Philadelphia 76ers: Brett Brown will finally get star power and continuity
The Philadelphia 76ers will enter the 2019-20 season with a championship-level core in place.
A championship. That’s the goal for Elton Brand, Brett Brown and everyone in the Philadelphia 76ers organization. The Sixers aren’t title favorites, but they’re firmly in the hunt and have a compelling case for best team in the Eastern Conference.
Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson and Ben Simmons is a massive, skilled starting five. The Sixers will have matchup advantages no other team in the league can match — possessing a clear edge in both physicality and versatility when compared to most.
This season represents the Sixers’ most realistic championship window since Allen Iverson and Co. made a surprise run in 2001. Philadelphia had a chance last season, but the Kawhi Leonard buzzsaw was inevitable. Now there’s a not-impossible chance the Sixers can exact their revenge in an NBA Finals setting.
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Since taking over as GM, Brand has been forthright in his desire to compete. He swung two major trades last season, adding Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris despite one glaring red flag that accompanied both — an expiring contract.
Brand gave up Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Landry Shamet and an unprotected 2021 first-round pick to add star power. To add an extra layer to the Embiid-Simmons duo, which wasn’t ready to compete alone.
The risk was warranted. That belief seems to be commonplace for most fans and pundits around the team. Philadelphia came within a chance bounce of potentially facing Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. They were on the precipice of the franchise’s best season since 2001.
Now the Sixers still have star power heading into 2019-20. It’s not the same star power — Butler has departed, while Horford and Richardson step into the spotlight — but there’s more than enough talent to contend in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Sixers were able to spin a potentially devastating offseason into a major victory, setting the team up for extended success. Philadelphia has given Brett Brown a combination he hasn’t yet had during his head coaching career: star power and continuity.
Philadelphia will enter training camp with a roster that can contend for a title. That hasn’t been the case before. While the 2016-17 season was special, the postseason made one hard truth abundantly clear: Embiid and Simmons weren’t enough to win a championship.
There was an overt need for more dynamism on offense, especially in the halfcourt. Philadelphia now has Harris, Richardson and Horford, who all have the means to contribute to a successful, fluid halfcourt offense, even if it requires ingenuity on Brown’s end.
Rather than bringing on Butler, re-working the offense, and then bringing on Harris, the Sixers will have all summer to figure out a system and install sets. Brown can enter the 2019-20 season with an idea of his rotation and without significant risk of change.
In the NBA, there’s never 100 percent certainty. The Sixers will still consider trades if a beneficial or needle-moving option becomes available. But right now, every starter is on multi-year contract. The Sixers have made personal commitments to Embiid, Horford, Simmons and Harris for at least four seasons.
Similar to last season, Philadelphia will have one of, if not the best starting fives in basketball. The bench is also more functional now than it has been at any point during Brown’s tenure, except maybe the brief Ersan Ilyasova–Marco Belinelli era.
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With such luxuries comes an increased burden of expectation. Brown’s seat will reach its hottest point yet if the Sixers struggle or suffer an early exit in the playoffs. But the Sixers are equipped to handle those expectations, and Brown having the entire summer to game plan for a title-contending team should help reinforce his coaching chops.