Like it or not, Al Horford is the Philadelphia 76ers’ swing piece

The Philadelphia 76ers will need Al Horford down the stretch.

It’s official. The NBA will return in late July. The Philadelphia 76ers are locked in a tight battle for the fourth or fifth seeds, but regardless, one can expect the Sixers to face a difficult road to the NBA Finals — a destination the front office has prioritized at every turn since last season.

This iteration of the Sixers is a mess. The roster doesn’t fit, injuries have successfully stalled cohesiveness all season, and I’m not sure a move to Orlando — one which removes the Sixers from the Wells Fargo Center entirely — benefits Philadelphia in any meaningful way. Extra rest and a healthy Ben Simmons is good, but overall, the circumstances are not ideal.

In the end, the Sixers still have enough talent to compete in the East. Milwaukee and Toronto are undisputed favorites, and rightfully so, but Philadelphia has the atypical size and physicality to make some noise.

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The swing piece — whether fans care to admit it or not — is Al Horford.

Philadelphia needs a restored version of Al Horford down the stretch. While Horford may never reach his peak again, as happens when you get old, the Sixers will hold out hope for a better version. Somewhere between the lows of this season and the highs of his Boston stint. He needs to meet the Sixers in the middle.

Hindsight proves the front office’s incompetence when it comes to the Horford move. He doesn’t help Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons in any meaningful way, and they don’t help him. It’s a mutually negative partnership between three players with All-Star pedigree.

Horford has struggled all year, no doubt, and he deserves a lion’s share of the blame when it comes to his performance. On the other hand, and in his defense, the Sixers are simply not built for a player with his skill set to succeed. It was doomed from the start, even if Horford was more spry than he currently looks.

At his best, Horford is a wildly smart playmaker who plays comfortably at his own pace. He has a slow but effective load-up from deep, he’s one of the headiest big-man passers in the league, and he alone can help an offense run more smoothly.

In Philadelphia, Horford has been entirely out of rhythm. He has been relegated to a spot-up shooting role, and in the process, he has been forced to speed up his release. The result, naturally, is a decrease in efficiency. He has also been removed from his most comfortable spots as a playmaker, instead ceding territory to Embiid and Simmons while he stands pat on the perimeter.

Due to both age and an ill-suited role, the Sixers have gotten Horford’s worst season since his rookie year. While his role will likely not improve in the postseason, when the games truly start to count, the Sixers will need Horford to step up. He’s still Al Horford — one of basketball’s most accomplished bigs, and someone who has practically lived in the playoffs since his career began.

Horford will likely come off the bench when the season resumes. Expect Shake Milton to take his place. Regardless, Brett Brown will almost certainly try to stagger minutes for Embiid and Horford to the most extreme degree possible. Those two should very rarely share the court.

On the other hand, it’s even more important to keep the Embiid-Simmons-Horford trio apart as much as possible. The solution is simple — join Embiid and Simmons at the hip, and let Horford run the floor with Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson when the two superstars sit.

That’s a fine plan and one Brown is likely to adopt. Embiid and Simmons, despite a clear overlap in territory on the court, have always spearheaded productive units. Let them eat, and then let Horford cover the minutes when Embiid sits.

The only issue there — and it’s one the Sixers must inevitably face — is the inevitable overlap in minutes. Brown wants Embiid to play 38 minutes a night once the playoffs begin. Simmons has played over 40 minutes a night in the past. At some point, unless Horford plays only 10 minutes a night, he will need to share the court with Embiid and Simmons.

When such a time comes, fans and the coaching staff will need to bite the bullet and hope Horford unlocks some higher postseason self. Horford has the skill and the smarts to make an impact, even in a situation seemingly designed to limit his productivity. If he can share the court with Embiid and Simmons without totally tanking Philadelphia’s offense (or defense, for that matter), then — and only then — will the Sixers have a real chance to compete.

The Sixers will need the Embiid-Horford pair to work at some point. Brown cannot comfortably relegate Horford to 10 minutes a night in the playoffs. He’s still Al Horford, he’s making too much money, and in my book, he’s still too good. Horford will need to step up and make it work.