An Update On the Process
In the 2011–2012 season, the Philadelphia 76ers sported a roster featuring all-star Andre Iguodala and future all-star Jrue Holiday. Despite going 35–31 in the lockout-shortened season, they managed to make the eighth seed and upset the first seed Chicago Bulls before falling to Boston in the second round. Shouldering the injuries to Andrew Bynum, the Sixers then finished 34–48 in the 2012–2013 season.
Then on May 14, Sam Hinkie was hired to be the General Manager of the organization. He laid out a long-term plan to escape the NBA purgatory of being “too bad to compete for titles, too good for top draft picks”. Hinkie’s plan was to collect draft assets and hope to draft a superstar who would lead the team to titles.
Over seven years after the hiring of Sam Hinkie and as the draft picks that he collected turned into players, the Sixers are met at a crossroads after having made two massive signings in the 2019 off-season.
In some ways, “The Process” has worked, the Sixers now have Joel Embiid, one the league’s best big men along with Ben Simmons who, beyond being one of the leagues best playmakers, is also one of the league’s premier defenders having notched first-team all-defense honors in the 19–20 season.
During the 2020 season, the Sixers defense flourished finishing 8th in defensive rating. As expected, the size of the team caused trouble for many teams along with the wings in Josh Richardson and rookie Mattise Thybulle who played a big role in playing meaningful defense. Ben Simmons emerged as a versatile defender who could guard elite perimeter players such as Damian Lillard while also being able to hold his own in the paint against players such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Domantas Sabonis.
However, on the other side of the court, the Sixers struggled greatly with shooting 3-pointers and spacing. Both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons’ talents couldn’t be maximized as the talent around them simply wasn’t compatible. Every time Embiid got the ball in the paint, he got double-teamed with minimal options on the perimeter to capitalize on the lack of coverage. Simmons also had no shooters to pass out to during transition play despite leading the league in the previous year for assists leading to three-pointers.
During the 2019 offseason, the direction of the Sixers roster construction was to go big, signing former all-star center Al Horford to slot in at the four and power forward Tobias Harris to be a small forward resulting in a massive roster where the “smallest” player would be Josh Richardson at shooting guard standing at 6'6".
Elton Brand, the General Manager of the Sixers, noted two important reasons behind the signing of Al Horford. One is that any team wanting to come out of the Eastern Conference would have to face the Milwaukee Bucks and Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brand noted that the size would allow the Sixers to essentially build a wall between Antetokounmpo and the rim which was a strategy that the Toronto Raptors used effectively to neutralize the Greek Freak. Another reason that Horford was signed according to Brand, was to serve as an injury replacement for Joel Embiid when he inevitably misses some games due to load management or injury. The absence of Joel Embiid was a significant weakness that the Sixers needed to address as in the previous season, the Sixers back up big men and as a result, the whole team struggled significantly without Joel on the court.
Meanwhile, Tobias Harris was signed with the hopes of becoming a border-line all-star player who could catch and shoot 3’s off kickouts from Simmons and Embiid and become a secondary scoring option behind Embiid.
After enduring a disappointing regular season where the Sixers stayed in the middle of the pack in the East (in large part to their confusingly impressive league-leading 31–4 home record), the Sixers were quickly dispatched by the Boston Celtics in a quick 4 games during the playoffs. Despite Ben Simmon’s absence due to injury, many expected the series to be much more competitive than it actually was.
Now that we are here, at the end of the 2020 season for the Sixers, the front office has already made some significant changes firing Brett Brown after his 7-year tenure with the team. The team has quite a few options for the head coaching job including former Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, Assistant Coach for the Clippers and former coach of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers Tyrone Lue, and Former Thunder coach Billy Donovan.
D’Anotni’s fast-paced, shooting focused offense is not possible with the current roster construction. However, under the guidance of D’Antoni, Russell Westbrook became an effective off-ball player despite struggling in his shooting. If the Sixers manage to get a competent ball-handler such that Ben Simmons would play off-ball more, D’Antoni may be able to capitalize on this opportunity.
Donovan made good work of an OKC roster that was expected to be mediocre at best and won Coach of the Year in the 2019–2020 season. Donovans' offensive schemes that center around the high post and elbow could be a positive that utilizes the strengths of Joel Embiid. Donovans’ experience working with Russell Westbrook, who has similar strengths and weaknesses to Ben Simmons, should also come in handy.
Tyrone Lue’s biggest strengths lie with his off-court abilities being able to deal with superstars and hold them accountable. Although Lue’s defensive schemes suffer, given the wealth of defensive talent that the Sixers have, the effects should be less pronounced than the post-LeBron Cavs.
Regardless of the coach that is selected, expect the roster to change along with it. Al Horford and Tobias Harris should be shopped around for either a guard that can play off-ball such as a Chris Paul or a 3-point specialist such as Buddy Hield. If the Sixers can fill their needs without giving up too much, Sixer fans may have a positive season to look forward to.
Let's also address the elephant in the room. Despite what many NBA fans think is the right direction forward for the Sixers, they probably won't trade Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid unless either of them requests one. The two are expected to remain together until at least 2023 when Embiid is a free agent. If the front office is able to construct a competent roster around the two that complement their elite talent, we should expect the team to become more competitive.
How these past seasons and the decisions within the front office that lead to this current situation will be viewed in the future depends on how the next season pans out. This could be seen as a mere kink in the road or an obstacle Joel and Simmons had to face on their way to a three-peat, or another case of “what if”.
