Philadelphia 76ers Position Analysis Under Brett Brown: Part II Power Forward Position

He’s been called Mentor, Head Coach, Life Trainer, Keystone, and by critics Anchor. But Which Is It? In this second part of the five part series, we look at the Philadelphia 76ers Position Analysis Under Brett Brown – the Power Forward Position

Whatever it is, whenever a complete rebuild is the ultimate goal, demolition is the first step. Reducing what was into rubble, to be pushed aside and from those ashes build from as much experience and lessons learned from the past mistakes. That’s the game plan to this Philadelphia 76ers team, whose woes have made headlines, and not in a good way, for the past three years. But as we had discussed in our part one of this five part series, fans have found the strength and the patience to endure through various methods. To some, this strategy has become something to ridicule, other’s have accepted the strategy in blind faith, while to others it represents the intricate chessboard strategy deployed by president and general manager Sam Hinkie to take a team on a ridiculous unavoidable decline and use that slope to create a team which, for the second straight season, has become one of the last to taste victory.

Each NBA rebuild has it’s share of detractors, but due to the pioneering effort of the Sixers to make this rebuild over multiple years, the Philadelphia 76ers have had more than their share. Despite his own team crumbling around him, Sacramento King’s George Karl felt righteous enough to slam the Philadelphia 76ers rebuild efforts as far back as 2014.   Neither the Kings nor the Sixers have appeared in post-season play over the past three year span.

Despite the detractors of the how, there is a consensus that the what – restoring the 76ers to success, is a worthy endeavor.  And there is no doubt that a strong Sixers franchise translates into a stronger NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers have a long standing history in the NBA, have won, and have been the birthplace of such NBA stars as the late Daryl Dawkins, Allen Iverson, Julis Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Andrew Toney, Wilt Chamberlain, and the list of NBA greats goes on and on. On a team with such long-standing history, time is relative. Perhaps it requires a team with such a lengthy history to develop the template for other NBA teams to follow going forward. Now the Sixers have added drama to the bottom of the NBA pecking order as well.

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But the team does have a distant goal of building a championship team. To be honest, that goal is not as distant as it was in 2013. So after blowing the roster up, and then gathering young overlooked talent to fill the roster, the team must grow, and prune, and grow some more, and prune even more. The team has shown incredible patience while they await the maturation of true NBA potential stars like Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, Nik Stauskas, and even rehabbing Joel Embiid. But eventually head coach Brett Brown must transition away from player development. When the team begins to win consistently (sprouts are already blooming), can Brown coach a winner?

The ultimate test of any NBA head coach comes down to four elements: Does he have the vision of a championship team? Is he able to communicate that vision to his players? Does his vision align with that of the general manager/ personnel decisions? Can he maintain a team focus through a rising frequency and magnitude of success? So far the only remaining question is the success. But despite the team’s evolution, the team will only improve when the players improve. So we are breaking down the five starting positions of this Sixers organization, and then project what it could look like next year in 2016 (I admittedly will be forced to make some assumptions to do this. But that’s what makes this so fun, right?) In this article, we take a look at the “other” big position on that 76ers roster, the power forward.

Next: Hawes/Young

Power Forward Position

2013: Lavoy Allen / Spencer Hawes/ Thaddeus Young

The Philadelphia 76ers have intermixed players between the center position and power forward position, a trend that continues to this day.   In the 2013 season, the power forward position was filled by two players who had a background at both center and power forward positions:  Lavoy Allen and Spencer Hawes. The team also sat on another emerging NBA player who was too big for small forward and too small for power forward in Thaddeus Young. But the 2013 season projected this way: Spencer Hawes would start at center (while newly drafted Nerlens Noel rehabbed his knee), Lavoy Allen would start at power forward, and Thaddeus Young, after two seasons coming off the bench as the Sixers Sixth man to back up power forward, would revert to his natural position small forward.

But what actually happened?  Spencer Hawes went to center and was backed up there by Lavoy Allen.   Thaddeus Young started at power forward and Evan Turner came on to fill the small forward position.  Arnetter Moultrie, projected to help at the four, was injured and did not return to health until well into the season.  Thad was hopeful that he might be shifted to the small forward position, but his play at power forward dictated that he remain the starter.

