2016-2017 Will Be A True Test For Brett Brown

Previously, the Philadelphia 76ers asked head coach Brett Brown to make a team from dissimilar pieces. In the 2016-2017 season, he will now be asked to make a winner out of a team

Head coach Brett Brown has been many things for the players of the Philadelphia 76ers: Mentor, Friend, Counselor, Disciplinarian, Motivator, Therapist, and sometimes even Ward Nurse.  But after three years, he has most seldom worn the hat of coach.

In the past, he was given a group of players to form a team.  Veterans would simply not be extended new contracts.  Rookies were given contracts, but oftentimes would arrive so raw that their play would not fully develop in that timespan.  Some players arrived with lengthy rehabilitation – the apex of that was the 2015-2016 season when Joel Embiid, Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall, and Carl Landry all began the season with lengthy rehabilitation periods to endure before playing.  Embiid is only now emerging well enough to begin five on five scrimmages.

More from Sixers News

• 3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball
• 76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster
• 76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this season
• Grade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock deal
• Breaking Down Bombshell Report on Sixers Star James Harden

Those situations forced Brown to make up the difference: create a team from the remaining pieces in a MacGyver-like fashion.  Isaiah Canaan to point guard.  Richaun Holmes to center, Robert Covington to power forward.  As players fell to injury, Brown tried to take the remaining shards and assemble a five-man group which would play cohesively enough to be competitive.

After a 10 win season, it’s time to try something new.

It’s evident in the results of the 2016 NBA Draft and the early results of NBA free agency that the team is piecing together a versatile, ball movement squad now.  Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Sergio Rodriguez all bring that flair for precision fast-paced ball movement to the open man coast to coast.  And Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Gerald Henderson,  Jerryd Bayless, and Furkan Korkmaz all possess the other half of the equation:  they have have above average perimeter shooting and defensive skills.

And so, while Brown will be given the chance to mentor younger players, he will not be forced into a pressure cooker situation to do so.  Brown is a responsible coach, he won’t throw his players under the bus until they demonstrate that they have the ability to handle the work load.  But he has not been given a chance to express his coaching ability to date.

It’s clear that the team’s personnel selection has been working from a shopping list of players most likely to excel on a Brett Brown team.  We’ve covered how the free agency moves, while not headliner names, bring key elements of veteran leadership lacking on the team in the past.

Now, the team will have a deep roster, reserves who deserve to play significant minutes because they have a good understanding of their role and the roles of the players around them.  The pieces are raw, but the potential is apparent even from the first summer league game:

The passing, catch and shoot, cut and shoot ball movement will only improve as the team brings in veteran players.  And that ball movement will motivate players to remain in the play even without the ball, as it’s movement is so quick they can instantly have ball in hand for the open shot.

Until now, the team insisted that the Philadelphia 76ers must move Jahlil Okafor because he doesn’t “fit” the team.  I don’t see that as accurate any longer.  With Okafor’s presence at the post, he’s the perfect catch and shoot presence in this pass-happy offense.   If the team needs to commit to a stronger defense, they can roll in Noel, Grant, and  Henderson and slow down the pace.

In fact, despite the verbal commitments of Brown to indicate that the team would likely deal a center before the season started, I think the team is committed to beginning the season intact now.  With the current roster, the team has the pieces in place to assemble an NBA Tall Ball lineup.

With the ball movement this squad can generate, it is likely it can compete favorably with small ball lineups.

Now, the team can test the quality of each player, determine who has potential to develop fully, and who will serve as a productive reserve player.  Thanks to the austerity endured to get the team here, the build of a championship team is fully underway.