Is The Sixers Roster Ready For The Stretch Run?

After a much-needed All-Star break, Sixers basketball is back, and it’s back in a big way -- the team’s first two games since returning from the break have been absolute thrillers against great teams.

Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.

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After a much-needed All-Star break, Sixers basketball is back, and it’s back in a big way -- the team’s first two games since returning from the break have been absolute thrillers against great teams.

This is a sign of things to come: the Sixers’ remaining schedule is extremely challenging in every way possible. hey have the most difficult pre-playoff stretch in terms of strength of schedule, and many of their most challenging contests on the road. Only one NBA team has as many games left on their schedule as the Sixers do.

Doc Rivers has spoken about this gauntlet-style stretch for months now, and emphasized that the key to the team finding its way through is by showing its depth -- rotations will be expanded, guys will need nights off, and injuries are inevitable. Rivers believes this will truly be as close to a 15-man effort as you can have -- and so, there’s no better time to check in on each and every member of the roster.

James Harden
Harden struggled to score in Saturday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics, but I am more encouraged by his play recently than I have ever been during his Sixers tenure.

The most important thing working in Harden’s favor is that he’s found his burst again. He’ll never be quite as explosive as he was in his prime, but he’s getting to the rim and finishing better now than he did all of last season. Not only does this lead to him being a better scorer, but it enables him to unlock several passing options that were not available to him. This has made life easier on offense for every member of this team.

Harden has also improved his spot-up three point shooting. . He looked oddly hesitant to shoot off the catch for much of last season, but he’s excelled in that department this year. Joel Embiid’s complete dominance gifts Harden plenty of spot-up opportunities, and he’s taken advantage in every way -- not only is Harden attempting more threes this season than he did with the Sixers last season, but he’s posting a career-best 39.4 three-point percentage. Not since his days in Oklahoma City has Harden been even close to this level of efficiency.

De’Anthony Melton
Melton has been a terrific addition to this team who earned a starting job. In the aggregate, he has been excellent. But his last small handful of games does have me a bit worried.

In his last six games, Melton has only knocked down six threes. Additionally, he’s only scored more than seven points once during that stretch.

Despite being among the league leaders in steals, in five of the aforementioned six contests he has come up without a single one. His defense, while still very good, has been less ironclad recently, between the less frequent turnovers forced and repeatedly getting into foul trouble.

Melton is a wonderful role player who will continue to help this team down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs. But I can’t say I’m not at least a bit concerned with his recent play.

Tobias Harris
On offense, Harris has fallen back into some old habits which dramatically worsen his processing speed on a team that needs decisive, assertive shooting from him. He’s beginning to remedy those issues the same way he did earlier in the season, making 10 threes across his last three games.

Harris has never been a weak link on the defensive end of the floor, but for most of his career he’s been passable much more than he’s been good. Harris has taken pride in his defensive improvement since getting to Philadelphia, and that improvement is showing itself more recently. Specifically, Harris has taken on certain assignments that he never could have before this season -- on several occasions, he has defended star guard. These strides were most evident in Thursday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, when he did an outstanding job limiting Ja Morant, who finished the game with a 3-16 shooting line.

PJ Tucker
Tucker has been the subject of a whole lot of criticism this season, and a lot of it has been warranted: his lack of offensive utility causes problems for the Sixers on that end of the floor, and his defense hasn’t seemed remotely elite.

But the Sixers have continued to assert their belief that when the lights are brightest, Tucker will find another gear. And in the last three games, all of which against very good teams, Tucker has been at his best.

Only time will tell if the 37-year old is still capable of truly flipping the switch in the biggest moments. But so far, so good.

Joel Embiid
There’s not much left to say about Embiid’s complete mastery of the game of basketball. He is among the league’s few best scorers while remaining an elite rim protector. He continues to find ways to get better and dominate just about any opponent he goes up against.

My biggest worry with Embiid is not about what happens when he is on the floor -- it’s how often he’s on the floor. Embiid has played in all but one game on the Sixers’ schedule since January 10, including each of their last 13. During that stretch, he’s averaging a hair under 36 minutes per night.

