Time has passed since the disappointing second round exit that the Philadelphia 76ers experienced at the hands of the Miami Heat. While the pain of the loss still stings in some of the hearts of the Sixers’ fanbase, it’s important to have a positive perspective moving forward.
Throughout the course of this season, there have been at least three positives that can be taken away from this year. These positives can set up the 76ers for success this season and moving forward.
3 positive takeaways from the 2021-22 season: Center depth
Recently, Christopher Kline, my fellow site expert for The Sixer Sense, wrote about how the Sixers no longer have a whole on their center depth chart. In general, I tend to agree with him on that premise.
Paul Reed is an athletic big man who has natural instincts defensively. He’s a bit undersized at 6-foot-9, but he has a high motor which helps makes up for it. Now he still has to get stronger, which he acknowledged at the end of the season, per Keith Pompey of The Inquirer. However, if he improves his body his ability to screen, rebound, and protect the paint will improve.
Let’s not forget Charles Bassey who showed flashes of real potential this season. Bassey fits the mold of a more traditional big man at 6-foot-11. However, he’s still just coming off his rookie year. However, if he can show growth, he could compete with Reed for minutes.
The Sixers don’t need to focus on getting a veteran big man who can outperform either of their young guys this offseason. If they do, great, but it’s not a major point of concern for this roster as Reed is ready for a bigger role and Bassey should be ready for it soon as well.
3 positive takeaways from the 2021-22 season: Joel Embiid’s superstardom
This past season was proof that Joel Embiid‘s superstardom wasn’t just a flash in the pan. He’s been the runner-up for league MVP for two years in a row and arguably could be a two-time winner of the award.
Embiid’s put up some historic numbers joining the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone, and Russell Westbrook. On top of that, this was the healthiest season that Embiid has played up to date logging 68 games and leading the league in scoring at 30.6 points per game.
He did this while having to guide this roster through the Ben Simmons drama and playing with a less than 100.0 percent version of James Harden. He’s a top-5 player in the NBA and nobody can question that anymore.
Hopefully, he can get healthy this offseason and stay on track during the regular season. If he can, then he could finally win his first MVP next season and lead the Philadelphia 76ers into a deep playoff run to at least the Eastern Conference finals.
3 positive takeaways from the 2021-22 season: Tyrese Maxey’s emergence
The final positive aspect to take away from this past season was the emergence of Tyrese Maxey. Maxey was the 21st pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. There weren’t high expectations of him and despite that, he showed flashes of greatness during his rookie year.
However, after a full offseason to work on his game, Maxey came into this past season as a completely different player. Not only did he use his speed to gain an advantage, but he improved as a shooter, playmaker, defender, and rebounder.
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An argument could be made that he should have won the Most Improved Player Award. He had surpassed Tobias Harris on the team’s hierarchy and he was the second best player until Harden was acquired. Even after the trade, he was pushing Harden to be the team’s second best player.
He and Harden now make arguably the best backcourt in the East. The crazy part is that Maxey’s only 21-years-old and still has room to grow. There’s a strong argument that he and Embiid are the only players who should be untouchable on the 76ers roster now. It’s also fair to say that he could very well be an All-Star next season.
While this season as a whole ended on a negative note, there are a few positives that the Philadelphia 76ers can take away from this year.