TPA does a nice job of detailing the Sixers’ most impactful players

The Philadelphia 76ers‘ most impactful players are shown by one useful measurement.

It’s fair to say the Philadelphia 76ers have underwhelmed this season, although expectations were likely too high to begin with. They have a lot of young talent and new faces, which alone is enough for a losing record in most cases.

Nonetheless, Philly has shown some promise — starting with their core players. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons look like long-term All-Stars, while Robert Covington has earned his extension, regardless of his shooting woes. J.J. Redick, for all his ups and downs, has been worth the one-year flier as well.

One stat that always does a nice job of detailing the impact of those players, as well as everybody else on the roster, is NBA Math‘s TPA — or total points added. It’s a useful metric that combines a player’s offensive and defensive performance into one clean chart, as such:

In layman’s terms, good defense is at the top while good offense is to the far right, meaning the top right corner is the ideal placement. Anything above the grey line is a positive performance overall when factoring in both sides of the ball.

There’s always a flaw with any advanced metric, but this one is fairly accurate in it’s assessment of each player. Even the eye test would agree.

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Simmons’ offensive struggles have been evident recently, but his defensive performance continues to impress. He’s one of the best defensive prospects in the league, and that’s something that gets thrown under the proverbial rug far too often.

Embiid is in a better spot, carrying the Sixers’ offense while thriving on defense as well. If anything, this chart should also remind you how important Covington’s spacing is — even when shots aren’t falling.

Saric’s recent improvement has also put him in the positive, while Amir Johnson‘s defensive hustle and high-I.Q. play has been impressive in recent games. He has taken a lot of heat, but defensive savvy may be what’s keeping him on the floor. I’d still like to see more of Richaun Holmes, though.

Lastly, Redick’s offensive importance and his defensive shortcomings are the most glaring aspects of this chart. He’s somebody who Brett Brown draws up a lot of plays for, but his lack of size and athleticism is a clear negative on the other end. It’s a give-and-take kind of thing.

Next: 5 things the Sixers need to address in 2018

As we enter the new year, this is the kind of metric that gives us a good feel for where each individual on the team stands.