Sixers report cards: Starting frontcourt
The main strike against Joel Embiid (like his backcourt co-stars) is the lack of availability, which ultimately falls outside his control. When healthy Embiid has produced MVP-level numbers and contributed to winning on both sides of the ball. He’s playing mostly elite defense in the middle and absolutely carrying the offense for extended stretches, especially since the Harden/Maxey injuries happened. He’s averaging 31.4 points on 51.0 percent shooting — pretty rad!
P.J. Tucker’s offensive struggles have unavoidably seeped into the discourse around this team. They’re slightly overblown in my opinion, but he is averaging the fewest points and shot attempts of his career since his rookie season, way back in 2006-07 (which preceded several years in Europe). That said, the defense is still rock-solid and his leadership has made a clear imprint on the franchise.
He’s still an imperfect fit all things considered, but it’s hard to complain about Tobias Harris’ season to date. When the stars are healthy, he’s chucking up plenty of 3s and successfully streamlining his approach. When they’re not healthy, Harris has successfully scaled up and carried a significant portion of the offense, often while contributing amply in the rebounding department.