Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from Tobias Harris’ debut vs. Denver Nuggets

1. The starting five is nasty

The Sixers now employ the most talented starting five outside Golden State. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are All-Stars, while Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris put together convincing cases of their own. J.J. Redick is having a career year at age 34.

All the talent seems to fit as well. There are still murmurs about the Butler-Simmons-Embiid dynamic, but it’s tough to find better complements than Redick and Harris — two of the NBA’s most efficient long-range shooters.

Harris looked comfortable from the get-go, scoring five early points and quickly finding rhythm within the offense. The Sixers now have five bona fide offensive threats, all of whom are able to create mismatches. Opposing defenses will have a tough time containing all five simultaneously. That was on display Friday night and Brett Brown barely opened the playbook.

Simmons, Butler and Harris can all push in transition and force the issue against mismatches. Everyone outside Redick can post-up effectively against smaller defenders. The Sixers have always thrived on finding advantageous matchups for their unique personnel, and Harris just expands those horizons.

There are issues to iron out — the defensive communication, expectedly, was subpar — but overall, it was an extremely positive showing for the new five-man death lineup. The Sixers have serious potential.