Sixers still need a veteran point guard

Through three games, the Sixers look pretty good. Despite a contentious offseason (and that’s saying it kindly), the team sits at 2-1 even after blowing a huge lead to Brooklyn this weekend. Joel Embiid is playing really solid basketball and Doc Rivers is getting great production out of his role players, namely Seth Curry. Despite this, there is one question that isn’t going away, and in fact is only going to be asked more and more as the Ben Simmons situation drags on: Can this team win without a legitimate table-setter on offense?

Taken at face value, the numbers point to yes. The Sixers are currently 10th in points per game at 113.7. They are third in the NBA with an offensive rating of 116.4, which is frankly fantastic. Joel Embiid is averaging five assists per game so far, which is nearly double his 2020-21 average of 2.8 per game. This all sounds great, right?

Dig a little deeper and you’ll quickly find some cracks. The 76ers’ numbers look good at least partially because they have already played three really bad defenses. New Orleans, Brooklyn, and Oklahoma City currently sit at 20th, 26th, and 27th respectively in defensive rating. The number that should really worry Sixers fans is 51.6 assist percentage, which is 26th best in the NBA. They’re also dead last in the NBA in pace. Too often on offense Embiid and Co. are being forced to create their own offense, which has lead to the team forcing a lot of bad shots through the first three games.

The eye test tells the same story. The offense numbers are skewed unusually high because of some red-hot 3-point shooting, but the halfcourt offense has looked like a work in progress so far. While the team certainly hopes for Tyrese Maxey to take a big step forward this year, he’s just not quite there with his ability to create shots for his teammates yet. Seth Curry is great for short term ball-handling duties, but he is far better served playing off-ball and creating nightmares for defenses using motion. Tobias Harris and Furkan Korkmaz have both had some good moments playing a point-forward role (especially Korkmaz), but when you watch this team its impossible to ignore how clunky the offense has felt.

Even without swinging a huge Ben Simmons trade, the Philadelphia 76ers can find a solution. There are a number of veteran point guards that figure to be very available, and if anyone can make the money work Daryl Morey would be the guy. Guys like Ricky Rubio, Goran Dragic, and Malcolm Brogdon could fill that role perfectly, and all are reportedly on the trade block. Philadelphia has a few really solid tradeable contracts, so it would be shocking if the team didn’t make a move for a veteran point guard at some point this season.

Until something breaks loose on the Ben Simmons front, this question isn’t going away anytime soon. If this team wants to be seen as legitimate title contenders, and that seems to be the case, then they need to round out this roster and finally solve a problem they’ve had for the last several years.