A guide for a successful sixers offseason
Ethan Montague
Fresh off a frustrating loss to the Miami Heat in six games, the Philadelphia 76ers have now lost in the second round in four-of-the-last-five seasons. While multiple members of the organization, including Tobias Harris, will cite “mental toughness” as reasons for the defeat the reality is that, besides Embiid not being 100 percent, the roster simply isn’t as physically tough as the Miami Heat or other contenders like Milwaukee and Boston. While the Sixers do have a few tough guys, as Embiid played through a torn thumb ligament, broken orbital bone in his face, and likely still felt effects from his concussion, the rest of the team is lacking here. Not only is Tobias Harris undersized at power forward, but just about every other position besides point guard James Harden is either too small or too skinny to match other teams size at the same position. And no, trading undersized star shooting guard Tyrese Maxey is obviously not a solution but adding weight and height at other positions, and to the horribly tiny bench, can be a solution.
Before looking at anything else, the difference in this series was decided by extra Heat possessions alone. Obviously more rebounds and less turnovers means more shots than the other team, which was a pretty big advantage in a series decided by 7.7 points a game. Meaning about three-of-four shots a game could be the difference between winning or losing. The Heat grabbed 42.5 rebounds a game, 6.3 more than the Sixers 36.2. The Heat averaged 12.2 turnovers a game to the Sixers 14, about another two shots a game here.
So overall the Heat got 8.1 more possessions a game in a series they won by 7.7 points. While more mental toughness might help a little it's hard to imagine it making a 8.1 possession a game swing.
So what can the Sixers do, because newly acquired James Harden, young star Tyrese Maxey, and MVP caliber player Joel Embiid are clearly the team's core and not going anywhere. All three excel with the ball in their hands and can easily drop 20 points on any given night or in Hardens case drop 15 assists, so the teams offense will be fine, as long as the role players can play without the ball offensively and preferably are around average three point shooters.
Tobias Harris is another slow, methodical player like Embiid and Harden, and is probably overkill as an offense first guy who doesn’t excel defensively or on the glass. Matisse Thybulle helps with the defense significantly but gives nothing on offense and is poor on the glass. Danny Green is 34-years-old and just tore both his ACL and MCL. Shake Milton, George Niang, and Furkan Korkmaz are offense first role players who don’t have strong defense or rebounding capabilities. So all of these guys, besides Danny Green, if he can come back healthy and Thybulle, probably have more value to teams strong on defense but lacking bench shooting.
But what players, or at least types of players, could be available that can fill the Sixers needs. Well it appears there might be two already on the roster, forward Paul Reed and center Charles Bassey. While these are in extremely small sample sizes, both appear to be hustle and defensive menaces, which is exactly what the Sixers have been missing. Reed, per 36 minutes of game time, the average time important starters will play in a game, averaged 11 rebounds, 3.9 steals, and a solid 1.7 blocks. Bassey averaged 13.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 3.6 blocks in this 36 minute extrapolation. While it seems unlikely in more consistent minutes that either would keep up the massive amounts of steals and blocks, respectively, it likewise appears unlikely that either would stop being the defensive studs that they have been so far. So Reed can likely play a larger role off the bench while Bassey could easily fill the backup center role behind Embiid.
Neither are good when it comes to scoring but if they can just make open shots and their free throws it would be a bonus on this team. That said, Reed did shoot below 50 percent on free throws, which is hugely problematic, but also showed some promise as a three point shooter.
So with Tobias, Matisse, Shake, Niang, and Furkan as the primary trade chips, what out there can the Sixers afford? Well the best player who realistically might be affordable and fills a need is probably Pascal Siakam. As the Raptors are caught between contending and rebuilding they could look to move some of their players for young guys and picks. Tobias, Matisse, and Shake works in a trade from a financial standpoint and Tobias can fill Siakams role while giving the Raptors two young guys on cheap contracts who can contribute. The Sixers could also throw in a first and some seconds to sweeten the deal for the Raptors. If the Raptors won’t part with Siakam perhaps Gary Trent Jr., could be moved for Danny Green, whose contract is unguaranteed if cut before July 1, Matisse Thybulle, and Shake Milton. Trent is an excellent three-point-shooter and an aggressive perimeter defender who can bring the hustle the Sixers currently lack. A similar trade could bring in KCP or Kyle Kuzma from the Washington Wizards.
If the team is able to bring in Pascal Siakam, or a similar high level starter who can hustle and defend, as well as a similar player to Trent, KCP, or Kuzma, it's hard to imagine the Heat having such a big advantage in toughness and thus at least makes it a much closer series.
Only time will tell if Sixers general manager Daryl Morey is able to retool the roster successfully and give Joel Embiid a chance to carry Philadelphia to a championship.
