One preseason game is in the books for the Sixers, who open their 2024-25 regular season schedule in two weeks. Today is Wednesday, and that means it's time to answer some of your questions. Let's get to it:
Instant observations: Young talent on display as Sixers win preseason opener
From @MilkshakeReaper: Thoughts on Kelly Oubre Jr.'s fit in the starting lineup?
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is expected to open the season starting Oubre alongside Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Caleb Martin and Joel Embiid — and he should give that five-man grouping significant runway to enable all of the players to become accustomed to playing with one another and get on the same page.
But if the Sixers' star trio of Maxey, George and Embiid can sustain good health, it is no secret that Oubre's offensive role will be scaled back compared to what it was for much of the 2023-24 season. There are fewer shots — and opportunities to generate rim pressure — to go around for role players like Oubre when a third All-Star like George enters the picture.
Oubre is clearly one of the five best players on this team. For that reason alone, the goal should be for him to remain a fixture in the starting five.
For the sake of a hypothetical, let's say Oubre and Martin are both having poor three-point shooting seasons and veteran sharpshooter Eric Gordon is playing well off the bench. The Sixers could consider sliding Gordon into the starting five, as his skillset makes him tailor-made to surround star talent.
MORE: Identifying alternative starting lineup options for the Sixers
If Oubre or Martin had to be moved to the bench, Oubre likely makes more sense -- Martin has more muscle and defensive versatility, while Oubre is a far superior scorer who could see increased touches in second-unit lineups. The same would be true if the Sixers eventually trade for another starting-caliber wing, perhaps one with more traditional power forward size than Martin has.
It is certainly not a lock that Oubre does not make it through the season as a starter. But of the five projected members of the Sixers' starting unit, he probably has the best chance of being moved to the bench at some point -- and even then, Oubre has all of the skills to be one of the more impactful reserves in the league. Whether he starts for the duration of the year or eventually moves to the bench, Oubre figures to be a critical component of the 2024-25 Sixers.
From @3005k: Is there a chance Adem Bona / Guerschon Yabusele get any real minutes this season or is that a pipe dream?
Yabusele receiving a fair share of minutes seems entirely plausible right now, while Bona seeing consistent action appears to be less in play.
Since he signed with the Sixers, all of the talk about Yabusele's potential minutes have been focused on the backup power forward slot, where there has been a widely-anticipated battle for playing time between Yabusele, KJ Martin and Ricky Council IV.
In the Sixers' first preseason game, Yabusele entered the action before KJ Martin or Council. But Yabusele wasn't playing the four, he was backing up Andre Drummond and playing center. A couple of hours earlier, Nurse had confirmed that he views Yabusele and KJ Martin as viable choices if the team needs to use a small-ball five. Embiid is going to miss a lot of games even if he stays healthy, so the Sixers need their third-string center to be reliable, and Nurse seems to view the 265-pound Yabusele as a quality option there.
"As far as the mentality, I think it's the same," Yabusele said Monday night when asked how his mindset changes when he slides up to the five. "It's just as far as the game-planning is going to be different. On defense, I have to be a little bit more active and be able to help the guys, then at the four, I think it's easier for me because we get to switch positions with the other guys."
Sixers soundbites: Jared McCain and Guerschon Yabusele reflect on preseason debuts
The key word from the last sentence above is "reliable." Because as much as the Sixers are intrigued by Bona's motor, physicality and athleticism, there remains plenty of work to be done before they will trust him to log serious playing time in the NBA. His foul rates in college were gargantuan and turned comical in Summer League; his offensive utility remains unclear beyond screening and rolling.
It is not an indictment on Bona's long-term prospects whatsoever, but it is difficult to imagine him being much of a contributor as a rookie -- though crazier things have certainly happened.
From @JimsBadTweets: Looking ahead to the trade deadline, do you think the Sixers’ assets will appreciate in value and do you have any creative options for whom they might pursue?
One of the reasons I think the Sixers were wise to hold onto their trade assets during the summer is that I believe those assets could become more tantalizing to other teams around the trade deadline in February than they are right now.
On the player side, KJ Martin has a real chance to rebuild his league-wide stock if he has a strong start to the season for the Sixers. Some believe he was signed as a "human trade exception," and while that might be true, the Sixers remain confident there is a quality NBA regular in there. If rookie guard Jared McCain receives an early opportunity to play and makes the most of it, his value could skyrocket -- see how much the Los Angeles Clippers valued Landry Shamet years ago.
5 Sixers thoughts: Taking stock of the team's trade assets, Adem Bona's contract structure and more
Speaking of the Clippers, the early returns on their George-less team will be of much interest to the Sixers. Los Angeles owes its 2028 first-round pick to the Sixers — totally unprotected — and the Sixers have the right to swap 2029 first-rounders with the Clippers (top-three protected). Teams very rarely trade unprotected first-rounders anymore; that 2028 pick should already be considered one of the most valuable future picks that has changed hands.
The Clippers just lost a nine-time All-Star in George, but have little to show for it: they are still old, they did not net any draft picks as George walked, and they already were starving for picks before trading that unprotected first and lightly-protected swap rights to the Sixers because they traded an enormous haul of picks — along with future MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — to the Oklahoma City Thunder in order to land George in the first place.
If the Clippers get off to a slow start in the hyper-competitive Western Conference — which seems very possible, especially because Kawhi Leonard is already dealing with injury concerns yet again — the value of the assets they gave the Sixers in last year's James Harden trade will become even more prized by rival teams.
Most who follow the Sixers will be checking the standings to see how the team stacks up against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. But the Sixers themselves will also be watching intently to see how things go at the brand new Intuit Dome, home of the suddenly-directionless Clippers.
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