Small ball could give the Sixers an extra dynamic
Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz is one heck of a core. It’s what the team will be capable of doing with Embiid off the floor, though, that could help launch the Philadelphia 76ers towards competitiveness at the highest level.
Small ball is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit nowadays. With the NBA’s paradigm quickly shifting towards a more positionless, free-flowing brand of basketball, teams no longer need to trot out players at their traditional positions in order to be successful. In fact, teams who do so are often less successful than those who don’t.
Philadelphia 76ers
While small ball may not be the best way to start off games — nor is it necessarily a reliable way to play for extended periods of time — there are some sizable benefits to being able to up the pace and increase versatility when the matchups warrant it. The Warriors’ death lineup is the gold standard, but small ball can still manifest in many successful, slightly-less-historic ways.
This is by no means a piece on how the Philadelphia 76ers are better without Joel Embiid on the floor. That would not only be foolish on my part, but a massive misinterpretation of what I’m attempting to get across. The Sixers could have one of the league’s best small ball units, yet still only use it for brief, matchup-based periods of time.
Much akin to the Warriors, it’s not an iteration a team like Philadelphia needs to run out on a consistent basis. Even when Embiid is on the floor, his versatility, when combined with the dual-pronged playmaking attack of Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz, should give Philadelphia the upper hand in both pace and firepower on the offensive end. They’ll be able to attack through multiple different avenues, feeding Embiid in the halfcourt while terrorizing teams in transition with the lanky attack Simmons and Fultz will provide.
Philadelphia already boasts the pieces needed to sustain both defensive success and a presence on the boards, which is the perhaps the most important aspect of being competitive in a small ball environment. Simmons was a double-digit rebounder during his yearlong stint with LSU, and allowing him to defend the interior and hunt rebounds should yield similar results in an NBA arena. Fultz himself is an above average rebounding guard, while both Dario Saric and Robert Covington are solid in that respect — both of whom could share the forward spots in such a rotation.
For the sake of tangibility, let’s say the Sixers run out a rotation similar to this:
- F Ben Simmons
- F Dario Saric
- F Robert Covington
- G Markelle Fultz
- G Jerryd Bayless
While the second guard alongside Fultz is a relative unknown at this point, Bayless is likely the best match for the time being. This not only gives the Sixers four capable shooters, but four players who have proven themselves to be apt when creating for others.
It’s naturally understood that all four ball handlers can’t operate in an equal capacity. Saric won’t bring the ball up the floor much, while Bayless would likely be utilized as an off-ball asset more so than anything else. But it does give the team the type of offensively versatility needed to thrive in these types of rotations. Four players who are capable of making the right pass from multiple different angles is a downright rarity.
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They’d be able to keep the ball in constant motion, opening up shots on the perimeter and affording Fultz in particular more lanes to work with in isolation. It’s not often that you find a guard who keeps defenders as far off kilter as Fultz can when driving to the rim. His unique shake and shiftiness as a ball handler allows him to create room with ease, while his misdirection normally allots him plenty of time to blow to the basket. When placed into a rotation in where defenses need to keep tabs on the perimeter pieces at all times, we should see the Washington product thrive.
It also gives Simmons and Saric ample shooting around them, as both of them work best when operating off of drives or from the interior. While Saric would ideally be consistent enough to operate as a spot-up option on the perimeter, his ability to work downhill and create for others would be maximized more in a rotation that embraces shooting and movement — as well as transition play.
Philadelphia has the chance to add a few new wrinkles to an already great rotational setup. While the majority of their time with be spent with Embiid as the offensive cornerstone — and rightfully so — having a more transition-oriented subset is wholly valuable in today’s league. The playoffs often come down to matchups and how teams are able to adjust. This is a Sixers team that’s trending towards that competitive realm.
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Whether or not it’s something we see in nightly spurts or witness on seldom occasions, having a small ball rotation in his back pocket is something Brett Brown needs to consider.