compile the necessary surroundings around him the entire time. It's an unlikely proposition -- you'd need an exception to the rule to pull it off, and those are by definition unlikely.

It's possible that the NFL elite QB and winning championships comparison is not 1 to 1 to the Embiid situation. That should also be taken into consideration.

[Ferry Avenue]

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

We just see Embiid very differently.

I think being a defensive anchor and active screener is a pretty standard ask for starting caliber centers. Especially one's capable of what Joel is capable of on that end. There's no excuse for Joel not to do it.

Offensively I agree, he's gassed late games. But I dont think him being more fresh would create a crisp and active offense. Joel's not a facilitator. He's become the Carmelo of centers. Isos, pump fakes and jab steps into jumpers. We are one dimensional playing through him.

But yeah, if you're suggesting he take a step back to be "one part of the offense" I agree, absolutely. I think he should really be the 3rd option on offense and go win DPoY. Unless he can make a serious effort to become more of a facilitator.

In other words, if he can't be Nikola Jokic, he needs to become Bam Adebayo. And I agree. The problem is that you're paying him like Jokic, not Adebayo, which interferes with your ability to acquire the players necessary to make him the third scoring option.

The team is in quite the predicament.

[Ferry Avenue]

"Exception to the rule" about how a QB is necessary to win a Super Bowl and how that parallels to the NBA...

I think the plot has been lost here.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl while throwing very few passes in the playoffs because he had perhaps the greatest defense of all time, which required him to score very few points to win. Anything short of that and he very likely wouldn't have won one. The problem is, compiling one of the greatest defenses of all time is a tall and highly unlikely order, as is compiling the surroundings necessary to win a championship with an Embiid-centric team. This is of course why the team has never advanced beyond the second round during the Embiid era, despite trying to compile the necessary surroundings around him the entire time. It's an unlikely proposition -- you'd need an exception to the rule to pull it off, and those are by definition unlikely.

It's possible that the NFL elite QB and winning championships comparison is not 1 to 1 to the Embiid situation. That should also be taken into consideration.

If we can't identify a team in recent history that's won with a center-centric team -- other than Jokic, who we know is far from a traditional center -- it stands to reason that winning one with such a player would constitute an exception to the rule.

[Negrodamus]

If we can't identify a team in recent history that's won with a center-centric team -- other than Jokic, who we know is far from a traditional center -- it stands to reason that winning one with such a player would constitute an exception to the rule.

Well I'm glad we've moved on from the silly NFL comparison. I do think it's worthwhile to look at the circumstances behind Embiid's playoff struggles.

I think it's fair to point out the injuries he's had: 2 orbital bone issues in the playoffs. 2 meniscus injuries. Torn ligament in hand. Only missed 7 of a possible 54 playoff games (you should add that to your toughness metrics).

With that aside, his first postseason he lost to the Celtics in the second round who were deeper from top to bottom: Tatum, Rozier, Horford, Smart, Brown. Not terribly surprising because he was just getting started in the playoffs. Also had the mask on from first orbital bone fracture.

Second postseason he lost to the Raptors. Actually played pretty well, especially on defense. Probably the first and only time they put a contending roster around him. Also Embiid showed a willingness to concede shots to Jimmy and Tobias. Lost because Kawhi played one of the best series in recent memory and hit an insane shot. They were also fairly stacked with Siakam, Lowry, Gasol, Danny Green, Ibaka. I mean, there team was designed to defend Embiid and Kawhi was the difference.

Third postseason was against the Celtics. Embiid had pretty insane numbers: 30ppg, 12 rpg, 1.5 spg, 1.3 bpg. The rest of his team was Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Alec Burks, Al Horford.... Putrid. Went against a still healthy Kemba Walker, Tatum, Brown, Smart, Theis, Robert Williams. Unsurprisingly they were swept in the first round.

