With a victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers moved above the .500 mark once again, refusing to dip below that threshold as has been the case all season long. And this, while it may sound like an underwhelming goal for a team that was a title contender just a year ago, is an impressive accomplishment when you consider the COVID outbreaks which have caused temporary absences of several players... not to mention the season-long absence of one other player.
That player, of course, is Ben Simmons. No introduction needed — you all know the deal.
With Simmons playing for most of the 2020-21 season, aside from some missed games here and there, the 76ers held the NBA's second best defensive rating (107.6) and a top-five net rating (+5.6). With him on the sidelines, but with largely the same cast of characters on the court aside from Simmons in the 2021-22 season, the Sixers are in the bottom 12 in both defensive rating (110.2) and net rating (-0.9).
Of course, we can't attribute all of this to Simmons' absence. The fact that the 76ers seem to have played short-handed more often than not would likely be as important, if not more important, of a factor in the equation. For instance, when Joel Embiid was healthy to start the year and Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry and company were firing on all cylinders, the Sixers ripped off an 8-2 record out of the gate. Perhaps an even simpler way to view it? When Embiid plays, they're 13-7. When he doesn't, they're 3-8. Who knows if Simmons would fix that? This team has always looked lost without the big man on the floor.
But if you're of the same mind set as Doc Rivers, it'd be foolish not to think that this would be a better team with Simmons on the floor. Ahead of Embiid's dominant effort in the win over the Celtics, Rivers talked about the absence of his polarizing guard.
If the team doesn't know who they are at this point — and you can't really blame Rivers for feeling this way — then they won't know who they are until Simmons is either dealt or, in the much less likely scenario, decides to return to the team. No matter what temporary fill-ins they search for, that lone elephant in the room will keep Philly from reaching anywhere near its full potential until it's dealt with.
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But as far as those aforementioned fill-in players go, the Sixers will do their due diligence. In fact, they've already done so, bringing in veteran guard Tyler Johnson on a 10-day contract under the NBA's hardship allowance, which allows teams to go over the 15-player limit when several pieces are sick or injured. Given the current COVID situation, several teams should be able to use this allowance and fill in some gaps.
Johnson played 39 games for last year's Brooklyn Nets and has made much of his living in the NBA as a good shooter from deep who can play both guard positions. He ultimately got the nod from Philly, though it sounds like there were some other players vying for Rivers' attention. The only problem? They were just a tad older than the 29-year-old Johnson... and may have been a lot older, based on Rivers' descriptions.
I mean, hey... if one of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett wants to give it another shot and play for their former coach, I'm all for it.
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