Finally, some reason for optimism.

In Detroit on Saturday night, the Sixers nabbed their first complete victory of the season, defeating the Pistons 111-96 in a game that was essentially never in doubt. 

What stood out most was that a Sixers team which has so often looked overwhelmed and overmatched athletically this season was able to give significant minutes to terrific athletes. Their energy and defensive output were leaps and bounds better than usual, and it provides a roadmap for Sixers head coach Nick Nurse to help his second unit forge a new identity in the short-term.

As we kick off the week with 5 Sixers thoughts, here is a five-step plan to give the Sixers more juice:

MORE: Sixers-Pistons recap

Step 1: Put Jared McCain back in the starting lineup

This is not completely necessary to enact the rest of the adjustments I will detail, but I do believe that starting McCain alongside Tyrese Maxey remains the clear best course of action for a Sixers team which remained bottom-three in the NBA in Offensive Rating following Saturday's victory — the first time in eight games which McCain came off the bench. Even amid a three-game slump, McCain is too skilled as a shooter and scorer to leave out of the starting five.

The remainder of this plan is mostly unchanged if Nurse opts to keep McCain on the bench to open games; he will still check in quickly and play significant minutes. But given that the Sixers' outstanding rookie guard has already obliterated any and all expectations for what he could be so soon, it is worth giving him additional runway, both to make strides as a player and to make mistakes which will help him down the line.

Perhaps if the Sixers face a particularly difficult defensive matchup against three high-powered on-ball creators, starting Kelly Oubre Jr. over McCain could be wise. Otherwise, though, the Sixers should allow McCain to play through this cold streak and find the other side.

Step 2: Use McCain at backup point guard

After only logging a few minutes at point guard during the preseason, it was inconceivable five weeks ago that this could be a reasonable solution at any point in 2024-25. But McCain's ball-handling, advantage creation and passing ability have all proven to be far more advanced than anticipated, and Maxey's extended absence allowed him to get his feet wet as a primary ball-handler.

Since Kyle Lowry was sidelined with a right hip strain, Nurse stuck with fellow veteran point guard Reggie Jackson or two-way point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. to run the second unit behind Maxey. Oftentimes Jackson or Dowtin would share the floor with McCain during their minutes, though, and the rookie would be the one initiating most of the Sixers' offensive actions. Ultimately, Jackson and Dowtin served as trusted safety blankets for McCain as the rookie continued to learn how to handle such a significant role.

Jackson (right knee soreness) and Dowtin (G League) were both unavailable in Detroit, though, forcing Nurse to use McCain as his full-fledged backup point guard. And that could be the key to unlocking the best version of the current Sixers.

Nurse putting faith in McCain being able to serve as a true point guard for a few spurts each night would allow him to remove Jackson, a non-threat on the defensive end with limited athleticism, from his rotation — paving the way for someone capable of causing chaos to enter the fray. 

Not a dynamic playmaker for others during his lone collegiate season at Duke, the 20-year-old McCain has already exhibited significant growth when it comes to dissecting opposing coverages. He provided an example of his newfound thought process last month: 

"Instead of reading my defender, I'm reading the back-side defender, or not even reading the first help-side, I'm reading the second on the back-side, seeing if the big is pulling over, seeing if the help is crashing down to the baseline person or lift up to the wing and I can hit the wing when I'm driving baseline," McCain said. "Just reading defenses, I think it's going to come with time and watching film."

MORE: McCain talks reading defenses, earning respect

Step 3: Pair McCain with Paul George

In order to set up McCain to succeed during his minutes running the show with Maxey on the bench, Nurse should pair him with George, whose most helpful quality through nine games as a Sixer has been his ability to simply relieve his teammates of pressure to create. George commands the attention of all 10 eyes of an opposing defense, even when he is struggling to find a groove as a scorer, because of his reputation a three-level threat.

The passing chops George has shown in limited action — and the clear willingness he has exhibited to focus on creating for his teammates when needed — makes him a qualified secondary playmaker in any lineup:

George and McCain do not need to be tied to one another for the entirety of games, but when McCain is handling point guard duties, Nurse should ensure that George is out there with him to ease the burden.

As an example, I crafted what is very much a rough draft of a 48-minute rotation chart, merely to display that McCain can start alongside Maxey while also serving as his backup and having George on the floor during the stretches in which the rookie runs the show:

In the rotation chart above, Maxey plays 36 minutes, while McCain and George each play 31 minutes.

Step 4: Keep Guerschon Yabusele at the five exclusively

After the Sixers' near-upset win over the Houston Rockets, Nurse expressed excitement that the team looked organized with Yabusele at power forward, his natural position where he has rarely seen time as a Sixer due to Joel Embiid's multiple lengthy absences. Yabusele started alongside Andre Drummond against Houston and in Detroit, but just a few minutes into Saturday's game, Drummond suffered what appeared to be an extremely painful ankle sprain which held him out for the remainder of the contest.

It seems reasonable to expect that Drummond will at least miss some action. In the meantime, Yabusele must be used only as a center —]' with rookie Adem Bona serving as his primary backup. The absolute best version of the Sixers includes Embiid in the middle and Yabusele spending plenty of time alongside the former NBA MVP at the four, so Nurse's continued desire to see Yabusele log minutes at his typical position is understandable: Yabusele will likely return to that position in a world in which the Sixers make any sort of noise in the playoffs. 

But the Sixers have to actually get there first, and their clearest path to winning games in the short-term and reversing course after starting the season 4-14 is going small with Yabusele to enable the fifth and final step of this plan. 

Step 5: Bring athletic defenders off the bench

McCain serving as the Sixers' lone backup ball-handler and Yabusele spending all of his time at center accomplishes a crucial task: clearing out as many minutes as possible in between the one and the five for Nurse to fill with versatile, athletic defenders capable of mollifying the athletic deficiencies which have harmed the Sixers all season.

McCain absorbing Jackson's backup point guard minutes opens up one rotation spot for such a player. The Sixers can create a second bench slot by pulling the plug on the regular role of veteran Eric Gordon, a player who was brought to Philadelphia for his three-point shooting but is making just 23.8 percent of his long-range tries. The sample size remains small (42 attempts), but Gordon's failure to knock down open looks has caused his value to drastically diminish. He can certainly be a situational piece for Nurse to use throughout the season, but he may no longer be cut out for nightly playing time.

With Maxey, McCain, George, Caleb Martin and Yabusele making up a presumed starting five, Oubre serving as the team's sixth man and Bona logging some backup center minutes, going with two more players gets Nurse to a nine-man rotation, where he has typically preferred to be if all things are equal.

Let's get as much crazy athleticism in here as possible. Up first is KJ Martin, who is a better bet to guard close to the entire positional spectrum than any other Sixer thanks to his terrific speed and leaping ability. The fifth-year forward posted his best game as a Sixer on Saturday, continuing to take advantage of every opportunity presented to him: