Regardless of how the Sixers attack the rest of the season, here are some things to look out for over the final 28 games
No, seriously, what the hell is there to watch?
Because they have to, the Sixers will play at least 28 more NBA basketball games as this season barrels to a close. While they are mathematically as alive as ever, still only 1.5 games out of the final spot of the Play-In tournament, morale feels like it’s reached an all-time low.
Heading into the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak will do that. While most of this team’s woes this season can be blamed on health, that isn’t the case for this most recent stretch. Three of those losses saw all three stars start and finish the game — at least one took the floor in all five of those games.
It continues to be tricky to figure out what the team’s short-term plans are as they continue to move in half-way measures. Paul George is receiving pain injections to get through regular season games, but there hasn’t been a push for guys to play through back-to-backs even as wins become more crucial.
The team reportedly signed Lonnie Walker in an effort to build a younger backcourt, but waited through four months of Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson pushing their walkers up and down the court to do so.
It’s not clear whether the Sixers are still trying for some form of postseason basketball, or if they’ve completely pivoted to trying to keep their first-round draft pick that will go to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it doesn’t land in the top-six. If Nick Nurse’s quotes are anything to go on, this team is still very much trying to make the playoffs.
Barring a miracle, it will likely be an unpleasant road ahead. So for all the sickos who are here no matter what, or blissfully unaware stragglers just filing in after that Eagles’ run, here are some storylines to watch for the back half of this season.
Will the Big 3 actually get an extended run together?
As it has been all season, this is the hardest answer to predict. Daryl Morey and Joel Embiid himself have spoke at length about how hard it is to forecast the state of Embiid’s left knee. All he can really do right now is get out there and hope it responds well the next day. Sufficed to say, with him only appearing in 17 out of the first 54 games, the Big 3 still has some growing pains to iron out.
It’s his chemistry with George, specifically, that has to come around. PG and Maxey have actually had enough time to put together above average offensive lineups when they’re on the floor together. By George’s own admission though, he’s still figuring out how to play with Embiid.
“It’s definitely been challenging, but I’m here to learn,” George told reporters after a loss to the Toronto Raptors, “I’m here to learn and figure it out. He’s an unbelievable talent.”
Embiid hardly being able to play consistently has made that hard enough, but George’s stop-and-start season has made it difficult as well. He’s missed extended periods of time due to multiple bone bruises in his left knee, and is currently playing with a finger he can’t bend. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported over the break that George has been receiving pain injections to play through injury.
Getting the three of these guys reps together is the most important thing they can do the rest of this year, but that is so difficult when they’re playing compromised. It’s admirable that George has gone through playoff-like preparations to play through this, but he’s done more harm than good in doing so.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Big 3 has only played 527 possessions this season, not a lot considering they use 100 possessions for a proper sample size.
It’s impossible to count on them getting any meaningful time together before the end of this season, but until the team officially shuts one (or all) of them down, the best thing they can do is still try. As this most recent losing streak has shown, the Big 3 taking the court doesn’t necessarily take them out of the tanking race.
How are the new additions fitting in?
Now for some storylines with considerably lower stakes. Despite the fact that they haven’t won any games yet, the additions of Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler have gone quite well for the Sixers.
In his four games with his new team, Grimes is averaging 16.8 points per game on a 57 effective field goal percentage. Butler has averaged 10 points and 4.7 assists in 17 minutes per game for Philly.
Even if they aren’t here for the long term — Grimes will be a restricted free agent in the summer, and Butler only just converted from a two-way contract — it’s a chance to see how Maxey and the other stars can play off of different types of guards.
Someone with the size to take key perimeter defense assignments while being able to knock down shots is a new archetype on this type of roster, as is a table-setting guard who can actually still get by people.
Regardless of how much short- or long-term thinking went into these acquisitions, it’s bringing in fresh skillsets to complement the big pieces after the previous ones conclusively weren’t.
They’ll have plenty of opportunity to prove whether they’re good fits. Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry remain on the shelf coming out of the All-Star break, clearing plenty of minutes for Butler. Nurse also seems to really like the idea of Grimes in the starting lineup, even when at full strength.
The Sixers are also reportedly bringing in Lonnie Walker IV for the remainder of the season, as well as a team option for next year. He spent most of this year playing in the EuroLeague for a reason, but the Sixers have had some success rehabbing guys’ careers (see Guerschon Yabusele and Kelly Oubre Jr.).
What to make of the youth towards the back of the roster?
While he became the latest Sixer to hit the injury report, it does seem like they’ve already found one rotation player in undrafted rookie Justin Edwards. So far he’s making 36.4% of his three-pointers, taking four of them a game while also drawing some of the top defensive assignments on the perimeter. He was rewarded by having his two-way contract converted in a standard deal shortly after the trade deadline.
Adem Bona still has a long way to go, but he’s shown promise as well. He’s already been flat out better than the team’s first idea at backup center: Andre Drummond. Per Cleaning the Glass, lineups with Bona have a +0.2 point differential compared to a -12.8 difference in lineups anchored by Drummond. He still has some development to do — his defensive rebounding rate is only in the 36th percentile.
While his 3% block rate is very high, his 6.4% foul rate is even higher. As a second-round pick, he’ll have plenty of time here to smooth out his game.
Rounding out the end-of-bench youth is Ricky Council IV. He stood out last year as an athletic wing on a bench that had very little of that. Since the emergence of Edwards though, Council’s skillset hasn’t seemed as necessary.
Edwards has just been so much more plug-and-play, compared to Council who is an iffy shooter on his best days. Not only as a spot-up shooter, Edwards is typically a safer pair of hands to put the ball on the floor and attack a closeout. He’s shooting 46% on midrange shots this year and 69% at the rim. Council is shooting 31% and 58% from those areas, respectively.
Council is still the most dynamic athlete though on the roster and his ability to get to the line hasn’t gone anywhere. His free throw rate remains in the 98th percentile across the league. He’s also seemed to find a bit of a groove shooting as he’s risen his three-point percentage to 30.4%. While that’s still well below average, he has shot 45% on corner threes this season.
This is almost certainly a lost season for the Sixers, but at least now the injection of youth gives people something to look forward to.