Joel: unchained.

[76ciology]

Watching other teams, they usually have two types of centers—a thick, sturdy one and a lanky, mobile one—and they rotate them depending on matchups. If they’re up against Jokic, they throw in a strong, physical big like Al Horford. But against teams without a dominant post presence, they can just slide Porzingis to center.

A lot of teams operate this way. The Sixers never had to because Embiid had both the quickness of an athletic big and the strength of a bruiser, eliminating the need for this kind of matchup-based adjustment.

The problem is, Embiid’s quickness and athleticism have been in decline.

Now, it’s all guesswork. One moment, Embiid will explode off the ground to contest a corner three or throw a pass off the backboard for a dunk, proving he still has it. But more often than not, he’s not going up for rebounds or challenging shots. This unpredictability sometimes works as a deterrent, making opponents hesitate. But lately, it’s been more of a liability. From Tatum attacking him like a wounded animal, to Josh Hart and the Knicks’ bigs outworking him on the glass, to his own teammates not even knowing whether he’ll contest a shot or grab a rebound—it’s becoming too much to overcome. The way the game is played today requires everyone to be in sync, a step ahead on both ends. Right now, the Sixers are anything but.

On the other end, I think his offensive game peaked a couple of seasons ago when he became an elite mid-range scorer. It was so effective that it never seemed like he needed to add another dimension to his game.

Sure, you could argue he’s improved as a passer, but do you really trust him as a primary ball handler and playmaker? I’d rather have a guard or wing in that role.

The bigger issue now is his over-reliance on the mid-range. With how fast-paced offenses are today—teams jacking up threes at a high volume and hitting them at a strong clip—his mid-range game just doesn’t match the efficiency needed to keep up.

That means he has to compensate by getting to the line or finishing at the rim. But to do that effectively, he’d either need to dominate in the paint like Giannis or have a reliable floater like Jokic, which he makes at 60% clip. That’s where he’s struggling. He’s lost a step, and instead of overpowering defenders, he’s starting to look like an embarrassing foul grifter.

And something that doesn’t get talked about enough—he’s a really weak finisher with his left hand. Al Horford exposed that in the last playoff series, and it’s a real limitation in his scoring arsenal.

[M2J]

Joel needs a procedure the way older Kawhi needed a procedure and was told to let it rest. He's back and balling.

Joel isn't just making this up. Yes Kawhi had a meniscus injury that kept swelling after surgery.

Yes! That is a great point you just made. I had forgotten all about Kawhi and his issues. I think this is definitely fixable with Joel, but like Leonard, it's going to take time. We need to just do it now and be done.

I think Kawhi had the procedure (according to Skip Bayless) after he was sent home from the Olympics in maybe July on the knee from the previous meniscus injury. He returned to the clippers in January. So Joel should get the area opened up for arthroscopy to be cleaned or at least just to inspect even if it's to get a better look at the area.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Joel needs a procedure the way older Kawhi needed a procedure and was told to let it rest. He's back and balling.

Joel isn't just making this up. Yes Kawhi had a meniscus injury that kept swelling after surgery.

Yes! That is a great point you just made. I had forgotten all about Kawhi and his issues. I think this is definitely fixable with Joel, but like Leonard, it's going to take time. We need to just do it now and be done.

I think Kawhi had the procedure (according to Skip Bayless) after he was sent home from the Olympics in maybe July on the knee from the previous meniscus injury. He returned to the clippers in January. So Joel should get the area opened up for arthroscopy to be cleaned or at least just to inspect even if it's to get a better look at the area.

That's a six month rehab for Kawhi. Let's say Joel gets lucky and he needs the same thing Kawhi had done. If he got it done in say March/April, that would put him to return in November, probably more December or even January for him. I think people are reading too much into this assuming this is automatically a Brandon Roy or Andrew Bynum situation. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but I'm sure Embiid will explore all options with this. Clearly options 1 and 2 aren't working so maybe a surgery can help it provided there's actually something for a surgeon to work with.

[phillynative]

Watching other teams, they usually have two types of centers—a thick, sturdy one and a lanky, mobile one—and they rotate them depending on matchups. If they’re up against Jokic, they throw in a strong, physical big like Al Horford. But against teams without a dominant post presence, they can just slide Porzingis to center.

A lot of teams operate this way. The Sixers never had to because Embiid had both the quickness of an athletic big and the strength of a bruiser, eliminating the need for this kind of matchup-based adjustment.

