The Sixer Sense
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Philadelphia 76ers Must Wait For Greatness – We’re Great At It

By Bret Stuter

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and guard Isaiah Canaan (0) and forward Jerami Grant (39) and forward Robert Covington (33) and guard Hollis Thompson (31) huddle during a timeout in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and guard Isaiah Canaan (0) and forward Jerami Grant (39) and forward Robert Covington (33) and guard Hollis Thompson (31) huddle during a timeout in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Cohesion, then Completion

Don’t skip a step.  So many are trying to jump from accumulating the pieces to a championship team to the final steps of completing the puzzle.   But the most tedious, and most important step, is cohesion.

Right now, this Philadelphia 76ers team needs cohesion.  Adding veterans simply speeds up the step, but neither eliminates it, nor raises the outcome.

Players who arrived to an NBA team are rookies.  Overwhelmed by the game around them, by the sheer fame and notoriety of the center stage.  In the game of NBA basketball, young men must focus inwards, to develop their own skill-sets to effectively compete.  The next step is assembling complementary pieces to optimize the best team of the roster.  That is not five scorers.  That is not a post center, a perimeter shooting small forward, and a lightning fast point guard with laser-guided passing either.  It’s the best five man lineup.  That lineup is the group of men who are the most effective as a group.

We’ve guessed at what the Philadelphia 76ers roster might become, what the starting lineup might look like if Dario Saric elects to join this team.  It’s pretty intimidating.

The Philadelphia 76ers may need to move Ben Simmons to point guard of necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention. This is the Tall Ball we’ve been drooling about for months!

If the team can ease Ben Simmons into the 6’10” point guard role which so many scoffed prior to his arrival, then the team could get a center and power forward out of Okafor and Embiid. Saric slides to small forward. Covington goes shooting guard.

The bench of the Sixers loads up with Landry, Noel, Grant, Stauskas, Thompson, Canaan, and McConnell.

Next: Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid Stand Tall In NBA

While the roster will take a month or so to truly hit on all cylinders, it’s got the makings of something quite special.  And not a single free agent or trade needed.