76ers make no sense

[VDT]

The thing is, they very much had a team with 3 point shooters in their first year that made perfect sense to be built around those two. It was just missing a 3 point shooting play maker for the half court. They went completely away from a system that complemented both Simmons and Embiid...at least as best as you can when those two don't fit together.

Then again, perhaps they're simply going hard on a contrarian idea that if the league goes small, we go big. I don't think it'll work but they sure are spending a lot to find out.

They had some shooters however they were bad defenders and they had no perimeter creation. They decided to fix that by trading for Butler and Harris who were however worse and less willing shooters. This was possibly a mistake because it allowed Simmons to stay in his comfort zone and as a result he hasnt improve much as a player. It also started making the team fit and chemistry worse. During all this time the Sixers were bleeding assets and wasting cap space (with the Horford signing being the most egregious case) because the FO was completely inept.

From here on i see two possible paths for the Sixers. One is Simmons making a quantum leap and becoming a more dangerous score. A Giannis lite with better passing. Shooting improvement could be part of this leap. Still Simmons and Embiid would not be a particularly good fit but you would hope to win though superior talent.

The second path is to acquire a perimeter star that can playmake some, shoot and create for himself. In that case Simmons would become superfluous and you can trade him, possible for said star.

For a title run Embiid should also improve as he has sometimes been unreliable in terms of health and performance.

At this point you might be right, though I'd rather personally build around Simmons. I think he'll just be an easier player to build around if they can get value from Embiid.

You cant build around Simmons at the moment because of his offensive deficiencies, you would need to get a legit first option and possibly a second option. So you could build with him (not around him) but even then his skillset limits your options quite a bit.

[dhsilv2]

They had some shooters however they were bad defenders and they had no perimeter creation. They decided to fix that by trading for Butler and Harris who were however worse and less willing shooters. This was possibly a mistake because it allowed Simmons to stay in his comfort zone and as a result he hasnt improve much as a player. It also started making the team fit and chemistry worse. During all this time the Sixers were bleeding assets and wasting cap space (with the Horford signing being the most egregious case) because the FO was completely inept.

From here on i see two possible paths for the Sixers. One is Simmons making a quantum leap and becoming a more dangerous score. A Giannis lite with better passing. Shooting improvement could be part of this leap. Still Simmons and Embiid would not be a particularly good fit but you would hope to win though superior talent.

The second path is to acquire a perimeter star that can playmake some, shoot and create for himself. In that case Simmons would become superfluous and you can trade him, possible for said star.

For a title run Embiid should also improve as he has sometimes been unreliable in terms of health and performance.

At this point you might be right, though I'd rather personally build around Simmons. I think he'll just be an easier player to build around if they can get value from Embiid.

You cant build around Simmons at the moment because of his offensive deficiencies, you would need to get a legit first option and possibly a second option. So you could build with him (not around him) but even then his skillset limits your options quite a bit.

Will just agree to disagree. Put him in a run and gun offense and he'd be a beast.

[hippesthippo]

Ohhhhhhhhhh Lord, I hope the Sixers win it this year just to shut up all the clowns around here.

[OGLife]

At this point you might be right, though I'd rather personally build around Simmons. I think he'll just be an easier player to build around if they can get value from Embiid.

You cant build around Simmons at the moment because of his offensive deficiencies, you would need to get a legit first option and possibly a second option. So you could build with him (not around him) but even then his skillset limits your options quite a bit.

Will just agree to disagree. Put him in a run and gun offense and he'd be a beast.

Except you fail to understand that Simmons can't shot from any distance. His points come from inside the paint.

I just believe it's much more suitable to build around Simmons than Embidd because Embidd isn't so skillful himself.

Hinkie was an overrated GM who just selected the consensus BPA and tanked.

[Ballerhogger]

they have no shooting is Joel is soft. so..

[VDT]

You cant build around Simmons at the moment because of his offensive deficiencies, you would need to get a legit first option and possibly a second option. So you could build with him (not around him) but even then his skillset limits your options quite a bit.

