With back-to-backs and one-game road trips bound to decrease, we could end up seeing more Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons appearances for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The NBA wasn’t pleased by teams’ rest patterns last season. We saw some of the league’s competitive giants in Cleveleand, Golden State and San Antonio rest their stars repeatedly during nationally-televised games, which causes displeasure among fan bases and advertisers. While rest is perfectly sensible from a players health perspective, it’s affect in terms of league image is detrimental.
Philadelphia 76ers
That’s where the new rest rules come into play.
Specifics still haven’t been released, but the general sentiment is that back-to-backs will be cut down, as will will one-game road trips. The season is already starting earlier, which helps space out the schedule a bit more for such reductions. With that said, the impact those changes could have extend well beyond the top flight, money-generating games — and the Philadelphia 76ers could be a major reason why.
The goal here is to keep LeBron James on the floor when Cleveland is playing Golden State on national T.V. The underlying effect, however, is that it opens up more rest for players rehabbing injuries, and that gives the Sixers’ medical staff more developmentally-friendly options with regards to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
By all accounts, Simmons should be good to go next season. He gave us the green check towards the back end of the campaign, but lingering concerns could force Philadelphia to use some extra precautions in bringing him along. Inevitably, that probably won’t be the case.
With Embiid, however, the Sixers are likely going to approach this season much like they did last season. He won’t play in back-to-backs, while a minutes restriction will surely be in play along with that.
The league expanding the schedule and cutting back on back-to-backs obviously clears one of those hurdles, but could have an inadvertent effect on the other. Playing fewer games in close proximity not only increases the number of games Embiid can play in, but could also allow the Sixers to ease up on his minutes restriction.
With more rest in between games, the team could potentially afford to give Embiid more time during them. There’s reason to withhold optimism in that regard, as the team — even when holding him out of back-to-backs — was adamant about retaining a 26-minute restriction last season, but next season could be a more freely-used version of Embiid.
That could also up the Sixers’ ability to compete. Embiid carried the team to a near-.500 record during his time on the floor last season, meaning more appearances with more minutes could help kick start Philadelphia’s rise in the standings.
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The team has already added a number of talented players to the rotation this season, and more rest only makes the game plan easier for a group that has struggled so heavily with injuries in year’s past. Brett Brown may finally get to see Joel Embiid as part of a full-strength, league-relevant core — all while operating in a less restricted capacity.