The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off a slew of highly acclaimed moves this offseason, none more prominent than their blockbuster trade for Jaylen Brown, which absolutely no one could have predicted. However, despite their flashy summer thus far, the team might have quietly exacerbated an already pressing roster issue: their lack of size on the perimeter.
76ers still have a prominent flaw hiding in plain sight
Size was already a problem for the 76ers outside the center position, and it had bothered them in recent years. This time, the team lost its two natural forwards from last season in Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. while also parting ways with Andre Drummond. It is apparent that the group lost a lot of size, and that could kickstart another series of issues next season.
As good as Brown is, there are simply things where he is limited due to the fact that he is more of a wing than a tweener. Signing Dean Wade to soften the blow of losing Oubre in free agency was good work on the part of the 76ers brain trust, but one man alone –– a role player at that –– cannot patch up the size-related issues that could ensue with the mentioned departures.
The 76ers worsened their size problem
Two areas where the 76ers could suffer from their continuous lack of size are defense and rebounding. Last season, the team ranked 17th in defensive rating and 21st in rebounding percentage, which are unremarkable figures to say the least. Well, given that they got even smaller this offseason, those departments could end up becoming even bleaker.
Brown and Wade are both good defenders (at least on-ball with respect to the former), but the defensive resistance and malleability that George and Oubre offered are arguably far superior. The latter duo is also better at rebounding.
Sure, Brown alone gives him the talent edge, but the 76ers cannot ignore those intangibles. Heck, the front office itself admitted earlier this summer that it would prioritize rebounding in free agency. Whether that has been resolved is a matter of future ponderance, but for now, their roster is not exactly positioned to be a better board-crashing unit than their previous one.
The front office still has time to fix their lack of size, but right now, the 76ers are actually smaller than last season. That is not the end-all, be-all, but given their problems in years past, the team had better err on the side of caution and fix this issue before it could derail them.
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