Now that the NBA trade deadline has passed, it seems like a good time to reflect on the mentality of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ front office. Despite the cry from the Sixers fan base to make a big deal, the franchise decided to be conservative at the deadline.
What does that show about the mentality of the 76ers’ president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and general manager Elton Brand in regards to how they view the roster? It shows that they believe that Philly can compete for a title this season as the roster presently constructed without making any major changes.
The question becomes is that opinion justified? Does this roster legitly have a shot of winning a title or is the front office overly confident in their current roster?
Do the Philadelphia 76ers have a championship roster?
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Let’s look at the roster composition of the Sixers. There starting five has a center who is a legit MVP candidate in Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons should be the front runner for Defensive Player of the Year. Tobias Harris is playing like an All-Star despite getting snubbed from the game.
Seth Curry is the little brother of future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry and is also a lethal shooter in his own right. Danny Green was one of the original 3-and-D players and has three NBA titles so his experience is elite.
That starting five is easily a top-10 starting five and arguably top-five. That in itself should help them compete for a title, especially if they have a strong bench. The question is how strong is their bench.
This bench unit will be led by George Hill moving forward now that the team has added him at the trade deadline. Hill is a solid 3-and-D veteran at the point guard position and has experience running offenses on legit contenders in the past.
Shake Milton‘s play should improve moving off the ball now that Hill is in town. He was already an above average reserve being able to create his own shot, but now he doesn’t have point guard responsibilities he can focus on just scoring and really shine.
Matisse Thybulle is pushing for a starting spot with his All-Defensive team level defense and his good shooting as of late. Furkan Korkmaz isn’t a good defender, but when he is hot shooting the ball he is dangerous. Then the Sixers have a future Hall of Famer at the backup center in Dwight Howard who can still provide high level defense and rebounded in a limited role.
On top of an elite starting five and an average bench unit, the 76ers have a future Hall of Fame coach in Doc Rivers who is known for getting the bench out of his players.
There’s no denying that the Philadelphia 76ers have a championship caliber team, but is it good enough to get passed against like the Milwaukee Bucks or the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference? Only time will tell, but the front office believes so and it will be interesting to see if that belief is validated in the postseason.