Fourth postseason was against the Hawks. Embiid played exceptionally well against them: 30ppg, 13rpg, 4apg, 1spg, 2bpg. Why did they lose? Because Ben Simmons had an all time stinker for the entire series. That's our second star. Our depth was Furkan, Matisse, Shake, kind of a rookie Maxey. Once again, our non-Embiid minutes were likely the difference. Atlanta had solid minutes from Trae, John Collins, Gallinari, Huerter, Capela. Almost as iconic as the Raptors demise, we lost this series when Ben passed an easy dunk to goddamn Thybulle in crunch time.

Fifth posteason. Embiid comes into the Heat series with a torn ligament in his thumb, a concussion, and a facemask. Plays terribly. I know, no excuses, even if you can't shoot or see the court because you're wearing this mask. Dude is a bum.

Sixth postseason. Misses first game with a knee sprain. Was enough to miss games in the Nets series. Played poorly and was probably because he rushed back. He didn't really measure his "perceived dog to statistical effectiveness ratio" so rushed back and was deemed a fraudulent star. Probably should have sat the whole series because the narrative continued to be "unavailable when it matters" despite playing the series through injury.

And now we have this season which I won't re-litigate. He looked like he couldn't move out there and was still able to put up 33ppg. He and Maxey did their parts. Basically everyone else on the team was pure doo doo.

So what's the takeaway? I'm going to assume, given your history on the topic, that you'll point out the Kawhi "willing his team to victory" narrative and say Embiid should have done that. However, my retort is that Kawhi hasn't played like that before and hasn't done it since for an entire series. Every other series loss was due to the other team showing up across the roster. There wasn't a herculean effort like the Toronto series. So when Embiid puts up 30+ ppg on decent efficiency, it's incumbent upon the rest of the roster to show up. Rarely have the FO given Embiid the guys capable to doing so.

Alright, well maybe Embiid should be the Jokic of this team and the most juice out of his guys. Well, that's not really his game. Maybe the FO should give Embiid a point guard for once who isn't 35+ years old and is capable of running an offense?

I know you're going to read this and it all appears to be excuses for Embiid. And to be honest, this post isn't for you. You are set in your ways and I'm not going to convince you that Embiid is the right superstar for this team. It's more for everyone else to remember the context for why Embiid can't get out of the second round.

[Mik317]

there is no rule to winning a chip beyond fielding a complete team. Each team has done it in vastly different ways but the constant is generally they don't have one or even two guys giving them nothing while playing major minutes. Biid doesn't have to play like Bam or Gobert for us to win IMO but playing like a Shaqless or Gasoless Kobe also doesn't work...didn't work for Kobe lol. Your point seems to be Biid has to do it all or else he isn't worth his contract so we should trade him and if he can't do it all...we should trade him.

so again there is no real discussion to be had because your final point is we should trade him...which realistically isn't happening.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I would simply put the Ferry guy on ignore.
As far as what to do with the team. Every year fans suggest that we copycat what "other" great teams have done. I've been seeing these copycat scenarios ever since I joined this forum. Dating back in 2003, I've seen people suggest that we build a team like the Kings from the era, the Pistons, the Spurs, etc. I think what people are missing here is that teams that do win rings are rather uniquely built and there's no blueprint in terms of how to do it. You need to have very talented players on your team, all playing at a high level, all on the same page, all healthy, and all willing to do whatever it takes to win. Boston is a unique team. They've just been built well. Same with Denver from last year. You can't model this roster after those teams...Ricky Council can't be our Jaylen Brown, Paul Reed can't be our Aaron Gordon. We have to build our own model. It can be done with Embiid as the focal point, but we need some luck on our side. We need him healthy, and we need guys to hit open threes in the postseason, we need to get stops, and for the love of God, we need to rebound the basketball. If we would have been able to get a rebound against the Knicks, we would have smashed them in five games. Right now, if you look at our biggest issue...It's having a healthy Embiid when it matters, and it's being able to rebound the basketball. It's been the same issue, every year since Ben Simmons left. That doesn't mean that I want Ben Simmons back because I don't. But we had a unique roster at one time with him, Butler, and Embiid. We had the formula right in our hands five years ago and we let it go.
At this point, scrambling to compile a roster around Maxey and Embiid isn't looking as rosy as things were back then. We have question marks everywhere at this point in terms of the pieces needed. There are a lot of different views and ideas on here on how to fit those pieces, but it's up to Morey at this point and I just don't see it happening in one offseason. If anyone here is expecting us to fill out a roster in one offseason and then go win a ring, you're setting yourselves up for failure. The only way we do that is if our rebounding issues are addressed and Embiid is able to stay healthy for an entire playoffs.