The problem is, Embiid’s quickness and athleticism have been in decline.

Now, it’s all guesswork. One moment, Embiid will explode off the ground to contest a corner three or throw a pass off the backboard for a dunk, proving he still has it. But more often than not, he’s not going up for rebounds or challenging shots. This unpredictability sometimes works as a deterrent, making opponents hesitate. But lately, it’s been more of a liability. From Tatum attacking him like a wounded animal, to Josh Hart and the Knicks’ bigs outworking him on the glass, to his own teammates not even knowing whether he’ll contest a shot or grab a rebound—it’s becoming too much to overcome. The way the game is played today requires everyone to be in sync, a step ahead on both ends. Right now, the Sixers are anything but.

On the other end, I think his offensive game peaked a couple of seasons ago when he became an elite mid-range scorer. It was so effective that it never seemed like he needed to add another dimension to his game.

Sure, you could argue he’s improved as a passer, but do you really trust him as a primary ball handler and playmaker? I’d rather have a guard or wing in that role.

The bigger issue now is his over-reliance on the mid-range. With how fast-paced offenses are today—teams jacking up threes at a high volume and hitting them at a strong clip—his mid-range game just doesn’t match the efficiency needed to keep up.

That means he has to compensate by getting to the line or finishing at the rim. But to do that effectively, he’d either need to dominate in the paint like Giannis or have a reliable floater like Jokic, who shoots 60% from the field. That’s where he’s struggling. He’s lost a step, and instead of overpowering defenders, he’s starting to look like an embarrassing foul grifter.

And something that doesn’t get talked about enough—he’s a really weak finisher with his left hand. Al Horford exposed that in the last playoff series, and it’s a real limitation in his scoring arsenal.

AGREED

It's time for the sixers to start building a team in spite of him .

[mksp]

i'm still confused why morey extended joel this offseason with this injury hanging over things. what was he thinking?

[Ferry Avenue]

Watching other teams, they usually have two types of centers—a thick, sturdy one and a lanky, mobile one—and they rotate them depending on matchups.

And with that statement you've illustrated very simply that the NBA doesn't revolve around the center position.

If the choice of even which of your own centers to use is a function of whom you're facing in the opponent, the game can't possibly revolve around that position. Nobody is rotating three-level scoring guards and wings as a function of matchups.

And we can try to jam a square peg in a round hole and insist that Embiid is some sort of "special" individual who allows a team to go against that grain, but he has neither the court awareness/passing ability (a la Jokic, who had 19 assists last night by the way) nor the leadership ability to permit that.

[Stanford]

It's gonna be a dark 4 years, boys.

[Negrodamus]

It's gonna be a dark 4 years, boys.

Hell no, we're going to win a championship next year with Maxey/McCain/Flagg despite having $100M of cap sitting out for the season.

[Negrodamus]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

[Iverson Armband]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

I like Morey, but he royally F’d this up. I don’t blame him for PG, because once you commit to Joel that’s really the only play. The problem is he should have been shrewd enough to not commit to Joel and trade him — then there’s also no PG. It would have been an extremely ballsy move, but he gets paid millions to get this kind of stuff right.

He now deserves to be fired at this point because he’s proven he doesn’t have what it takes to make the tough and unpopular decisions that are sometimes required of a GM.

[Negrodamus]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

I like Morey, but he royally F’d this up. I don’t blame him for PG, because once you commit to Joel that’s really the only play. The problem is he should have been shrewd enough to not commit to Joel and trade him — then there’s also no PG. It would have been an extremely ballsy move, but he gets paid millions to get this kind of stuff right.

He now deserves to be fired at this point because he’s proven he doesn’t have what it takes to make the tough and unpopular decisions that are sometimes required of a GM.

I'm going to guess that Morey doesn't have the say to trade Embiid. Embiid is buddies with Rubin and Blitzer. It's clear they will keep him around until he asks out or retires. So Morey likely has to work around those parameters.

[Iverson Armband]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

I like Morey, but he royally F’d this up. I don’t blame him for PG, because once you commit to Joel that’s really the only play. The problem is he should have been shrewd enough to not commit to Joel and trade him — then there’s also no PG. It would have been an extremely ballsy move, but he gets paid millions to get this kind of stuff right.

He now deserves to be fired at this point because he’s proven he doesn’t have what it takes to make the tough and unpopular decisions that are sometimes required of a GM.

