The Sixer Sense
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How the Center Position Needs to Improve in 2016 for Sixers

By Josh Wilson

Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Richaun Holmes (22) in a game against the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center. The Boston Celtics won 112-92. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Richaun Holmes (22) in a game against the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center. The Boston Celtics won 112-92. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

This season, there are a ton of minutes to distribute in the five spot. Noel, Okafor, Holmes, and Embiid will all play some time there. On a nightly basis, that’s a lot of minutes to go around. The only positive here is that the Sixers won’t ever be disadvantaged when big lineups come around.

I’d say that Brown will use Okafor and Embiid often in the four, as well as Holmes when he plays, in order to give Noel the start at center. Some think Embiid will play forward mostly, but with him reportedly growing to 7-3, that doesn’t make much sense.

It seems reasonable to expect the Sixers to start the season with all of these big men, rather than trading any of them like we previously thought that they might. I think Okafor and Noel are the first two in the depth chart in the center position.

Truly, I think the center position is the most important position for Brett Brown and his assistant coaches to figure out leading up to the season. There is no other position on the team that has so much talent locked in here, and so much anticipation for how the team will handle it.

Brown and co. Should allocate time at the beginning of the season — maybe the first 10 games or so — to rotate different players in as starting centers and try different lineups, building around Simmons at the four spot and a different center each night to see what works best.

In the following slides, I will detail what each player needs to do individually to improve the center position as a whole.

Next: Jahlil Okafor