The Truth About the Philadelphia 76ers

There’s been a lot of conversation surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers for the better part of the last several years. Really it’s been almost all of the last decade. For those that remember, the 76ers were once upon a time in contention for being the worst run team in the sport during a 3-5 year span in which they moved off of core players from a previous regime, and committed to a full-scale, long term rebuild. The goal in mind was to compile a mass of youthful talents through the draft, and in the long run, transform the team into a juggernaut. This doesn’t seem to be very different from any other team committing to a rebuild, but the difference between times when any other team did it and what the 76ers did in theirs was mostly a matter of time and detail.

In any rebuild in the NBA, the point is to get younger stars through the draft, develop them and other young players by all means, bring in some veterans to compliment them, and within three to five years turn your team into anywhere between a championship contender and a perennial playoff contender. Anything less, and the rebuild is considered a failure. Former 76ers GM Sam Hinke didn’t seem to care for that model. He seemed more concerned about just compiling talent, regardless of fit, and selling high on players that prevented the team from staying at the bottom for the full term of “The Process”. There just never seemed to be any direction for the team. Under the same impression, the league eventually forced the organization to fire Hinke, and bring in Bryan Colangelo in his place. He was doing a fine job, or at least I thought so until he was discovered to have had a knack for bad-mouthing the team through a burner account on Twitter. After that debacle, the team eventually settled on Elton Brand, a former NBA all-star who spent a majority of his latter years playing for the 76ers.

Brand looked to capitalize on the momentum gathered from the team in the 2018 season by bringing in more star players and plugging them next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, two all-world talents that the team drafted in 2014 and 2016 respectively, that turned into all-stars once coming into their own. He brought in Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris through trade, and almost got to the eastern conference finals. But one issue that became apparent and got in their way was the lacking chemistry on the court between Ben Simmons and the other players on the team, namely Embiid and Butler. For me, I’m a bit conflicted as to whether to put more onus on Ben for not taking more jump shots despite him not being at all good at it, or Brand for constructing the team in a way that ultimately made Ben Simmons less effective on the floor because of his inability to shoot. Like on one hand, Ben could have worked on his jumper, but who’s to say that he didn’t try and simply failed. I mean despite their efforts, Russell Westbrook never got good at shooting three pointers, and LeBron James never got all that good at free throws. There’s just some aspects of the game that some players for one reason or another can’t hack, and maybe jump shooting is that for Simmons. On the other hand, the name of the game as a general manager is to get as many good players on your team as possible. So if I’m in a position to get Jimmy Butler and only have to give up Dario Saric, Robert Covington and a second-round pick in 2022 in the process, I’d definitely do that. But in terms of overall fit, Saric and Covington were better shooters and lesser ball handlers compared to Jimmy Butler, which made Ben Simmons more essential to the offense. So ultimately, with regards to the ramifications of that specific trade, as well as the massive and likely unmovable contracts given to Tobias Harris, and an aging Al Horford, some responsibility has to be placed on Elton Brand for the team being in the position that they currently find themselves in.

The second issue I see with the Philadelphia 76ers is coaching. Brett Brown is a fine coach. He’s been with the organization throughout the entire “Process” of the rebuild, and has helped establish the 76ers as one of the top eastern conference teams in the last few years. However, I often harken back to the 2018 NBA playoffs, Philly’s first appearance after a six year hiatus. They outed the Heat in the first round, but were then eliminated in 5 games by an injured Boston Celtics team. That Celtics team did accomplish a lot in that postseason, but when you have the two best players in a given playoff series, you shouldn’t end up losing that series at all, let alone almost get swept. One thing that was glaring throughout that matchup was the discrepancy in coaching. While there are few coaches in the NBA that are considered better than Boston’s Brad Stevens, that series made Brett Brown look out of place, and when you have the healthier and more talented team in the match up, it says a lot when you only get one win in such a scenario. I thought a change was necessary then. Not because I think Brett Brown isn’t a good coach, but because I felt that the team needed a new voice; someone who can make certain changes to the way the team plays and potentially take them to the next level in the process. Nothing that’s happened since has moved me off of that opinion. In 2019, they lost in seven games to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors, which really isn’t much to be ashamed of. However, a lot of Toronto’s players underperformed throughout that series (Norman Powell, Fred Van Vleet, Kyle Lowry, Danny Green), and Philadelphia, despite once again being the more talented team, couldn’t overcome and win a series that they probably should have. This season, the issues have only perpetuated. For those of you who followed the team thus far you probably know the story: almost unbeatable at home, the complete opposite on the road. It’s been the same problems: the roster not meshing as well as it could, and underperforming despite having the superior roster more often than not.

The GM made moves that ultimately served to the detriment of the team: trading key pieces for one season of Jimmy Butler, and overpaying both Tobias Harris and Al Horford in free agency. The coach doesn’t seem to have the team headed in the right direction, and has struggled to get the pieces compiled by the front office to play all that well together. But the main topic of conversation has been the players themselves, specifically Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. It’s not a great fit. We have all heard that statement and explanation at least a couple of times from anyone and everyone who has had a chance to watch this team since Simmons came about. And it’s true. Both Simmons and Embiid are primarily scorers in the paint, and in 2020, unless Nikola Jokic or Karl-Anthony Towns is your starting center (or you’re the Houston Rockets and just don’t play any centers) having two unreliable long range shooters on the floor for most of the game isn’t ideal. Knowing this, most see the situation running to a point where the 76ers will have to choose between Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons; build around one, trade the other. For me, I understand that the team isn’t perfectly built and the fit between the two star players is awkward, but it isn’t impossible to make it work as some may see it. Or rather it wasn’t impossible. With a player as unique as Ben Simmons, it is crucially important, especially when you already have a center that’s an off fit with him to begin with, to surround him with players that would fit alongside him seamlessly. Take the Houston Rockets for example, Clint Capela had been very productive for them, but the fact that he and Russell Westbrook weren’t a good fit together loomed large. The Rockets proceeded to then trade Capela and bring in more shooters to surround Westbrook and open up the floor. Since that deal, Westbrook has played his best basketball since his MVP year. Ben Simmons is in a similar predicament, but it isn’t as easy to solve. Many tend to think that Simmons could be as successful as Giannis Antetokounmpo is with the Milwaukee Bucks by moving Embiid for another shooter the likes of Bradley Beal or Klay Thompson, which makes sense. Joel clogs the paint, which gets in Ben’s way. Eliminate Embiid; problem solved. The thing is, do we know that as the better solution?

Joel Embiid is the best center in basketball. Even with the ongoing injuries, trading him is a big risk for Philadelphia, especially given the position that they’re in right now. They made the trades and signings that they did over the last few years so that they can compete for a championship right now. I’d say you have a better shot at doing that with Embiid leading the charge rather than Simmons. There are other aspects of Ben’s game that ought to be expanded upon that I don’t think can be accomplished with the 76ers as they are currently constructed. Whereas with Embiid, he’s about as good as he’s going to get, and statistically, the team is better with him on the court and Simmons off, as opposed to the other way around. Regardless, the fact that we’re at the point where Philly will ultimately have to pick which star to keep points out that they have failed to properly rebuild the team.

In the end, the truth about the Philadelphia 76ers is that the lack of fit between their two all-stars is just the most glaring of a number of problems that the organization has failed to resolve over the course of the past few seasons, which is what has them where they are right now. A team full of talent, with championship potential unlikely to be tapped into due to a lack of identity, direction, and cohesion. The good news for them is that there may still be a scenario where things could work out and a championship is won. However, I believe it would involve a new head coach, and a very risky but necessary trade involving one of your star players (I would trade Simmons, but really it could go either way).