As always, you all brought plenty of heat for this mailbag!
On Monday I asked you all for some Sixers questions for a mailbag/discussion thread — and you did not disappoint! Again, this is something I’m planning to do every Monday for the foreseeable future, with the answers coming on Tuesdays.
You all came in hot with these questions. Let’s get right into it! Hop into the comments below to keep the conversation going.
This is a great question. If the Sixers are able to select any of Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey or V.J. Edgecombe it’s a no-brainer. The Harper and Edgecombe fits could be slightly complicated, but they’re both way too good to pass up.
Trading back to get picks No. 9 and 16 is intriguing. While we can debate several moves during Daryl Morey’s tenure, his scouting department’s ability to find young talent — whether through the draft, trade or as free agents — has been terrific. More bites at the apple isn’t the worst idea. I’m not as sure the Spurs would be on board unless they really loved someone at No. 5 or 6. I imagine their preference would be to move those picks to find pieces to surround Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox to win now. Or maybe even draft two players they can have on rookie contracts as things get more expensive.
Topic is interesting, but I’m not sure it’s a fit for either side. I imagine the Thunder would like Topic to show he’s healthy and restore his value before possibly trading him. He also might still be a long-term fit for them on a rookie deal as their contracts get pricier … because OKC totally needs another awesome young player on a cheap contract that fits their team perfectly.
I think you take the best player available. Again, Morey and his scouting department have proven to be great in this area (save for Jaden Springer in 2021). Let them decide between Kasparas Jakucionis, Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel or another prospect of their liking. While there is a drop-off after the aforementioned first four players, all three of Jakucionis, Johnson and Knueppel are super talented.
I’m higher on Johnson than most. That shot is gorgeous and he’s a pure bucker-getter at 6-foot-6. He just turned 19 on March 7. He’s also from Garland, Texas. Worked out the last time the Sixers took a guy from there! Jakucionis feels like a boom-or-bust guy. His feel is elite-elite but his athleticism is not. Knueppel is a great shooter that’s proven to be a decent playmaker and OK defender.
The short answer: if the Sixers get pick No. 6, I would trust Morey and company to take the best player available.
SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell does an awesome job with NBA Draft coverage every season. It’s worth checking out his 2025 mock draft.
When you look around the NBA at the teams at the bottom of the standings, most of them chose the tank. In the Sixers’ case, the tank kind of chose them.
Beyond Joel Embiid and Paul George, the Sixers have just been absolutely ravaged by injury. Even now as they’re “tanking,” guys that aren’t playing are genuinely injured. Guys like Guerschon Yabusele and Justin Edwards are playing hurt. Yabusele’s knee has been an issue for over a month and Edwards has been dealing with an ankle sprain since the All-Star break.
To answer your question I’m not sure a conversation has been necessary because of how comically shorthanded the Sixers truly are. It might sound like a boomer take but I wouldn’t want Morey to ask Nurse to do what Masai Ujiri is asking Darko Rajakovic to do in Toronto. The Raptors have essentially been throwing games by benching their best players in the second half or fourth quarter.
Tanking by “resting” players or putting together rosters with little chance to win is one thing. Telling a coach to lose on purpose feels like a bridge too far. How can you face your players on a daily basis? I don’t know. I get fans’ desire to lose games and how important it is to keep that first-rounder, but that just feels gross.
I have zero statistical data to back this up … but yes.
The team’s medical personnel has changed over several times since the Bynum days. Hard to pin it on one person or another. Most of the games missed have been by injury-prone players. Maybe that’s the lesson!
Yeesh. This is a big one.
The reality is No. 2 is the much more plausible scenario. I’m not shocked by much with this team but I would be shocked if Embiid chooses to retire. I’m also not sure how you get off that PG contract — or Embiid contract — without giving up any assets. You’d be selling at the lowest of the lows.
I’d also point out that Morey rarely makes “losing” trades like that just to get off a player’s contract. The last time he attached an asset to get off a contract was sending Al Horford to OKC. While I think you make that move again in a heartbeat — the Sixers were the No. 1 seed before imploding in the second round (again) — Horford eventually returned to the Celtics and helped them win a championship while the Sixers could lose their 2025 first-rounder to the Thunder.
I totally understand the fans’ desire for a rebuild around the likes of Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and (very likely) Quentin Grimes. For me, Embiid and George will be back next year, but both players have to accept that it’s Maxey’s team now. He has to be the No. 1 option. And with the way Grimes is playing, he might very well be the No. 2 option most nights, while McCain becomes a lethal sixth man.
Embiid and George can still make big impacts, especially defensively. Embiid’s rim protection is critical for the way Nurse wants to play by trying to wreak havoc and get deflections on the perimeter. For all of George’s offensive warts this season, he was a plus on defense. You could tell he sort of quarterbacked the perimeter players when he was able to play.
On offense, Embiid’s main objective should be to hunt shots for Maxey, Grimes and McCain — something he claimed he was ready to do this season before posting his usual astronomical usage rate in 19 injury-riddled games. Eventually teams will have to play him more like a facilitator and that’s when he can take advantage of 1-on-1 opportunities. For George, January was his healthiest month and he proved he still has the ability to shoot the basketball and add supplemental creation.
The tricky part — beyond both guys staying healthy — is convincing two perennial All-Stars that it’s time to take a step back. That likely won’t be easy. But for the Sixers, those two players simply playing most of the season healthy would either benefit their ability to compete or the team’s ability to possibly move off their contracts in the future.
For the Sixers it makes the most sense to compete next season (keep in mind that if their pick doesn’t convey to OKC in 2025, they’ll owe a top-four protected 2026 first to the Thunder), hope for a magical year of health, but be ready to pivot if/when it falls apart.