Spencer Hawes had the misfortune of becoming an emerging NBA player on a bad NBA team.  He had the twelfth most accurate three point shot in the NBA while averaging 31.4 minutes per game.  But the team needed his play at center which moved Thaddeus Young back into the role he had hoped to get away from.  Young had the heart to play the position, but his size gave away inches and pounds to virtually each of his opponents.   Additionally, he too was an emerging player in the wrong roster role.  Since the Sixers wanted picks, Hawes was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for two second round picks and players Earl Clark and Henry Sims. Thaddeus Young was dealt as well.

And so, the rebuild moved onto and through the demolition phase.

Next: 2014: Mbah A Moute/ Aldemir

2014: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute / Furkan Aldemir

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute did not arrive with any fanfare to the Philadelphia 76ers.  In fact, he arrived in a deficit, as his presence was the balance for the Sixers sending popular Thad Young to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Miami Heat top ten protected first round draft pick.  So, the man arrived with virtually no expectation.  Apparently, the mixture of no expectation, coupled with a defensive minded head coach like Brett Brown did wonders for the man.  He had his career best 9.9 points per game, but his best work was defending. Players defended by Mbah a Moute shot just 32.5 percent from deep on 166 attempts.  It was his play, coupled with the rookie center sensation Nerlens Noel that gave a very bad Sixers team respectability on defense.  It was the presence of veteran Mbah a Moute that kept the teams young roster on the right track.  Even Brown lauded his contribution.

But the Sixers sign Turkish power forward Furkan Aldemir in December 2014, and were looking to get rebounds.  That’s what Aldemir brought to the US game, as his offensive rebounding rate (14.9%) tied for fifth among all players (min. 540 minutes). He also set a nice screen. But the rest of his game never seemed to develop – as his 2.3 PPG was rather paltry with an average 13.2 minutes per game.  The Sixers, anticipating the return of a healthy Joel Embiid in a center role, even began to play Nerlens Noel at the power forward position at the end of the 2014 season.

With a career high offensive production, and staunch defense, there were hopes that Mbah A Moute might be retained the following year.  Alas, the Sixers did not resign any of their free agents. Without an offer to return to the Sixers, there was a question as to where A Moute might end up.   But he is versatile, he has taken on a new role with the LA Clippers as their small forward.

And so, a short chapter in the power forward opened and closed for Luc Mbah a Moute, and subsequently for Furkan Aldemir.

Next: 2014: Noel/Holmes/Landry/Okafor

2015: Nerlens Noel / Richaun Holmes / Carl Landry/Jahlil Okafor

With the third pick of the 2015 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers selected center Jahlil Okafor from the ranks of the Duke University Blue Devils. That pick set forces into motion that are still moving…and may be throughout the 2016 season. With the Sixers third top choice from the draft at the center position, the team has a glut of players who learned basketball from the five spot. While they could sort it all out eventually, the first two thirds of the season have not clarified the situation at all.

Nerlens Noel defaulted to the power forward role, a role he had expected to take in playing alongside Joel Embiid. But with Embiid’s second surgery, and Okafor’s arrival, the plan merely adapted to allow Okafor the opportunity to perform in his natural role while he learned the speed and physicality of the NBA.

But as the season has developed, Brown has rotated the responsibilities of Noel and Okafor, giving Okafor time at the four.  After a few looks, it appeared as though Brown had seen enough, and would struggle through the season with Noel at the four, augmented by newcomers veteran Carly Landry and rookie Richaun Holmes.  But as the trade deadline approached, the team execs assembled to discuss the team’s short-term and long-term goals.   Following that get-together, team executive Jerry Colangelo commented about the team’s power forward/center positions, and Brown restored the experimentation of Okafor at the power forward role.  That’s where the team sits for now.  

This year, the power forward position has devolved into a “not playing at the center” role.   With the exceptions of Landry (who averages 6.1 points per game on just 11.1 minutes) and Holmes (who averages 6.0 PPG on just 13.8 minutes), the team is forced into transitioning centers into a power forward role.  But while the lion’s share of the minutes flow to both Okafor and Noel, Holmes is quietly emerging as a solid role player.  Holmes is honing into a solid professional player:

"“The shape I’m in, the way my body works (is different),” he said. “My body fat percentage, I went from like 13 percent to five or six. I only lost 10 pounds, so it’s all muscle. I’m eating more fruits and vegetables.”-Richaun Holmes"

Another variable in the power forward musical chairs is none other than Joel Embiid, who is rehabbing at the Aspetar Podiatry Clinic in Qatar. While official words have been limited, the timing of Embiid’s presence at a rehab clinic suggests that his planned return is not only on track, but that the team is investing heavily to ensure that he is given the best of medical science to ensure it goes smoothly.  And so the 2015-2016 season is one of transition.  Players learning to play the four, a rookie learning to play in the pros, and even a veteran learning that he still has some game left in him.