[Jailblazers7]

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

How do you figure that if Embiid takes a larger role defensively and a smaller role offensively, he'll have more energy overall? Is there some sort of maxim in the NBA whereby defense requires less energy than offense? If you're running around blocking more shots and getting more rebounds, are you conserving energy, simply because you're playing less offense? It's entirely possible that if you increase Embiid's workload defensively and decrease his workload offensively it makes him less healthy and available.

Yes, that’s the whole point I was making in my original post. We should be finding Embiid help on the defensive side of the ball because asking him to carry the entire defense/rebounding of the team requires more energy & increases his injury risk. Which is why a guy like Draymond makes more sense on our team compared to PG13.

[Jailblazers7]

I see it almost the opposite.

As a 7footer, biggest guy on the court he can have a much larger effect on the defense than anyone else. Meanwhile he's not healthy/available enough to be your offensive identity, he doesn't facilitate enough so he makes us predictable, and its just plan hard for bigs that mostly need to be "set up" in some way or another, to be closers. That's a dribble drive wing/guard role.

But we need Embiid active as a screener to run our best offense in crunch time, even if he’s not the focal point of the offense. And he’s not going to be able to do that if we’re asking him to fully carry our defense & rebounding.

Keeping Embiid fresh & focused on the offensive end doesn’t mean running everything through him. It means that we reserve his energy so he can be part of a crisp & active late game offense. A big reason we stagnate during crunch time is because Embiid is too gassed to do anything other than post up at the top of the key.

We just see Embiid very differently.

I think being a defensive anchor and active screener is a pretty standard ask for starting caliber centers. Especially one's capable of what Joel is capable of on that end. There's no excuse for Joel not to do it.

Offensively I agree, he's gassed late games. But I dont think him being more fresh would create a crisp and active offense. Joel's not a facilitator. He's become the Carmelo of centers. Isos, pump fakes and jab steps into jumpers. We are one dimensional playing through him.

But yeah, if you're suggesting he take a step back to be "one part of the offense" I agree, absolutely. I think he should really be the 3rd option on offense and go win DPoY. Unless he can make a serious effort to become more of a facilitator.

That’s what I’m suggest - that he be a part of a competent late game offense. Not the entire offense but an important part of one.

I think it’s a pipe dream to imagine that he wins a DPOY in his 30s. That requires consistent high effort, elite conditioning, and durability. It’s just not gonna happen for him. Better to accept his limitations and build a team that can save him energy on the defensive end so he can spend it on offense.

We’ve asked him to carry some absolutely dreadful defensive teams (which he’s done) but maybe we should try something else for a change.

[brannigan73]

I really would love to add our Rip Hamilton/Jamal Murray type player. They both functioned with bigs and were able to tire out the defense and relentlessly run through screens to get their shots off. I really think Malik Monk could be a great player to play off of Maxey and Embiid. Grab him and then add high level role players with moveable contracts (if need be for the future flexibility/trades with our draft picks).

I want to see Embiid + future 4 setting hard picks and letting Maxey and Monk go ham on the other team. Maybe Miles Bridges, Draymond, Naz Reid (or a similar player to him) and I think we can do some damage.

Find our Rip Hamilton (Monk)
Find our Josh Hart (Bridges)
Find our backup 1/2 via trade? (Caruso)
Bigman to play 4/5 (Naz Reid type)
Resign Oubre (MLE)
Vet Min - Lowry
Sign Batum

Doable?

No it's not doable lol two of that list would be amazing if they were actual comparable players. You added Bridges level swing man and nax Reid level four slash five and we are in discussion for best team. Monk and Caruso could be done and wouldn't be enough.