I'm going to guess that Morey doesn't have the say to trade Embiid. Embiid is buddies with Rubin and Blitzer. It's clear they will keep him around until he asks out or retires. So Morey likely has to work around those parameters.

Curious what you think about the job he’s done so far.

If he doesn’t get fired this summer, I think you’re probably correct.

[djsunyc]

i'm still confused why morey extended joel this offseason with this injury hanging over things. what was he thinking?

could've been an ownership thing.

[Mik317]

with our luck we would have trade him and his knee would have somehow miraculously healed back to his Kansas days and he'd learn how to take steph curry level 3s and ****...while all of our picks received would be used on dudes who catch malaria.

[LeonJordanJr24]

Zion for embiid makes sense for both.

[Eyeamok]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

Everyone has a scoop after the fact. Not one of these talking heads with all their analysis all their inside sources knew that Dallas was "unhappy" with Luka let alone wanted to trade him. Always with the great stories and what could have been after the fact. They have almost next to zero credibility in my book.

[Negrodamus]

I like Morey, but he royally F’d this up. I don’t blame him for PG, because once you commit to Joel that’s really the only play. The problem is he should have been shrewd enough to not commit to Joel and trade him — then there’s also no PG. It would have been an extremely ballsy move, but he gets paid millions to get this kind of stuff right.

He now deserves to be fired at this point because he’s proven he doesn’t have what it takes to make the tough and unpopular decisions that are sometimes required of a GM.

I'm going to guess that Morey doesn't have the say to trade Embiid. Embiid is buddies with Rubin and Blitzer. It's clear they will keep him around until he asks out or retires. So Morey likely has to work around those parameters.

Curious what you think about the job he’s done so far.

If he doesn’t get fired this summer, I think you’re probably correct.

Mixed. Draft and between the margins signings have been pretty great (McCain, Justin Edwards, Oubre, Grimes, Yabu, etc). Major decisions have been rough (Harden, Ben, PG). I hated his run of signing former Rocket players and I really hated that trade for Melton. I'd keep him around though. He doesn't baffle me like Colangelo did.

[M2J]

Read on Twitter

This would have been like when the Lakers traded Bynum to... us. Instead we go down with the ship!

Everyone has a scoop after the fact. Not one of these talking heads with all their analysis all their inside sources knew that Dallas was "unhappy" with Luka let alone wanted to trade him. Always with the great stories and what could have been after the fact. They have almost next to zero credibility in my book.

The majority of the NBA would've cleaned the arsenal to trade for Joel like last year. Because this looks like a degenerative issue and he's not playing through it... Which he technically could... Also in large part to how Joel is handling it in terms of playing and saying to the media. People are panicking... We'll see.

But I remember when news broke that Anthony Davis has a degenerative Achilles a few years ago and then people thought he was a bad contract... Few years later... You know

[mksp]

I could have gone the rest of my life not knowing this fact thank you very much. What a bummer. What were we thinking. This was the perfect summer to trade Embiid and build around Maxey.

“Once upon a time, Philly presumably could have extracted every draft pick that New York possessed before it splurged on trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks were always the rival threat, sources said, that Sixers officials knew was waiting to pounce if Embiid ever reached the trade market.”

[Iverson Armband]

I'm going to guess that Morey doesn't have the say to trade Embiid. Embiid is buddies with Rubin and Blitzer. It's clear they will keep him around until he asks out or retires. So Morey likely has to work around those parameters.

Curious what you think about the job he’s done so far.

If he doesn’t get fired this summer, I think you’re probably correct.

Mixed. Draft and between the margins signings have been pretty great (McCain, Justin Edwards, Oubre, Grimes, Yabu, etc). Major decisions have been rough (Harden, Ben, PG). I hated his run of signing former Rocket players and I really hated that trade for Melton. I'd keep him around though. He doesn't baffle me like Colangelo did.

If you consider he received an edict from ownership when it comes to the Embiid extension, I think you have to say he’s done a pretty damn good job. No GM bats 1.000.

Trading Ben for Harden was the correct move. Trading Harden was the correct move and getting what he got back in return was solid. I’m not ready to call PG bad as long as we’re under the assumption Joel had to remain here (package deal) and/or they can’t trade him for anything in a year. That really only leaves the horrible Melton trade and the Isaiah Joe debacle as his biggest blunders IMO.