Sixers roundtable: Potential starting five and second unit for 2021-22

With it appearing that Ben Simmons has played his last game with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team’s coaching staff is in a bit of a pickle. Until a trade occurs, Doc Rivers and his staff have to plan their rotations around the fact that Simmons’ tenure with the Sixers has more than likely come to an end.

With that in mind, a couple of our writers came together and shared their thoughts on who the starting and first five players off the bench will be based on the current roster, minus Simmons.

Roundtable, Potential starting five and second unit: Matt Cahill

Obviously, no one can accurately gauge how good the Sixers will be until Simmons is traded. (Which must happen by the February trade deadline!) However, we can look at who they have now to see what the team might look like during a holdout.  If I were Doc Rivers here is what the 76ers would do until Ben is moved.

Starters:

• Tyrese Maxey
• Seth Curry
• Danny Green
• Tobias Harris
• Joel Embiid

2nd Unit:

• Shake Milton
• Matisse Thybulle
• Furkan Korkmaz
• Georges Niang
• Andre Drummond

So far the biggest mistake Daryl Morey 76ers’ president of basketball operations has made this offseason is not adding a veteran point guard.  I’m sure many of the players that he’s looking at in a Simmons trade can start at point guard here but until a trade happens Tyrese Maxey suddenly becomes the most important player on this team.

Even if Embiid had to miss a few games we would be ok with Drummond and Paul Reed, but if Maxey goes down this team is completely without another NBA caliber starting point guard.  Milton can play it in a pinch but he is really a two, and Jaden Springer looks like he’s two years away.  (Please don’t say Curry can run the offense!)  If anything is going to speed up a Simmons trade, the void at point guard may do it.

The starting five looks like a more than capable group, providing enough offensive punch to easily be top-10, possibly top-five in the NBA. The team can go “four out, one in”. They can post Embiid down low, and play with all of the chaos a properly balanced team can cause.

If teams double Embiid all of the other players will make you pay from deep, and if you don’t he will destroy you inside. On top of that, this team is athletic, and with Maxey pushing it, the fast break will be just as dangerous as the half court sets. Plus, a Maxey-Embiid pick-and-roll combo sounds absolutely unstoppable. Buckets will rain down in bunches.

Maxey is the key to this team and he will have some natural growing pains through the first half of the season as he adapts to being a full-time facilitator. This is where time spent with Simmons playing forward as the secondary facilitator would have accelerated his development. However, Maxey is smart enough to recognize his weaknesses and will work to improve quickly.

Last year he began as a horrendous defender and by May he was a legitimately decent on-ball defender. That growth is why Rivers (who hates playing rookies) wound up giving him Hill’s and Milton’s playoff minutes. The same thing will happen here.

Playing “four out, one in” can also lead to a lot of screens and back door cuts for easy baskets. The bench gives you the exact same look, only they have to settle for Milton out of position as the lead. If the bench gets good point guard play offense shouldn’t be an issue.

Defense is where Ben will be most missed but people fail to recognize how much a good offense can help your defense. They will certainly not be as good on that end, but the improvements on offense will ease some of that pain. Maxey, while not a complete team defender who can guard multiple positions like Ben, can at least be a bulldog attacking his own man, like former point guard T.J. McConnell.

Barring any significant injuries, this is definitely still a playoff team, even in a drastically improved East. If Rivers can be a little more creative with his offensive sets and his bench rotations this team will be just fine. Whenever Morey adds the final pieces to this team after the Simmons trade they should be a deep and dangerous contender when the playoffs begin.