USA TODAY International Edition
76ers in trouble now, later as hard decisions loom
The COVID- 19 pandemic has distorted time.
The 76ers were a bounce and overtime victory away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals last season. It might as well be a lifetime ago.
Today, the Sixers are two games from getting bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the first round after losing to the Celtics on Wednesday and falling to 0- 2 in the best- of- seven series.
Not only are they no closer to a conference championship than they were last season, they are headed in the opposite direction. And the long- term prospects aren’t encouraging either.
The micro is problematic and so is the macro, and while Ben Simmons is missed, it’s doubtful his presence would change the outcome of this series.
So what next for the Sixers in a conference that will improve at the top with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant available for Brooklyn next season?
The Sixers have two outstanding players in Joel Embiid and Simmons who bring unique skills to the court but have limitations. Embiid is an oldschool center in a small- ball world, and while he can step out and shoot threes, the league is not built around those kind of centers. Simmons is an extraordinary playmaker and defender who can’t shoot 3- pointers.
The two players need a bridge to make it work. That player was Jimmy Butler, who decision- makers were told was the guy you spend big money on to make all the other big- money contracts work. Just look at the impact Butler has had on the Heat.
The Sixers didn’t go that route. Instead, they overpaid Tobias Harris on a five- year, $ 180 million deal. Good for Harris. Bad for the Sixers, who gave max money to a No. 3 or No. 4 and are stuck with that contract. They also have Al Horford on the books for three more seasons at $ 27 million per year, in addition to $ 30 million- plus a season on average going to Simmons and Embiid for the next three years.
But it’s not just one or two decisions that have derailed the Sixers. They are dealing with the fallout of multiple mistakes.
What does Philadelphia do next? General manager Elton Brand is smart and respected and has to bail out of decisions made by executives before him.
Replacing Brett Brown as coach might be the easiest route in the short term. Keep the main pieces of the roster intact and see what a new coach with a different style and approach can do. His winning percentage has hovered around .600 the past three seasons and his work early in his tenure when the Sixers couldn’t win 20 games in a season was valuable. He maintained an impressive disposition focused on development. But in the previous two seasons, the Sixers didn’t advance beyond the second round.
The more difficult move – the riskier move – is a roster shake- up involving Simmons or Embiid. That won’t be easy either, given their limitations.
The Sixers thought they had a window to compete for a championship, and perhaps they still do with the right moves. But that window has closed more and sooner than they thought it would given everything they did to get players they thought would help them win a championship.