The Philadelphia 76ers are riding Al Horford, for better or worse.
Friday’s loss to Boston puts the Philadelphia 76ers in a historically insurmountable 0-3 hole. No team has ever won four straight after losing the first three, and I’m confident in saying the Sixers will not break that trend. It’s game over for Philadelphia.
The Sixers are now on the verge of another important offseason. Rather than cementing the future — as was the goal last summer — the Sixers must instead try to reinvent it. With two contracts that qualify as all-time stinkers, the entire organization, from top down, must do some serious soul-searching.
Most notable of those bad contracts, of course, is Al Horford. He signed a four-year, $109 million deal last summer. The front office billed him as an alleviation of Philadelphia’s Boston demons, and a player who simultaneously made them more formidable in a potential showdown with Milwaukee.
As it turns out, this was the year Father Time and Horford had a rendezvous. He’s not only a horrid fit, but Horford is simply not the player who Philadelphia originally signed. He’s no longer a defensive cheat code, or the kind of jack-of-all-trades player who can benefit any offense. He’s a solid, mostly unspectacular reserve.
The Sixers did not pay Horford to come off the bench. And, in the midst of a potential sweep at the hands of his former team, the Sixers decided to ride or die with Horford’s extensive resume. Here’s what Brett Brown said after Friday night’s defeat.
Brett Brown, in part, on why Al Horford started and played almost 38 minutes: "I just trusted his resume. ... If we're going down, we're going down with him."
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) August 22, 2020
Frankly, this is a very respectable comment — and I admire Brown for so plainly stating it. Nothing Horford has done this season is indicative of a starter who can play 38 minutes in a pivotal playoff game. And yet, what are the other options? Matisse Thybulle is a critically flawed rookie. Alec Burks is a lifetime reserve. Furkan Korkmaz? Mike Scott?
The Sixers’ incompetent roster construction has left them with no options more readily viable than Horford and his mega-contract. He has been one of the most well-rounded and most versatile players in the league since the Atlanta days. At some point, you have to bite the bullet and let the series unfold as you originally intended.
A major reason behind Philadelphia’s acquisition of Horford was the tactical advantage he provided against Boston. If the Sixers were ever going to win this series — ever going to mount a comeback — it would have involved Horford playing up to his status, not Thybulle or Burks filling an unfillable void.
Horford has struggled all series, and the Sixers’ top priority this summer should be ridding themselves of that contract. He’s not good anymore. That’s one of many somber facts Philadelphia must reckon with.
On the series, Horford has averaged 5.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on 40 percent shooting. He has hit exactly zero 3-pointers. Brown made the right decision — he put forth the best hand he was dealt. Unfortunately, that hand was never going anywhere.