Deadline Drama: Sixers add shooters amid recent road struggles
Do ya’ll remember after the 2019 NBA draft, Sixers’ General Manager Elton Brand addressed the media, saying “it’ll make sense soon” when referring to how the Sixers handled the draft and their upcoming free agency plans? Draft wise, the Sixers turned five picks into two players in Matisse Thybulle and Marial Shayok. On the free agency side of things, the Sixers resigned Tobias Harris to a max-contract while bringing in veteran big man Al Horford on a lucrative deal as well. Now, fast-forward about eight months and we’re still waiting for it to make sense soon as the Sixers sit in the sixth seed of the Eastern Conference with less than several hours remaining before the trade deadline (3 p.m. Thursday).
Several nights ago, the Philadelphia 76ers (31-20) were embarrassed in Miami, as the Heat (34-15) rolled all over them to a tune of a 31-point drumming that has left Sixers fans with more questions than answers. Jimmy Butler poured in a season-high 38 points, in just three quarters, against his former team, who at the moment look disinterested, unmotivated, and just plain awful during this most recent road stretch.
“We were soft,” Ben Simmons said after the team’s third straight double-digit road loss. “The physicality side of things, we gotta step that up. That comes with experience, also just comes with personality. Don’t get bullied. Fight over screens, get through screens. If you gotta knock somebody over, knock ’em over. If you gotta hit somebody in the face and knock ’em down so they don’t score, hit ’em in the face.”
Simmons, who put up 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, didn’t help with the soft narrative, as the two time All-star posted a plus/minus of -31, his worst of the season. Joel Embiid put up an impressive 29 points and 12 rebounds, but also disappeared after halftime, as he only took four shots in the second half. Meanwhile, our two big free agency splashes, Tobias Harris and Al Horford, each scored six points on a combined 29 percent shooting from the field.
The Sixers, who are still an NBA best 22-2 at home, are 8-10 since Christmas and are now 9-18 on the road. It’s the worst road win percentage (.333) by a team that has won over 90% of its home games since the NBA/ABA Merger (1976-1977).
They find themselves 12.5 games back of the top seed Milwaukee Bucks, and 4.5 back of the third seed Boston Celtics. At this point, if the season ended today, the Sixers would not have the one thing going for them heading into the playoffs: home-court advantage.
With the recent struggles, numerous rumors and speculations have arisen, varying all the way from trading Embiid or Simmons, to firing Brett Brown.
Well, although it wasn’t a massive trade, a deal did go down involving the Sixers and the Golden State Warriors last night. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers will receive Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III from the Warriors in exchange for three future second-round picks (Dallas’ 2020 pick, Denver’s’ 2021 pick, and Toronto’s 2022 pick).
Although Burks and Robinson III aren’t the sexiest names on the trade market, they directly address a major need for this Sixers team: Shooting. Both of the wings are averaging career-highs in scoring this season while also shooting over 37 percent from beyond the arc. For a team like the Sixers that ranks 21st in the league in 3-point percentage, and 23rd in 3-pointers made per game, this deal makes sense as they upgraded the shooters around Embiid and Simmons for only three second-round picks. The Sixers must now make a decision and clear up two roster spots for the incoming sharpshooters.
With several hours remaining until the trade deadline, it’ll be interesting to see if the Sixers make any more moves.
Now, amid these last hectic trade deadline hours, let me be clear about one thing: trading Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons is not the answer, especially mid-season. Both are multiple time All-stars each below the age of 26. Eventually, if their pairing ultimately never ends up coming to fruition, the discussion can be brought up. But right now, I’m not willing to give up on two generational talents for a quick fix at the trade deadline.
However, moving on from Brett Brown seems more and more realistic with each loss. It appears Brown has lost this team and it sucks to see. I’ve always been a Brett Brown fan, as he was the one who was with us through the Process years and eventually got us to the playoffs.
But maybe that’s just it.
The Process years symbolize trials and tribulations that eventually lead to growth and improvement. However, with Brett Brown, things just seem to remain constant.
The Sixers are coming off two straight years of losing in the second-round and are now looking more like a first-round exit if they keep it up. Also, this time last year before the trade deadline, the Sixers had the same amount of losses (20) as they do now, so improvement hasn’t really been seen by a team that had championship aspirations coming into the season.
In reality, I don’t see the Sixers making another deadline deal that’s going to shake up the roster as the Burks and Robinson III trade significantly helps our shooting need.
But, maybe a head coaching change could light a fire under this team’s butt and give them the spark they need to wake up out of this slump. Still only several games back with Josh Richardson slated to return soon, the Sixers will look to get back on track as they travel to Milwaukee tonight to play the Bucks before returning home for three straight home games.