Will just agree to disagree. Put him in a run and gun offense and he'd be a beast.

Except you fail to understand that Simmons can't shot from any distance. His points come from inside the paint.

I just believe it's much more suitable to build around Simmons than Embidd because Embidd isn't so skillful himself.

Hinkie was an overrated GM who just selected the consensus BPA and tanked.

And made excellent trades. So he had an actual plan, contrary to most GMs whose plan is to keep their job as long as possible, and he was pretty good at executing that despite his inexperience. If anything he would be much better now because he was weakest at drafting (or could be bad luck) which is not as important if you are not tanking. There is really no question that the Sixers would be much better if he was still the GM.

[Nites]

They thought they were ready to win now with injury prone youngins, and then started chasing the biggest names available, not worrying about what makes sense for the roster.

Philly has been a weird team even before they got Butler.

[LofJ]

They need to pay to move Horford for a player or players that will actually see the court for more than 15 minutes. If they do that, add as many shooters as possible, and do whatever it takes to develop Simmons into a perimeter threat they can still be championship contenders.

[Pharmcat]

Their GM messed up big time

[hoosierdaddy34]

embiid talks too much

He needs to understand that actions are more important than to talk!

That’s funny because the Sixers absolutely hopeless whenever he is off the floor. So I don’t know how ones actions are judged any differently than that.

[HotelVitale]

Sixers are poorly built but there's no one simple thing the Sixers did wrong, lots of things brought up here are potshots that obviously aren't the problem with the Sixers. To clear the air:
--The Sixers don't 'lack shooting' nor did they fail to invest in shooting, their entire rotation besides Simmons was expected to be very good shooters (Milton, Harris, Korkmaz, Scott) or at least reliable/capable floor spacers (Richardson, Horford, Embiid)
--The Clippers trade was bad but the Sixers wouldn't be better off this year if they didn't make it: Harris only took up about $20m in cap room this year (low cap-hold, big reason they traded for him) and was clearly better than who they could've gotten with that cap $, plus Shamet wouldn't be moving the needle and the picks haven't happened yet
--Butler was good against TOR but a) it seems pretty clear that he wanted to leave and b) he was a terrible fit for the rest of this team, not sure how people don't remember how a poor-shooting ball-dominant guy with an attitude wasn't a smooth solution to the Sixers' other issues

What's mainly happening is that the Sixers have no offensive system they can spam, have inconsistent spacing, and don't execute all that well. No one can impose their will on the game (unless Embiid has a mismatch) and they end up having to work hard to get okay looks or else sort of trade of taking possessions up. For the execution, Embiid doesn't make the right read often, Simmons overplays at the wrong times on defense, the shooters attack closeouts poorly, etc. They don't take worse shots than most teams and can play incredibly well when they're clicking on both ends, they just don't put it together that often and the lack of a simple system makes it hard to be consistent and hone their roles.

[HotelVitale]

The Sixers made a bunch of mistakes that led them to where they are now (outside of drafting Fultz and signing Horford):1. Spent way too much time playing Simmons at PG - Simmons main problem is that he can’t handle the ball in the half court. He’s a point forward who excels in transition. In the half court, he should be screening, rolling, and cutting off the ball.
2. They botched the 2018 draft - They obviously shiould’ve draft Michael Porter . It was the classic Sixers draft-and-stash move with low risk and high reward..

See the above post, these aren't really mistakes that would've solved any issues for the Sixers.
1) Simmons does all that stuff all the time and always has, they don't actually have him initiate on every offensive set. He still runs transition and in the past would also bring the ball up after made baskets and run the play, it's a pretty minimal difference now with Milton bringing the ball up and running the play (and often giving it to Simmons to initiate). The real difference with the recent move is that they're now getting another shooter on the perimeter (Milton)
2) Porter wouldn't be solving any of these issues either, he'd just be a nice little addition. Though SGA could've been a difference-making pick there. (Also Porter was a massive risk, had serious injuries and also played poorly in the college games he did play, major risk to take him at #10 before guys like SGA, Bridges, etc.)

