Overall Thoughts on This Year of the Philadelphia 76ers
Felt like writing out my thoughts on this topic to try to cope with the dreadful current state of the Philadelphia 76ers…
2019 Free Agency
After painfully losing to Toronto and seeing them raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the message for the Sixers was clear: Run It Back. Philly had the main pieces in place for what it took to win. Philly traded a bunch of assets to assemble that core. The team just needed a little more depth, and time to grow and gel together. It also helped that it appeared top teams in the conference like Boston and Toronto were about to become weaker.
The priority was to at least re-sign the better player who was more important to the team. That was Jimmy Butler The Third. Worst case was that maybe Harris and Redick walked, but even there I would still feel comfortable keeping and building around that big three. Butler was the perfect fit for what the Sixers needed. He could create his own shots, he could be the guy to take the ball in the clutch, he could defend guards and wings with success, and he could get the best out of Embiid and other teammates.
I vividly remember the start of free agency. I just got back home from my internship, eager to constantly check for notifications on my phone and watch the coverage on TV. When I saw Harris was resigning, I was curiously pleased. I was not sure if there would be enough room for him, but I was happy, thinking it meant we could keep him and Butler. That made it not as shocking to see Redick leave and I did not blame him for the money New Orleans offered.
Then, what felt like after hours of anxiously waiting for the Butler resign, I get the notification: Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat for four years. It was the most crushed I felt since the Kawhi shot.
It took awhile to set in when the news came soon after the move meant trading for Richardson and signing Horford. The team I wanted to run it back had just drastically changed in one evening. I tried hard to remain optimistic and think of the situation as a nice Plan B option. The conference seemed up for grabs and we had a shot, but I never understood why many Sixers fans thought this was a better team than the year before.
2019-2020 Season Results
My main concern became who would replace Butler’s role. Who would become the man that could create his own shots and take over in the clutch? Would the team have someone to rally them if things needed improvement? And if no one could fill that role, could the Sixers still win the conference? I did not know if these would be fulfilled, but I definitely did not expect things to be this bad.
Horford was embarrassing. Trying to play him, Embiid and Simmons at the same time was even worse. Issues with shooting, spacing and shot creating grew to be as big as ever. Harris, who was expected to have a better season because he would get more touches and more opportunities, did not improve. The bench, that was suppose to be better and deeper, did not live up to standards. Even with Horford, the team still struggled with Embiid off the court.
Is Elton Brand and the front office part of to blame for this? Yes. But after I have defended Brett Brown every single year, this season was the breaking point. Even with new players, it was the same old mistakes. No in-game adjustments, terrible pick-and-roll defense, lineups and player usages that did not make sense, and the players did not seem to respond to him well.
After all of this, there was still a chance to change and bring the city hope during a pandemic that has affected millions. A healthy Sixers squad had a chance for redemption in the bubble. They could silence all of the critiques, change things around and salvage the season. Fans became optimistic once again, only to see their hopes and dreams crushed even harder than before.
What Now?
The “bright future” for the Sixers we’ve been wanting for the past seven years has been squandered. There is a lot of change that needs to be made, but it cannot be guaranteed this will get the organization back to where it was before this year.
First off, Brett Brown will be gone. I thank him for putting up with the process and his contributions for improving the team. He is a great person and has a good basketball mind, I wish him the best of luck moving forward and hope he can find a coaching job elsewhere. There is not anyone specific I want to replace him, as long as the new coach can actually make adjustments and be able to motivate the team.
I would also be open to moving on from Elton Brand, but I am not sure if that will end up happening. I am not as upset with him if the Keith Pompey report is true that Brett Brown did not want to resign Butler. Brand has made moves to show he will make changes when needed in order to try to help the Sixers win. However, with signing Harris and Horford to that much money and seeing the results, he has probably tried too hard. There has to be at least some sort of front office change.
It will be tricky to come up with what the roster should be like next year. I want to see Horford gone, at any costs. There cannot be someone with that contract, such little production and lack of fit on the team. Send him and some late draft picks to a team who can eat his contract if needed. When it comes to Harris, I am more up in the air. Yes, the contract is horrible, and if a team is willing to trade for him I would be totally open to it. But, he has shown his talent at times and is a well-respected player by his teammates. If no one wants him, I am not totally against giving him one more year with a new coach and seeing if the coach can improve him. Overall, I think the best scenario would be to use these guys to help trade for a star who can be the new Jimmy Butler, if that player cannot be signed in free agency.
Ideally, I would like have a bench going forward with Burks, Milton, Thybulle, and Robinson. I think they can all contribute well. The rest of the bench I do not really care whether they stay or go. No one else has seemed to be able to consistently contribute.
Finally, I will end with this thought: Embiid and Simmons are not the problems and they never have been. They are two superstars who can be the foundation of this team for a long time. They just need some help. I will refuse to listen to anyone who wants to try to move on from them.
Buckle up, Sixers fans. Changes are coming.
