Brand delivers. Now it’s Brown’s turn
76ers general manager adds pieces, coach has to make it work
PHILADELPHIA – The Raptors acquired center Marc Gasol at Thursday's NBA trade deadline and the Bucks picked up power forward Nikola Mirotic from the Pelicans, so those two top-tier Eastern Conference teams improved.
And the Celtics, despite their relatively up-and-down season, have the makings of a championship contender.
But by dealing for power forward Tobias Harris, as well as veteran reserves Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons, 76ers general manager Elton Brand has given coach Brett Brown a much more playoff-ready roster.
In essence, the pressure has shifted from Brand to Brown. Winning a round in the postseason is no longer acceptable. The Sixers need to be in the mix for the conference championship.
"To be a part of this type of core and the talent that's here already and to really be having our eyes set on a championship, it cranks it up to another level," Harris said during Thursday's news conference at the team's training facility. "I'm excited for it."
Harris is an offensive difference-maker with his terrific 3point shooting (a career-high 43.4 percent this season) and scoring ability (20.9 points). He makes the Sixers the only team in the league with all five starters — along with Ben Simmons, JJ Redick, Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid — averaging at least 17 points.
"Really dangerous," Harris said. "We got the total package, if you ask me. Seeing guys who can make defenses shift but at the same time have the unselfishness to make the right play out there is going to be key for us."
Harris said he prefers a motion offense that Brown used to run almost exclusively prior to the
Nov. 12 arrival of Butler, who is more if an isolation player.
Keeping the starters engaged at the offensive end could take some creativity on Brown's part. Embiid is the alpha male, but Redick, Butler and Harris need their touches, too. As the point guard, Simmons will continue to have the ball in his hands a great deal.
Who does Brown run a play for with the game on the line in the closing seconds? Will the others be OK if it's consistently not for them? We'll see.
Defense isn't a strong suit for Redick or Harris, so Embiid must stay out of foul trouble and remain an interior force.
Scott and Marjanovic, who arrived with Harris in a six-player trade from the Clippers that also cost the Sixers four draft picks (two of them first-rounders), should handle the bulk of the backup minutes at power forward and center.
Ennis, a 6-foot-7 small forward, is another perimeter shooter, hitting 37.6 percent of his 3-pointers this year, regarded as a solid defender. The Sixers secured him for a 2021 second-round pick swap with the Rockets.
Jonathon Simmons is a defensive-minded wing player who doesn't shoot well. The Sixers got Simmons, a protected 2020 first-round pick and a 2019 second-rounder for embattled former No. 1 overall selection Markelle Fultz.
The Sixers clearly wanted to move on from Fultz and his shoulder/other issues, which limited him to 33 games over his 1 1/2 seasons in Philadelphia.
I called for former GM Bryan Colangelo to trade up to No. 1 to get Fultz in the 2017 draft, which he did by giving up the No. 3 pick that year (Jayson Tatum) and the Kings' 2019 first-rounder to the Celtics.
I thought Fultz would be an ideal combo guard due to his ability to play on and off the ball, score inside and outside, and defend 1s and 2s. It didn't work out that way. Fultz appeared in just 33 regular-season games as a Sixer, scoring 155 points.
Neither Brand nor Brown spoke to the media Thursday because the trades for Ennis and Simmons weren't official yet.
Adding to Brown's degree of difficulty is that five of his 10 rotation players are new. Expect Butler to essentially be the backup point guard, allowing him to get the new wings on the floor more.
With only occasional practices and just 28 regular-season games remaining, starting Friday evening against the Nuggets, Brown has a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it.
The Sixers are 34-20, good enough for fifth in the conference. They went into Thursday night trailing the Celtics and Pacers by one game apiece.
Indiana, which lost star Victor Oladipo to a season-ending ruptured quad tendon, should fall off, but the Bucks, Raptors and Celtics appear to be viable contenders.
Brown's task is to ensure that the new-look Sixers are, too.