The Philadelphia 76ers have hit some road bumps recently, and many of them are tied to one glaring hole outside of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
The Philadelphia 76ers are a good team. That’s no longer arguable. What that doesn’t mean is they’re flawless, which is something we’ve been consistently reminded of this season — especially in recent games.
Philly has been riding the hot hands of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, both of whom could earn All-Star nominations later this winter. Robert Covington and J.J. Redick supplied them with some hot shooting early in the year as well, helping the Sixers overpower most of the non-elite teams on their schedule.
That hasn’t quite been the case lately, though. Covington and Redick have gone cold, while the rest of the offense has, at times, been thrown off kilter. The team struggles whenever Embiid sits, and losing Simmons’ consistent penetration has been an offensive death sentence.
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Part of is tied directly to losing two elite talents, but the majority of it boils down to the talent elsewhere in the rotation — namely, their lack of creation.
When you look at the roster’s most prominant contributors outside of Embiid and Simmons, their off-the-dribble repertoires and ability to generate offense on their own is heavily limited. Covington is a lackluster ball handler, while Redick’s dribbling doesn’t extend far beyond a handful of bounces coming off a dribble-handoff.
On top of that, Dario Saric — who was lauded for his budding playmaking skills last season — has settled into more of a complimentary role, spotting up from the perimeter and getting buckets at the rim as a slasher.
That means defenses can zero in on the non-Embiid/Simmons players and effectively stall the offense on some occasions. When shots aren’t falling, there’s not much else to lean on creation-wise outside of their primary duo.
That’s where the loss of T.J. McConnell has hurt the team most. He’s the only player outside of Simmons and Embiid who can get into the teeth of the defense and create either his own offense or create for teammates around him. Jerryd Bayless has shown his limitations as a creator, while Nik Stauskas doesn’t exactly resemble a reliable NBA-caliiber alternative at this point.
With McConnell out, the Sixers have lost one of their most important offensive pieces. Who would’ve thought?
Whether it be via the trade or the 2018 draft, creation (on the wings especially) is something the Sixers need to be looking for. They don’t need another primary ball handler, but someone who’s capable of putting the ball on the floor and making quality basketball decisions when rushed off the 3-point line is imperative.
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It’d also give the Sixers another point of attack aside from Embiid and Simmons, forcing defenses to stretch and bend in ways they don’t currently have to.
That leads to another solution that should, in time, resurface: Markelle Fultz. The reigning No. 1 pick was able to get into the lane at will in earlier in the year, despite being allergic to the 3-point line.
Add that shifty ball handling and high-I.Q. passing to his dynamic dribble pull-up game and legit NBA shooting range, and Fultz could launch the Sixers’ offense to an entirely new level. That may take a while, but the potential — despite premature ‘bust’ labels — is still there.
This is something the Sixers should gradually find solutions to, but as of right now, it’s a major issue that makes them more vulnerable to opposing defenses.
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Also, it’d help if Covington and Redick could hit shots again. At least McConnell should be back for Thursday night’s bout with the L.A. Lakers.