Embiid being able to do this at all, given where he once was, is miraculous. But the long-term view must remain: The top priority, even above playoff seeding, is delivering Embiid to the playoffs in the best shape possible.

Tyrese Maxey
Since January 1st, Maxey is shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from beyond the arc, after shooting 45.9 percent in total and 41.9 percent from deep this season before the calendar turned.

It’s been a struggle for Maxey recently, whose move to the bench has clearly been a tricky transition. There’s no getting around it, Maxey’s recent performance will just not be enough in the playoffs for this team to get to where they want to be.

Maxey is certainly a better player than he’s shown in recent weeks. However, he likely isn’t an elite shooter as he may have seemed earlier in the season.

If I was a Sixers coach, my plan would not be to limit Maxey’s ball-handling role. In fact, it would be the opposite: the Sixers should actually give Maxey the ball more often now. Not only does this show extreme faith in him, but it would empower him to get as many reps as he needs to rediscover his confidence.

Shake Milton, Georges Niang
Milton only saw two minutes of action against Boston, a surprising move in which Rivers opted to trust Niang over the fifth-year guard in what may be a tell as far as who does and does not play when the playoffs begin.

While Niang’s three-point shooting can be very valuable, I think going smaller with Milton will be the more reliable option than going big with Niang and hoping he doesn’t get exploited as a weak link defensively.

Milton’s role has shrunk as a result of Harden and Maxey both getting healthy, but there will simply always be a role for a tall, long guard who can spot-up from deep and also create their own shot. Milton is a tremendous creator for himself, specifically in end of shot clock situations, and as of now, when the chips are down I would bank on him swinging a game in the Sixers’ favor before Niang.

Jalen McDaniels
McDaniels was an extremely uninspiring addition at the trade deadline to many, but he’s already shown noticeable flashes of the ability that drew the Sixers to him in the first place. His combination of size, length and athleticism is rare; he isn’t as outstanding of a defender as Matisse Thybulle, but those tools make him a very solid and reliable wing on that end of the floor.

McDaniels’ offensive role has been extremely limited so far (as it should be), but a few times they have run interesting sets that utilize him as a cutter, where those athletic traits make him a viable lob threat.

Paul Reed, Dewayne Dedmon, Montrezl Harrell
BBall Paul still has a chance to be a very good backup center in this league. And he will most certainly be wonderful at Live Ricky V: Victory Tour. But by this point of the season, I’m not comfortable with what I’ve seen from him this season to say he should be Embiid’s permanent backup.

I certainly think Reed should play over someone like Harrell, who I believe has zero utility in the playoffs. But, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I think the Sixers need to give Dedmon a crack at this. Will Dedmon play well? In all likelihood, the answer is no. But he’s here, and Reed simply has not earned a permanent place in this rotation.

Danuel House Jr., Furkan Korkmaz
House Jr. and Korkmaz have been on the outside looking in for most of the season now, and if either one enters the rotation it will likely be because of an injury to one of Harris, Tucker, McDaniels and Niang.

These two are just emergency options at this point, but what is interesting is that Rivers does have a bit of optionality if an emergency takes place: would the team simply need capable minutes from someone who won’t be completely exploited on either end of the floor? In that case, House Jr. is the clear reinforcement. But if the team needs a spark of some sort or their offense regresses, Korkmaz becomes an interesting option. He’s years removed from it now, but there have been times in which Korkmaz has excelled as an offensive chess piece.

Jaden Springer
I spent some time with Springer last week and wrote about his unusual developmental arc and how he maintains confidence amid constant shuffling between Philadelphia and Delaware.

The Sixers knew Springer was a project when they drafted him, and have not wavered that he can help them down the line. But essentially taking two redshirt seasons is not an easy thing for a 19-year old like Springer.

It’s odd to say about someone on a team that wants to win a championship this year, but the rest of this season will continue to be all about future seasons for Springer, who simply doesn’t have a path to rotation minutes due to the way this roster has been constructed.