July 29, 2024
John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports
Joel Embiid's first Olympic outing did not go as planned for the former NBA MVP.
As we prepare for July to turn into August and await one or two more Sixers transactions before gearing up for training camp, here are five thoughts on the state of the team:
Team USA began its slate of games in Men's Basketball on Sunday morning, and despite winning handily over three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and Serbia, Embiid had a poor showing as he continues what appears to be a tremendously difficult transition to international play.
Embiid's opening minutes were particularly rough, as he missed an open jumper as well as a pair of free throws, had a silly turnover and gave up a few baskets at the rim. Team USA head coach Steve Kerr quickly removed Embiid from the game and inserted Los Angeles Lakers superstar big Anthony Davis, who many believe should be Kerr's starting center moving forward.
The adjustment being this trying for Embiid has been surprising, but nobody should be remotely shocked if he is soon able to acclimate around a star-studded group of teammates and use his rare size, strength and skill to dominate opposing frontcourts. The key question right now: how much patience will Kerr have for Embiid's continued adjustment
The Sixers have 13 players on standard NBA contracts at this juncture, leaving two spots available for potential free agents. Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, however, has repeatedly indicated that the team plans to leave a roster spot open when the season begins. This means the team will likely only sign one more player to a standard deal between now and the start of training camp.
Why not sign a 15th man before the season begins? The Sixers often view all of their decisions through the lens of maximizing their optionality and flexibility, and leaving a roster spot open gives them that optionality moving forward.
Two examples: if a key player suffers a serious injury and the team needs a specific type of player to fill in that is not currently on the roster, they have the ability to add someone who fits the billing as a free agent without subtracting anyone, and if a trade opportunity presents itself, they can acquire more players than they send out.
The widespread expectation is that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's regular starting lineup will consist of Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, along with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin. Of course, no team starts the same unit for 82 consecutive games, particularly not a Sixers team that expects Embiid to miss a significant amount of time as he aims to be at full strength when April comes around.
But, even while disregarding inevitable injuries, the vast majority of teams change their primary starting lineup at least once over the course of an NBA regular season. It is an interesting thought exercise to wonder what Nurse will do if he is not pleased with the production from the Maxey-Oubre-George-Martin-Embiid unit.
If Oubre shoots the ball well from beyond the arc, he likely has to remain in the starting lineup because he simply provides too many qualities to bench. But if he is struggling as a three-point shooter, he could be optimized in a bench role that allows him to be featured with the ball in his hands more often. Martin is their most credible power forward, so removing him from the starting lineup would be difficult, likely pushing George to a slot that may not be kind to him from a physical perspective.
The most obvious option to insert into the starting five is likely Kyle Lowry, who started for most of his time with the team last seasons and has the requisite skills to fit into any lineup in just about whatever role is necessary. But if Oubre was to move to the bench, could Nurse instead plug Eric Gordon into that grouping to maximize its spacing?
The Sixers hope these discussions will prove pointless, but it is the kind of thing organizations and coaching staffs must consider as they craft a roster and prepare a rotation.
Unless the Sixers sign a center with the last roster spot they plan on using before the season begins, they will enter the season with three players who are nominally centers: Embiid, Andre Drummond and rookie second-round pick Adem Bona.
Drummond is without question an excellent backup center, but given the frequency with which Embiid misses time, the Sixers need their third-string five to be capable of logging significant minutes at a moment's notice. Bona showed a lot of impressive traits during this month's NBA Summer League, but also displayed plenty of causes for concern about his viability as a rotation big in the short-term. He constantly finds himself fouling his opponents on defense and has little utility beyond screening and rolling on offense.
If the team does not add another center to the mix and Nurse deems Bona unprepared for NBA minutes, perhaps his true third-string center will be KJ Martin, who returned to the team on a two-year, $16 million with a non-guaranteed second season which makes him a significant factor in future trade talks.
Martin is listed at just 6-foot-6 and does not have an impressive wingspan, but is extremely strong for his size and displayed some intriguing chops as a short-roll passer in spot minutes at the five during Embiid's lengthy absence in the final months of the regular season.
Martin is a solid rebounder relative to like-sized players, but not when compared to true centers, so this arrangement would likely only be viable against small-ball lineups without a powerful center.
Most NBA teams put a significant emphasis on building a strong G League program these days, and the Sixers take developing players in Delaware very seriously. So, who might appear for the Blue Coats next season?
The Sixers have signed the maximum three players to two-way contracts. I expected Jeff Dowtin Jr. to spend most of his time with the Sixers and not the Blue Coats, but the Reggie Jackson signing could complicate that picture a bit. Justin Edwards and David Jones do not feel like players who will be relied upon in the NBA at any point this season, barring a catastrophic amount of injuries. Perhaps if they perform well in Delaware and earn a few spot appearances later in the season, they could be in play for a roster spot next year if not a second two-way deal.
Soon after the conclusion of last month's NBA Draft, the team signed Rice center Max Fiedler to an Exhibit 10 contract. E10s are essentially training camp deals that give the player a signing bonus should they eventually report to the team's G League affiliate. Fiedler is not a high-volume scorer whatsoever, instead operating as a hub of offense. He averaged nearly as many assists as he did shot attempts in his final collegiate season.
The team would surely love to keep Summer League standouts Judah Mintz and Keve Aluma in the fold if possible, but it is unclear if they will be able to. Mintz could be drawing two-way interest from other teams, and Aluma's contract status overseas appears murky.
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