Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Trail Blazers

Three normal things.

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

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 an upset victory in Denver on Thursday night, the Sixers continued their west coast swing with a battle against the Portland Trail Blazers. Let’s get to Pros and Cons:

Pro: Matisse Thybulle returns from health and safety protocols

Tonight was Thybulle’s first game back since being placed in COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and he had a tall task in his return, being asked to defend Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. 

Thybulle wasn’t incredibly effective tonight outside of a few plays, and his minutes were supposedly being monitored, but having him back will be a huge boost for the Sixers, who currently are without their two pillars on the defensive end in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. 

Additionally, Thybulle’s return will mean more rest for the Sixers’ perimeter players, specifically Tyrese Maxey. Maxey has played a massive amount of minutes with heavy loads on both ends of the floor. Thybulle being able to take some of the top defensive assignments off of Maxey’s hands will be a healthy change of pace..

Con: Furkan Korkmaz’s struggles mounting

Korkmaz was an essential piece for the Sixers to open the season, providing the team with consistent shooting and some occasional shot creation in the absence of Simmons.

Of late, however, his production simply hasn’t been there. In his last five games entering tonight’s contest, Korkmaz shot about seven three-point attempts per game and only converted on 20 percent of them. 

Tonight was another rough one for Korkmaz, as he failed to give the Sixers any sort of juice off the bench. I’m not quite worried about Korkmaz in the long-term yet, but the Sixers need him to turn his season around, and do it soon.

Pro: Tyrese Maxey won’t slow down -- literally or figuratively

Tonight was yet another impressive standout showing from Maxey, who at this point is dazzling on a nightly basis. His paint scoring continues to be prodigious, and he’s becoming more comfortable and confident as a jump-shooter. 

What impresses me most about Maxey is how rapidly he is progressing, despite accumulating a massive workload on both ends of the floor. 

More than any other Sixer, Maxey has the right to slow down a bit at some point. He’s learning how to play the point guard position on the fly, playing more minutes than anyone else on the team, and doing all of it at a lightning-quick pace. 

And yet… he just won’t slow down. Maxey continues a sophomore campaign that has been more impressive than I possibly could have imagined. The Sixers landed a special player here.