The Philadelphia 76ers have gotten solid play from the roster to begin this season overall. However, this team is far from being a true contender, especially without Ben Simmons playing.
While it’s fair to say that pretty much every player has stepped up their game on some level, there are still several players who need to do more for the Sixers to be successful in Simmons’ absence. There are three players who we will be evaluating in this article. The idea for this piece was inspired by Nathan Beighle of Blue Man Hoop.
3 players who must step up moving forward: Isaiah Joe
To be clear, the idea to have Isaiah Joe on this list was well before he entered the league’s health and safety protocols, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. We at The Sixer Sense wish him a speedy recovery. That being written, when he does come back he needs to produce more.
After having a great preseason, it’s fair to say that Joe has been underwhelming up to this point. In the preseason, he averaged 16.8 points, which is beyond impressive. In 7.7 minutes per game this year, he’s averaging 2.0 points on 31.3 field goal percent and 33.3 percent from deep.
Granted getting around only eight minutes per game will certainly cause some inconsistency shooting the ball. However, it took him until the fourth game of the season until he made his first field goal of the year. That’s not going to cut it if he wants to stay in the rotation.
To be clear, the Sixers don’t need Joe to average 16 points per game, but they need him to be a pretty good 3-point shooter and thus fair he hasn’t been. As long as he gets better as a 3-point marksman then it helps the 76ers.
3 players who must step up moving forward: Matisse Thybulle
Like with Joe, I had Matisse Thybulle on this list before joining Joe and Tobias Harris as players in the COVID safety protocol, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. We all at the site also wish both Thybulle and Harris speedy recoveries. That being written, some readers may question why is the Philadelphia 76ers’ best defender on this list.
It’s a fair question, but to be clear that isn’t the reason why he’s on this list. He’s seventh in the league in steals per game (2.3) and 10th in blocks per game (1.8). It should be noted that he’s only one of three none bigs in the top 22 in blocks and leads all non-big men in blocks.
It’s never been a question of his defensive production with Thybulle, but his struggles on the offensive end of the floor. This season, the thrid season wing is averaging a career-high 5.1 points on a career-high 47.5 field goal percentage. It’s good he’s having career highs in two important categories, but on the same note, it’s sad that these are considered career highs.
It should also be noted that he’s still only hitting 31.6 percent from the 3-point line. He needs to be a bigger threat on offense. That’s literally the only reason why he’s not a starter. If he can be more of a two-way player then the Sixers would have one of the best role players in the NBA.
3 players who must step up moving forward: Tyrese Maxey
It can be almost considered what the Philadelphia 76ers have asked Tyrese Maxey to do this season is unfair. He’s a mid-first round pick from the 2020 NBA Draft and didn’t have super high expectation entering the NBA.
Despite showing flashes of great play last season, he was in and out of the rotation. If the 76ers had a normal season and Simmons was active on the roster instead of getting fined by the team again (via Wojnarowski), then Maxey would be a sixth man. Instead he’s been the team’s starter and has been solid enough in that role.
Thus far this season he’s averaging 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.8 turnovers while making 51.5 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from downtown. These are all career highs from the second year point guard and some could argue that the 76ers can’t ask anymore of him.
They probably shouldn’t ask much more, but they need more from him. He’s been steadily improving from the 3-point line as the year has progressed but he needs to continue that improvement. He also has to become even more of a playmaker. He’s the starting point guard but he hasn’t had a game where he’s controlled the pace of the game. That needs to change if the Sixers want to survive this long regular season.
The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a great start, but they need Joe, Thybulle, and Maxey to step up more in order for the club to sustain this initial success.