Three Sixers Offseason Questions
Sixers Adam tries to get to the answers.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
As the home stretch of the NBA offseason looms, the Sixers are a team with more unanswered questions than perhaps any other team. Let’s take a look at some of the looming questions surrounding this fittingly-bizarre team.
Is Ben Simmons actually getting traded this summer?
We’re over a week into free agency, a time in which many teams have their rosters near finalization.
On the surface, the Sixers seem like such a team, with 14 NBA players and two two-way players under contract. But we all know that the Sixers still have some major maneuvering to execute.
Ben Simmons has not been traded, as Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey is reportedly seeking a massive haul in return for the beleaguered All-Star -- a package large enough that there seems to be little interest in the trade . The Sixers can enter next season with Simmons still on the roster. But after all of the noise about a trade, and Simmons’ openness to a deal, it would make for quite the awkward reunion in training camp.
Morey seems to be playing this situation with characteristic patience, which is the right call -- as bad as the situation may be, a roster change this drastic needs to be methodical, not emotional.
Does that approach mean we’ll see Simmons at Sixers training camp this fall? My guess remains that Simmons does get dealt before the start of the season, but I’m much less confident in that belief than I was a few weeks ago.
Was bringing Danny Green back the right call?
In a word: yes! Green is underrated by many Sixers fans due to his Robert Covington-esque ups and downs. But the fact of the matter is Green is a good starter in this league, even at his age, and he can help the Sixers in multiple respects.
Green’s quick trigger as a shooter was a massive boon for the Sixers offense last season. Seth Curry is clearly the team’s best shooter, but for much of the regular season, Green brought in more value from beyond the arc because he has absolutely zero hesitation to let a three fly.
Though he’s a step or two slower than he used to be, Green still possesses positive-impact defensive value, as he helped the Sixers build what was arguably the NBA’s best defense last season.
For all of these reasons, I believed going into free agency that the Sixers should bring Green back, even if they have to pay him more than they’d like and / or commit multiple guaranteed seasons to his aging self.
Somehow, someway, the Sixers managed to bring Green back without doing either of those things. Green signed for two years and $20 million.
First of all, I would argue that an average annual value of $10 million is a bargain for a starting-caliber 3&D wing. But that’s not all: as it turns out, the second year of Green’s deal is non-guaranteed.
The Sixers were able to bring Green back, improving their short-term prospects in doing so, without risking a single dollar beyond the 2021-22 season. This was a massive win for the Sixers.
Is Paul Reed going to be the third string center?
The Sixers spent their two second round picks in July’s NBA Draft on center prospects, Filip Petrusev and Charles Bassey. It’s already been decided that Petrusev will be stashed overseas for at least the upcoming season, and while Bassey’s standing is less clear, I don’t anticipate him getting an NBA contract yet.
The third string center spot matters more for the Sixers than perhaps any other NBA team -- with the amount of games that Joel Embiid does not play in, the Sixers need not just one reliable backup center, but two of them.
The Sixers brought Embiid’s former foe Andre Drummond in on a minimum deal to be the backup center, a wise move. But when you look at the rest of the roster, there is only one other full-time big: Paul Reed.
BBall Paul dominated the G League Bubble last season, earning MVP honors. His NBA playing time was scarce, and aside from the occasional highlight dunk, he didn’t make much of an impression.
But barring a third center signing in free agency, it looks like Reed is in line for real minutes this season. His inexperience worries me a decent amount, but as of now the Sixers are showing their belief in him. With the way he played in the G League, I can’t blame them.