To say that the Philadelphia 76ers have a ton of work awaiting them in the offseason would be an understatement. With the team turning in a wildly disappointing season for the ages, a singular move would nowhere be enough to give them the boost they need to mount a more competitive bid in the following campaign.
The 76ers have a lot of pressing issues to address, such as finding a resolution to the murky Joel Embiid injury situation, but aside from that, the front office also has to figure out an inexpensive way to cure their ills. After all, unlike last year, Philly will not have the luxury of having having the sufficient financial ammo to be a defining force in the open market.
Daryl Morey and his crew must already have a plan mapped out even at this juncture thanks to their playoff hopes effectively dashed by now, but talking about their on-court needs, their first move in free agency could not be any more obvious.
The 76ers have to immediately address their rebounding woes in free agency
First and foremost on the team’s list of on-court issues that need urgent addressing in free agency is their rebounding (or lack thereof). The 76ers are dead last in the league in rebounds per game, corralling just 39.4 boards on a nightly basis, and in rebounding percentage.
The lack of Joel Embiid for the most part has been pretty debilitating for the 76ers on that end. It also does not help that Andre Drummond, their other natural center on the roster and perhaps their lone above-average rebounder (aside from the raw Adem Bona), has missed games here and there while also declining a tad this season. Clearly, Philadelphia needs a legitimate board-crasher to mend things on that end next season.
For as good as Guerschon Yabusele has been, even re-signing him would not solve this rebounding puzzle. He breathes physicality on both ends, but is simply way too undersized to be reliable on the boards. He also cannot mask the lack of gang rebounding the team suffers from due to its inherent lack of size and length across nearly all positions.
Fortunately for the front office, non-All-Star, natural centers do not necessarily come as expensive nowadays. In fact, they may even try and find a big body through this year’s draft, where they are currently pegged to have a pretty lofty selection for their perusal.
The Philadelphia 76ers do not need to overthink this one. Regardless of whether Joel Embiid’s health condition improves, the club needs a nother big body whom they can bank on to secure possessions for them. Otherwise, their ceiling on both ends would remain stale next season.