The Sixer Sense
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What the heck is wrong with the Philadelphia 76ers?

By Alec Liebsch

PORTLAND, OR - DECEMBER 28: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 28, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - DECEMBER 28: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 28, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia 76ers have been playing terribly since their hot start. What changes, if any, does the team need to make to fix the immediate issues?

The Philadelphia 76ers have screwed up majorly as of recent. After a 12-8  start, this group of young-ins has plummeted to 15-19, blowing every lead imaginable in the process.

And while it is not that big of a deal because this team is young and is supposed to go through growing pains, some of the issues might plague the franchise long-term if they are not fixed.

If you build it…

The most evident game-play problem is roster construction. Using general positional nominations (which barely matter), the current 15-man roster has five guards, four wings (two of whom are injured and a third of whom is out of the rotation), and five bigs. In the modern NBA small-ball landscape, this architecture does not suffice.

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Because the issue with the wing shortage has already been addressed, I needn’t expound upon this point. This issue was aggrandized when Bryan Colangelo turned one of his few shooters (and a second round pick, to boot) into another non-shooting big.

To maximize the potential of the offense, more shooting is necessary. Without it, Ben Simmons‘ driving lanes get suffocated and the offense stagnates.

Allocating the resources properly

Another issue is the distribution of playing time. Although Brett Brown is under a boatload of (unnecessary) pressure to succeed immediately, that does not mean he should take young guys like Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Richaun Holmes out of the rotation entirely.

How will they get better if they don’t play? Is Jerryd Bayless‘ “shooting” (his 3-point percentage is down to 36 percent) really that much more valuable than TLC’s development? Additionally, a case can be made that Holmes is already better than Amir Johnson.

Maybe a healthy Justin Anderson can force Brown’s hand into using smaller lineups, but he’s not exactly a sniper. In other words, he might not help solve the shooting woes at all.

As with any considerable problem, the cause is often a combination of factors. Colangelo seemed to build this team to compete in the 1990s, but the scarce resources at Brown’s disposal are also not being used properly.

Next: Can the Sixers improve via the 2018 draft?

The answer will likely work itself out in the long run. Shooting is a fixable skill (see: Leonard, Kawhi). But at the same time, fans and the media are impatient. So in the short run, these issues will continue to be discussed for every lead the team blows on national TV.