In recent years I’ve written about the Sixers in a personable way. The various frustrations. The very little enjoyment. How it feels to watch them from a fan’s perspective. That’s going to continue. If anything, I plan to write more about them, further investing myself into this seemingly damaged franchise. As the dust has settled on another second-round exit, I have rose-colored glasses once again. It helps that they hired a coach who feels like the right person for the job, but that’s far from the only reason.
Major decisions will happen over the next couple of weeks, give or take. As we’ve seen in the past, NBA free agency is typically over by the Fourth of July, even if contracts aren’t officially signed until after.
There are only so many off seasons left during Joel Embiid’s prime. He’ll be 30 by the next playoffs, which is hard to comprehend. I won’t be the first person to say he’s yet to be fully healthy for a postseason and the sour taste of Game 7 continues to linger (that stench isn’t going away anytime soon), but any person who claims Philly should trade him is silly. The idea that Philadelphia should take a step back this year if they don’t bring back James Harden to go after a star next offseason is impractical, too. The scenario that sees Harden walk away for basically nothing gives the Sixers some cap space (more on Tobias Harris, soon). I don’t think targeting a star per say is the move (Bradley Beal). Yes, you need star players to win, but look at the Finals this year. Denver will be relevant for the foreseeable future, but there have been five consecutive unique champions (Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets), and although it wouldn’t be a shock if the Nuggets and the Bucks win next year’s title, there are decent odds we’ll see another new champion in 2024. A stretch of six consecutive unique champions has never happened in the history of the league. As we enter this new CBA with plenty of restrictions on tax teams it’s become more imperative to have the right players around a star player. We know how that’s ended before, but if Embiid is as good as we believe he can be—he’ll get over the hump. He must.
It’s easy to see the landscape and be discouraged with any potential Harris trade. There doesn’t seem to be many practical partners, but I believe there are certainly avenues out there that could either provide Philly flexibility to sign a free agent (or two) if Harden indeed walks, or a player or two that fits better alongside the Harden/Embiid/Maxey trio. Ideally, they’ll still have enough space to bring back Paul Reed and Jalen McDaniels. It’s just all about how the players fit, after all.
The NBA draft makes sense as a possible event where a Harris trade could happen. I’m firmly in the camp that Harden would rather see Harris traded, and I’m also in the camp that if Harden does leave, Daryl Morey has a plan in place to free up immediate cap space for the Sixers to go after Fred VanVleet or another free agent. So, in my view, we’re simply waiting on what direction the Sixers go in with a Harris trade.
Nick Nurse seems like a wonderful motivator, in addition to being a solid enough innovator. He won’t be afraid to try things which will be encouraging. I can’t be a hypocrite, though. Doc Rivers or Brett Brown aren’t the reasons why this team has failed to make it past the second round. Coaching helps. It’s greatly important. We saw it with the Miami Heat. Nurse will be a breath of fresh air, there’s no doubt about it. There’s plenty of optimism just with the addition of him and his growing coaching staff. But at some point, the players need to get the job done.
It’s Embiid. It’s Maxey. It’s whoever else will be on this roster come July.
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