Philadelphia 76ers Position Analysis Under Brett Brown: Part I Center

Oh Henry!

On the flip side, Henry Sims struggled.   Sims played well in the 2013-14 campaign, when he started for the Sixers 32 times in 2014-15, but also racked up a few DNP’s in the second half of the season and saw minutes cut from him as the Sixers looked at other big men.  In 2014-2015, his minutes continued to decline despite coming up on a new contract as he was in his last year.   Sims averaged 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2014-15 on 25 minutes per game.  Despite his somewhat reliable play, the Sixers anticipated needing to manufacturing minutes for their 2014 first round draft pick center Joel Hans-Embiid in the 2015 season.

In the 2014 draft, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted a huge center prospect in the form of Joel Embiid with the third overall pick.  However, he was known to be injured, a foot surgery that can be very problematic to tall men.  It was that injury that likely dropped Embiid out of the first overall projection to the Sixers at the third pick.

But it was that fall that brought the Sixers and Henry Sims to part ways at the end of the 2014 season.   And so, head coach Brett Brown would be called upon to coach up rookie Nerlens Noel and newly obtained Embiid for the 2015 season.  In fact, in anticipation of Embiids return to the active roster in 2015, Noel actually played the final  ten games of the season as the power forward for the team.

"“In the last 10 games or so, (head coach) Brett (Brown) has actually made me a power forward, with the thought that Joel would be at center next season. It’s different because I’ve been switching on pick-and-rolls and defending point guards. Brett (Brown) has even put me in isolation situations at the top of the key to try to win a game.” – Nerlens Noel at end of 2014-2015 season"

But sometimes things change, especially when you least expect them to do so.

Next: 2015 Okafor/Noel