This past summer Brand made even more questionable moves. He flipped Butler for Richardson because for one reason or another Butler didn’t sign a deal to stay with Philly.
As a result of losing Butler, the Philadelphia 76ers overpaid Harris to a max contract so that there was no chance they would lose him. Harris is a great third scorer for the core of Simmons and Embiid, but he’s not a late-game closer due to his inability to create space and shoot off-the-dribble in high-pressure situations.
Then there was the addition of Al Horford. There was good logic to the move. It was smart to add a starting-caliber center to the roster incase Embiid isn’t healthy and can’t play. What wasn’t logical was to imagine that Horford and Embiid could co-exist together in the starting five.
Horford’s known for being a versatile center, but he’s not versatile enough to play alongside both Embiid and Simmons. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice put it best when explaining how adding Horford impacted the rest of the roster construction.
"“By using a significant chunk of their cap space on a player who is now a backup center, the Sixers capped their ability to invest in the skills Philadelphia’s best players actually need around them to reach their potential. ”"
This leads to the main issue with the 76ers this season. This main issue is why the struggles of the team are primarily on Brand instead of Embiid, Simmons, and Brown.