I’m sure you’re all pretty tired of this Ben Simmons drama by now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s entertaining to follow along from an outside perspective, but as a Sixers fan, what’s going on is embarrassing, draining, and flat out annoying. Each day a new layer is revealed which seems to just put the disgruntled All-star into a deeper hole and into a worse standing with the home fans.
Still with all this going on, it’s crazy to think that the season already started, and the Sixers are 1-0. The same Sixers team that was the No. 1 seed last year in the East and had the best home record in the conference. The Ben Simmons situation has completely overshadowed a team that was dominant last year and has a chip on its shoulder after being bounced in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks.
So for now, we’re going to put the Ben Simmons talk aside and solely focus on the rest of this team who hopes to stay a contender in a new and improved Eastern Conference.
Here are four Sixers storylines to keep an eye on throughout the season.
1. Joel Embiid Revenge Tour
The best way to pivot off the Ben Simmons talk is to start with his substantially better teammate in Joel Embiid. After getting snubbed out of the MVP award last season, Joel Embiid is going to be coming for the MVP trophy hard this year. In 51 games last season, Embiid put up 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. He arguably put up the best season from a center we’ve seen since Shaq, but it just so happened that Nikola Jokic played just as well and played all 72 games last year. Embiid seems determine this year and with his co-star teammate taking a leave of absence from the team, he will only be relied on more to put up the dominant numbers we’ve all grown accustomed to.
2. Joel’s Knee
Alright, now that we got the good out of the way, I think it’s important to mention the largely glossed over elephant in the room that is Joel Embiid’s knee. Remember, last year in the playoff series against the Wizards, Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee which forced him to miss the final game of the first round series and slightly affected his play in the Hawks series.
After an offseason clouded by disappointment and drama from Ben, Joel’s knee injury kind of flew under the radar and it was reported that Embiid never opted to receive surgery for the knee over the summer. Instead Embiid went with the natural healing approach and reported to training camp saying his knee felt fine.
“It’s been fine,” Embiid said of his knee. “I’ve just been working out all summer. It’s been fine, no problems. I’m getting back to where I was and I feel pretty good.”
Although Embiid says he’s good, I’m still a little weary for the big man, even though the injury happened four months ago. We already saw on Wednesday’s opening night Embiid limping and coming out of the game to tend to that knee. I’m no doctor so I won’t make any assumptions, but him already playing limited minutes and getting his knee checked out every time he goes to the bench gives me a cause for concern.
3. Tyrese Maxey Starting Point God
So far, so good for the second-year guard as Tyrese Maxey looked more than confident running the point Wednesday night. The 20-year-old stepped right into the starting lineup and did not disappoint, putting up 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while leading the Sixers in 34 minutes played. Maxey, who impressed during the summer league and preseason games, has shown throughout the offseason his commitment in bettering his game and looks poised to take the next step for this team as a great fill-in and hopefully permanent role in the starting lineup. If the Sixers can consistently get the play he showed on opening night, they will have walked away with a huge steal from the 2020 NBA draft and hopefully a cornerstone they can depend on.
4. New and improved bench
When looking at this bench on paper, it at first doesn’t seem like anything to write home about. Half of the players are the same as last year and they only brought in two players via free agency to help in Andre Drummond and Georges Niang. But after seeing what I saw against the Pelicans, it got me excited for what this bench can become.
Starting with the FA additions, both Drummond and Niang provided needed depth and veteran leadership to a squad that lost both their vets this offseason in Dwight Howard and George Hill. Niang does a great job at stretching the floor as a forward and seems to have a favorite spot with that corner three. Drummond provides needed backup help to Embiid and is way more versatile than Dwight was as evidenced by his 17 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Then when you go down the names of the players who have been here, all of Thybulle, Korkmaz, Isaiah Joe, and hopefully Paul Reed can take a step up this season. On Wednesday it was Korkmaz who went off for 22 points while shooting 4-4 from 3pt, while Matisse provided his elite defense racking up four steals. As the season goes on, I see Doc Rivers going with the hot hand between Korkmaz and Joe with Paul Reed hopefully getting a sprinkle of more action after winning the G-League MVP award last season. For a team that has had question marks about its bench over the last couple years, this unit provides optimism and excitement for the upcoming season.
