Opening night. Possibilities endless. Imagination enormous. Championship aspirations.
The Philadelphia 76ers are back.
And I have some thoughts.
The new squad
PG - Ben Simmons
SG - Seth Curry
SF - Danny Green
PF - Tobias Harris
C - Joel Embiid
Bench: Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, Tyrese Maxey, Dwight Howard, Terrance Ferguson, Matisse Thybulle, Mike Scott
Goodbye Al Horford and Josh Richardson, hello Seth Curry and Danny Green. Did the Sixers get better? Yeah, they most likely did. Not a ton better, but they got better.
Their roster is structured much more like the days when they had good spacing with Robert Covington, Dario Saric, and JJ Redick—an offense that was always ranked among the league's best in efficiency.
Curry is by far the biggest addition and will play the Redick role. He's a career 44.3% three-point shooter, arguably the best in the league. Green, who is 33 now, is a still good, but slightly worse shooter than Curry, and a better defender. Both will help.
I think Tobias Harris is in line for a big year, as he'll get to play in the 4-spot for the majority of the season, creating a mismatch for himself offensively a lot of the time. Shake looks ready to take a leap as a player and become a big time NBA bench piece. It's hard to know what to expect out of Thybulle and Maxey.
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid
Since they have been drafted, this team is dependent on these two guys. I know it feels like we've had them forever in this city, but they're still incredibly young. Most players don't win in the NBA until they reach their late 20s. Embiid is just 26. Simmons isn't even 25 yet. Think about that. Their best basketball is still ahead of them and that is the number one reason to be excited about the Sixers.
Under Doc Rivers, I think we should expect to see both players' minutes per game creep up. In a 72-game season, there's no reason why Simmons, especially, shouldn't be playing 38+ minutes per game. He averages 34.3 for this career.
The James Harden / Ben Simmons trade rumors
This is a tough one and it's a really difficult, but fun, conversation. There are many factors to weigh when thinking about making this deal. Personally, my heart wants to see the Sixers ride it out with Simmons and Embiid. Yes, Harden with Embiid would make them more viable title contenders in the short-term, but it is still no certainty they can get passed the Bucks and/or the Nets and/or the Celtics in the East, let alone beat the Clippers or the Lakers in the Finals. That's still a stretch.
With Simmons, your ceiling remains sky high. Like I said before, Simmons' best basketball is ahead of him. His best career seasons will be age 26 to age 34. He's not there yet. Those are the years you really want to capitalize on Ben Simmons.
Does Daryl Morey really want to risk it all for another uphill championship run with Harden? What will his legacy be if he fails again with Harden? Sounds like he's enjoying sitting in an underdog, less pressured role situation this season.
"Yeah, I do think this is a team that can contend [for a title in 2020-21] " Morey told Jon Marks & Ike Reese on November 24th. "I like that, teams are—feels like we're coming from the underdog part of it. You don't have to go back about one year—towards the end of the season the Sixers were forecasted to be right there with Milwaukee in the East and everyone obviously did not play quite as well as that. I prefer to be in this spot, where everyone thinks we're like the sixth best team in the East and we'll shock people. So, I'm excited for that."
The East
The Eastern Conference is really tough this year. We got a glimpse of the healthy Brooklyn Nets last night and sheesh, they look good. They're probably the deepest team in the NBA and Kyrie and KD are just unguardable most nights. Milwaukee added Jrue Holiday and they're the consensus favorites to win the East with Giannis, and then you still have the Celtics, Heat, and Raptors.
Philadelphia is certainly in the mix to contend. The gap isn't that large when looking at the aforementioned six teams. Stay healthy, get hot, and play your best basketball down the stretch, and the Sixers have a chance. And as a fan, that's really all you can ask for. That's what makes it fun.