Next: 2014: Embiid/Saric/Holmes

2016: Joel Embiid / Richaun Holmes/ Dario Saric

With so much attention on the back court and the center position, and with the team notably looking to bolster their wing play, it would be sensible to conclude that the power forward position will continue to be a transition role for the team well into next season.   As the team experiments with who can play center best, the onus will fall upon whomever is left to learn to play the power forward position.

Adding to the position is the projected entrance of both Joel Embiid and Dario Saric.  While the players may add to the transition effect at the power forward position, they bring unique skillsets, youthful energy, and renewed optimism for the team going forward.  While Embiid is a player we’ve seen in a Sixers uniform for two years, and have yet to see on the basketball court in a game, the optimism of what type of player he will eventually become continues to elevate. In fact, as recently as January 2016, another Sixer Sense story projects Embiid as a star.   But at which position?

The funny answer is “anywhere he wants to play”.  But the realistic answer is probably “anywhere he wants to play”.   The team has anchored it’s future on the sails of Embiid.   As he plays, so likely will the Philadelphia 76ers play.  Based on the way the team has managed his illness, removed any artificial goals to his recovery, and gone to great expense and effort to ensure he remains on track, this young man has certainly convinced the upper echelons of the team that they have a future elite player in the making.

Meanwhile, across the pond, Dario Saric is working on his own part in building the potential to perform at the elite level in the NBA.  While fewer believe he will do so, and even fewer have seen him play, his progress in the European league cannot be easily brushed off.  We covered his versatility in January 2016, and can see his arrival at either the four or the three spot.  If the team sets up Embiid at the four, and Saric at the three as a result, the team will have a new look front court to match the new faces on the back court next season.

While Embiid has superior size, deadly aim, and strong physicality, Saric brings an approach of high basketball IQ, and taking what a defense will give him.  Embiid dominates, and Saric adapts.  Added to the young Richaun Holmes, the team will come to find this position as one of it’s strengths.

Next: High Evolutionary

High Evolutionary

How that evolution lies entirely in the hands of Brett Brown.  One of the reasons for his retention is simply that there are too many pieces flying around to reboot the coaching at this point in time.  Brown develops players, and the greatest task facing his is placing the right player(s) at the four to maximize this teams effectiveness.  It’s that positive attitude and goal setting doctrine which will turn the corner for the team at this position.

In part I- we discussed how head coach Brett Brown has patiently been shaping the players who will be the future of the team.  At the power forward, Brown will need to develop the player into a power forward.   With the exception of Carl Landry, the team is currently manufacturing player skill-sets for the power forward.   That work will continue throughout next season.  But the challenge is not limited to the player.  Embiid will likely have a strong set of skill sets, and so the center position will likely depend on who generates the better synergy – the offense of Jahlil Okafor or the defense of Nerlens Noel.  In either case, the team will be in a stronger position next year, both in the arrival of the final pieces to the “core group” and in the ability to formally begin the assembly of who compliments who, and therefore, will define the first wave of pruning both to set next year’s roster and to refine the team through trades and free agency.

This is a position that began in 2013 with Thaddeus Young and evolved into Joel Embiid.  But along the way, the team had countless changes, backups, tryouts and looks to see who plays well enough to keep playing there.  Much like a word morph, each year the team changes a player to evolve from a dysfunctional team into one with young players emerging into true talents in the NBA simultaneously.    We’ve looked at the evolution at center, and now with the power forward position.   Next we’ll finish off the front court with an analysis of the small forward position.

Keep in mind that we often mistakenly measure the coach for what the team achieves, and ignores what the man achieves in each of his players.  In this analysis, we look to both.  The team continues to find gemstones with value – such as the play of Richaun Holmes.  With relatively low cost, an NBA team can afford to await his development into a true NBA player… quite literally.  And that inexpensive growth gives the Sixers the financial capital to invest in NBA free agents or their own developing players, when the time is right.

For now, the team has 1/3 of a season to figure out what it needs to know to enter the draft and free agency with answers.  For now, there are questions.  But at the power forward position, the answers are already on the way.