The general manager (GM) for the Philadelphia 76ers hasn’t been without mistakes in his tenure and now it’s time to rank the worst three.
Elton Brand came into general manager (GM) position with the Philadelphia 76ers with very little experience. There’s no denying he’s made some solid moves and I’ve even graded all the moves he made during his first full year as GM. However, it’s become clear that some of the moves he’s made for the franchise this past summer have been terrible choices. Below are the three worst moves he’s made in his tenure thus far.
3. Trading Landry Shamet
Let’s be clear, trading for Tobias Harris made sense and still does, despite Brand having to overpay the combo forward. Acquiring Harris in itself wasn’t a bad deal, but including Landry Shamet in the deal was a big mistake.
To be honest, the Sixers overpaid in terms of sending draft assets to the Los Angeles Clippers, especially when Shamet was included in the deal. Before being shipped off, Shamet was having a very good rookie season for the Sixers. He was 8.3 points on 40.4 percent shooting on his 3-point attempts.
His 4.5 3-point attempts per game were the fifth highest of any player that suited up for the 76ers last season. Not only was Shamet a very good 3-point shooter, but he was also a high volume one at that. He was able to replicate what J.J. Redick was doing in terms of their off the ball movement, granted on a lesser scale.
Shamet would have been an even bigger part of Philly’s offense this season if Brand didn’t trade him, especially with the lack of floor spacers on the roster this year. Brand should have been willing to give up even more draft capital or another young player like Zhaire Smith for example, instead of parting ways with Shamet.
2. Not re-signing J.J. Redick
It was tempting to put the sign-and-trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat in this slot, but not re-signing J.J. Redick has appeared to have a bigger impact. Yes, Butler was the team’s late-game closer, but Redick was so essential to the Philadelphia 76ers’ success in the two previous seasons.
As I wrote in the previous slide, the Sixers are lacking legit floor spacers this season. The 76ers are in the bottom half of the NBA in terms of 3-pointer percentage, attempts and makes while being ranked at 16th, 19th and 21st respectively.
Their highest volume 3-point shooter this year is Furkan Korkmaz, who attempts 5.0 3-pointers per game. That’s three less per game than when Redick led Philly last season with 8.0 outside shots per game.
Redick’s off the ball movement and high 3-point shooting percentage was what made the duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons work so well. Without Redick or to a lesser extent, Shamet on the roster, there hasn’t been much space for Embiid and Simmons to operate in the half-court well together. If Redick was still with the Sixers instead of the New Orleans Pelicans, a lot of Philly’s offensive struggles for this season wouldn’t exist.
1. Signing Al Horford
Part of the reason why Redick wasn’t retained was due to the fact that Philly spent so much money on Al Horford. To be precise, about $109 million for four seasons. Brand overpaid again, but this time in free agency on a player who was bound to be a poor fit.
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Despite having been one of the most versatile shooting big men in the NBA, Horford was bound to have struggles fitting in on offense for the Sixers. This season has beyond proven that, so much so that before Embiid and Simmons got injured, Horford was sent to the bench.
When Horford is a playmaker in the offensive, he’s playing at his best, but he’s been used primarily as a floor spacer. That hasn’t worked out well for him or the 76ers. Not only was Horford a bad fit with the team’s core, but he’s also not being used properly.
It’s also become clear that father time is catching to the 33-year-old big man. Horford has seen drops in his scoring and blocks averages, as well as his shooting percentages. Despite not being a player that relied on his athletism, father time has appeared to caught up to him much sooner than I personally expected.
Horford was brought in to help make Philly a defensive juggernaut, sadly he’as hasn’t been able to deliver on that as of late. Not only has Horford been unable to produce like he’s been able to in the past, but Brand also unwisely used about $28 million in salary-cap space to sign the big man. That money could have been used to retain Redick and improve the bench at multiple positions instead of on a big man that seems on the decline.
No GM is perfect, but Brand has put the Philadelphia 76ers into a tough spot moving forward. The majority of the blame for their struggles this season should be on him. Hopefully, he can learn from these mistakes and improve the roster this upcoming offseason.