[dhsilv2]

You cant build around Simmons at the moment because of his offensive deficiencies, you would need to get a legit first option and possibly a second option. So you could build with him (not around him) but even then his skillset limits your options quite a bit.

Will just agree to disagree. Put him in a run and gun offense and he'd be a beast.

Except you fail to understand that Simmons can't shot from any distance. His points come from inside the paint.

I just believe it's much more suitable to build around Simmons than Embidd because Embidd isn't so skillful himself.

Hinkie was an overrated GM who just selected the consensus BPA and tanked.

Neither I nor anyone else on this board thinks Simmons can shoot.

As for Hinkie, you think he'd still have Embiid and Simmons on this team? LOL

[RoyceDa59]

Yeah it's an oddly structured roster. They need a big shake up in the off-season.

[SK21209]

Weird that most of the comments here are about the offensive fit when they've scored a bunch of points in the first two games. The problem in Orlando has been that their defense has sucked.

[Shock Defeat]

NOBODY thought signing Horford was a good idea.

[Rapcity_11]

Question to ask if you're a 76ers fan...Can you win a championship with Joel Embid as your best player?
I'm not sure you can, and for all the shizz he stirs up down there, and his injury history, it makes you wonder what you could trade him for.

Considering they had a +18.6 net rating in Embiid's minutes against the NBA champion Raptors in the playoffs last year, I'm pretty sure you can win with Joel.

[youngcrev]

Their best players ( Harris, Simmons Horford, and Embiid) are all paid partly for their ability to post up. None are versatile perimeter scorers. They identified Embiid as an all nba player, then didn’t build around him. Jokic needs good defenders and athletes, lebron needs some shooters and a star. Why did they spend so much money on Horford? Another guy who don’t fit, now making huge money.

Now they don’t have A roster that can win, and their best player is frustrated because he knows his roster makes no sense. It almost looks like their problems would be solved by simply trading Embiid.

They could penalty have a lineup of
Jaylen brown
Hayward
Hartford
Harris
Simmons

And be just as good, if not better than before. I don’t see Boston not agreeing to that deal earlier this year. Presently, they have 126 million dedicated to 4 guys who shouldn’t even be on the floor at the same time, never mind win a title.

How would you save the 76ers?

If only there were some way to trade the support pieces for better fitting ones around their franchise player rather than the other way around...

[celticfan42487]

NOBODY thought signing Horford was a good idea.

Well if nothing else it was supposed to take away a bad matchup for them in Horford guarding Embiid from a rival. And they have had a lot of success against the Celtics this year unlike years past (Baynes leaving the Celtics as well as Horford is likely the reason why).

So at least in that way it was 3D chess. But yeah losing Butler was devastating.

And JJ Reddick was a bigger blow than imagined. Maybe they can trade Harris and some picks for Buddy Hield if he's still complaining in SAC or something.

[nedleeds]

Their best players ( Harris, Simmons Horford, and Embiid) are all paid partly for their ability to post up. None are versatile perimeter scorers. They identified Embiid as an all nba player, then didn’t build around him. Jokic needs good defenders and athletes, lebron needs some shooters and a star. Why did they spend so much money on Horford? Another guy who don’t fit, now making huge money.

Now they don’t have A roster that can win, and their best player is frustrated because he knows his roster makes no sense. It almost looks like their problems would be solved by simply trading Embiid.

They could penalty have a lineup of
Jaylen brown
Hayward
Hartford
Harris
Simmons

And be just as good, if not better than before. I don’t see Boston not agreeing to that deal earlier this year. Presently, they have 126 million dedicated to 4 guys who shouldn’t even be on the floor at the same time, never mind win a title.

How would you save the 76ers?

What does posting up have to do with their struggles? They've scored 130 points both games since coming back.

What about their defense?

TJ Warren thinks it's pretty terrible.