Sixers: Breaking down NBA 2K23 ratings for every player

Sixers NBA 2K23 ratings: Matisse Thybulle

• Actual Rating: 77
• Our Rating: 74

Matisse Thybulle was unplayable in the playoffs. It’s hard to reconcile that with his elite defense and regular season utility, but it’s a simple calculus: if you bring nothing to the table on offense, your value is capped. Thybulle could very well lose his “starting” job to Tucker or House, and he’s already going to spend most crunch-time minutes on the bench. That said, he does remain an absolute force on defense. No player is so singularly disruptive. His instincts and lightning-fast recovery speed is the stuff of legend — hopefully he can just figure out the 3-point shot.

Sixers NBA 2K23 ratings: Tobias Harris

• Actual Rating: 83
• Our Rating: 80

Tobias Harris is overpaid, and as a result he is often overrated and underrated at the same time. People criticize him for not living up to the contract, but also tend to simultaneously overestimate his value based on the percentage of cap space he occupies. Despite the many, many millions of dollars in his bank account, Harris is at his most valuable when his role is limited. When he’s taking spot-up 3s and locking in on defense, Harris feels like a real fourth star. When he’s trying to carry the offense with dribble-drives and pull-up jumpers, he often feels like an active detriment to the team.

The Sixers need Harris to embrace the supercharged role player identity that defined his post-Harden portion of last season. When Harris bought into 3s and D, he played the best basketball of his career. I think Harris is probably overrated by the 2K algorithm — he’s simply not good when asked to make complex maneuvers with the ball — but he remains essential to the Sixers’ winning formula, no matter how you slice it.

Sixers NBA 2K23 ratings: Joel Embiid

• Actual Rating: 96
• Our Rating: 96

Joel Embiid is now a perennial MVP candidate and flat-out one of the best basketball players on earth. There’s not much more to say about it. He continues to improve on the margins — passing out of doubles, attacking off the dribble, handling the ball in transition — while his base level of physical dominance remains unchanged. He can just plow through defenders at the rim, and more often than not is results in two easy points or a trip to the free throw line (a.k.a., two easy points).

On top of his offensive brilliance, Embiid is a world class defender who could probably join the DPOY conversation if he wanted to. It’s important for Embiid to pace himself in the regular season, which is most evident on defense. That said, when he’s going full speed, very few players can swallow up space and completely shut down an offense like Embiid. He moves well in space, he’s a brick wall in the post, and he provides a safety net for the team’s more aggressive perimeter defenders.