2023-2024 Sixers Season

[schillingfan]

I love the Sixers this year. I could always count on them bring outscored byt ten points when the bench players came in. This year they seem to have actually valuable role players. Maxey and Joel seem to click better having the offense not run through Harden. Tonight they were crazy with their three pointers. And snick a nurse seems to know how to coach.

[VoteForKalas]

I like the balance of the team too, but the Wizards are one of the worst teams in the league. I'd like to see performances like this vs the Celtics, Bucks etc.

[phillychuck]

It's a make or miss league most nights during the regular season. Teams look really good when shots are going in, and the Wizards don't exactly force bad shots on most nights. And they had no chance at stopping Embiid with their center, Gafford, out.

I don't know how anyone could coach that Wizards team--their two highest paid players, Kuzma and Poole, clearly don't want to be there and have their own agendas. They play like it's pick-up game at the local youth center and they are bored to be there.

Sixers need to use this stretch to figure out what they have around Embiid and Maxey, and refine their style of play to maximize their skills.

Last night even Marcus Morris looked good!

[zambonir]

It's crazy the Wizards just re-signed Beal in 2022 and then traded him a year later. One assumes they will trade Kuzma (expiring contract too) but another long road back.

[andyb]

Kuzma just signed a new 4-year deal this offseason. They probably should have traded him at the deadline last season but they did not have their new GM in place who knows a lot more about what he is doing. Deal was not ridiculous (4/102) but they should probably dump him if anyone will give them a number one pick.

[phillychuck]

The Wizards are probably worse than a few of the process-era Sixers teams. I don't think I'd want Kuzma on the Sixers--seems like he's not that interested in winning; very focused on his own stats. He stopped playing and pouted last night when one of his teammates took a rebound away from him. Very embarrassing display.

[zambonir]

Ah, missed that. Yeah, that's not a super-pricey deal. I guess if the results are a lot like last night keeping those guys doesn't hurt the tank.

[bigegypt0417]

This team has been fun to watch...the thing is as they are constructed t hey are a second round team...the one thing I want to see now is what can morey do with draft capital and what could be the third or fourth mose cap space this coming offseason....

[xogfog]

Sixers extend GM Morey through 2027-28 season.

[bkeich]

Weird stretch of the schedule. Playing terrible, almost laughable teams and at least they are blowing them out every night. Embiid managed to maintain his scoring lead despite not playing the 4th Quarter in many (any?) of the recent games.

Sixers now lead the league in point differential because of the recent streak of blowouts.

[xogfog]

Well, they didn't play a terrible team last night, they played the West leading Timberwolves and beat them by double digits. Embiid dropped 51 on them. He is playing insane right now.

[phillychuck]

The league is going to have to change how they play Embiid when he has the ball at the elbow. One guy can't stop him, and his shot-making percentage from that area is way too high to just let him shoot. He gets really open shots, too, when he runs dribble hand offs or pick-and-rolls (actually mostly pick-and-flares) with Maxey--very hard to double him off of those since Maxey (who had 35 last night) is a threat, too.

The key to winning that game last night, though, was how well the Sixers played in the first part of the 4th quarter when Embiid was resting. They picked up 10 points when Paul Reed was playing center, despite Melton and Batum being out. Embiid (and Maxey) carried them the rest of the way!

[xogfog]

The Celtics are the only team that gives him trouble. I'm really interested to see the next time they play each other.

[VoteForKalas]

Like past seasons, the proof will be in the playoffs pudding.

We know Embiid is a great player and can carry the team to a decent playoff seed.

The trick is how can Maxey & Harris become or stay productive without Embiid on the floor and how the roster depth can provide enough defense and scoring to prevent the need to run those 3 players into the ground by April.

[zambonir]

Obviously the bet/hope is that this team might be good enough to get over the second-round hump, but it's probably not championship material. The question is, are there in-season/trade deadline moves that can be made to change that. And if so, what (and at what price)?

If not, it's a transitional year before putting all the remaining assets & cap space to work next year.

But it's more fun to be the team with a rising young star, depth, and a coach who actually makes everyone better around Joel than it has been to have disappointing stars.

[xogfog]

I'm not sure there are in-season/trade deadline moves to be made. Rumors have them interested in OG Anunoby, Zach LeVine and Donovan Mitchell. Of those, the one I wouldn't want is LeVine because he's a defensive liability and he has a lot of money left on his deal. I'd be more willing to let this team go and see what we get this year and cash in next off-season with all the expiring contracts and the ammo they got back in Harden trade.

[zambonir]

Well, there's always moves. But agreed about Lavine, and in general. The guys you mention are the "Column A" move where they would have to unload a fair amount both for trade return and salary match and have less to work with in the off-season. But there will still be moves if they don't go after one big player.

This story also mentions DeRozan, Siakam and Alex Caruso. Mitchell's probably not available (at least so far). The rest mentioned are just small upgrades (a guard, a shooter, more center depth).

Let's face it Morey is probably incapable of standing pat, but hopefully he's also learned something about chemistry by now (though there's no evidence he has yet!)

Sixers trade primer: Assets to deal, potential targets, and teams to watch

[phillychuck]

The question for Sixers' management (and fans) is what kind of trade you can make to substantially increase the odds of a conference championship or NBA championship. If you could shuffle money and get your rotation to look like this:

Maxey
LaVine
Batum/Oubre
Anunoby
Embiid

Tyus Jones
Melton
Oubre/Batum
Cov
Paul

With Harris, Morris, (possibly Springer and Martin) and picks and swaps going out...

I think you would of course do it, and it's probably feasible. The largest incentive to make trades that would end up something like the above is not wasting a year of prime Embiid. I don't think this incentive should be underestimated. We are not going to wait until the off-season because the team as is, even though it's good, is not going to win a championship without immense good luck. Maybe 5% chance to win the East....The above lineup might be as high as 30%+ to win the East. You owe it to Joel to try, and you owe it to your fans and the rest of the team. You don't throw away chances. The life of a basketball player is finite.

(I would prefer Dorian Finney-Smith to LaVine, and start the following lineup

Maxey
Melton
Anunoby
Finney-Smith
Embiid

but I'm not all that high on LaVine; others are.)

[zambonir]

Anunoby is the guy, I'd think. And then you re-sign him with the Bird rights while also getting Maxey's deal done. I'm just not sure if the other options are right, or worth spending all the assets now. Or worth disrupting chemistry.

And how are you trading for both Anunoby and Finney-Smith?

I think 5% to win the East is pretty low. There's an argument that they already have as good a chance as Boston and Milwaukee the way they are currently playing (David Murphy in the paper made it today). It's only the history and the brand names on the other team that say otherwise.

[phillychuck]

Finney-Smith might be pretty cheap. He has low-key been asking out of Brooklyn according to Nets' fans, and I think his minutes have been down lately. Anunoby SHOULD also be discounted since he's a FA at the end of the season. Toronto has to trade him to get value.