It's All About Getting Joel Embiid To and Through the Playoffs

"What a great move for the regular season!"

Andrew Unterberger is a famous writer who invented the nickname 'Sauce Castillo' and writes for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez, as part of the 'If Not, Pick Will Convey As Two Second-Rounders' section of the site. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AUGetoffmygold and can also read him at Billboard. 

Andrew's writing is brought to you by Kinetic Skateboarding! Not only the Ricky's approved skate shop, but the best place to get Chucks, Vans, any apparel. Use code "DAVESILVER" for 9.1% off your order.

---

"What a great move for the regular season!" 

That was the hilariously common refrain on Sixers Twitter yesterday after the signing of Montrezl Harrell to a two-year contract, the long-coveted and/or dreaded late-offseason Sixers move. For the third straight summer, they picked up a Per 36 efficiency monster with limited range and positional flexibility -- if not quite a former star in this case, then at least a name that even most casual NBA fans are probably familiar with -- to slide into the second spot on our depth chart under "C." And while the acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond drew relatively mixed reviews upon their inkings at the beginning of their respective offseasons, the reception for Harrell seems close to unanimous: It's cool, until tax day. 

Of course, that doesn't seem like it should necessarily be a thing for Process Trusters to be celebrating right now. The regular season is no longer the Sixers' proving ground; they've been a homecourt team in the first round of four of the last five playoffs and even got the East's top seed in 2021. They could win 60 games in the regular season -- hell, they very well might -- and it would probably just make Sixers fans nervous about them setting themselves up for another second-round embarrassment in the postseason. If a dude can't help us in May and June, he can't really help us that much at all at this point. 

But embedded in that recurring backhanded compliment about the Harrell signing is a truth that kinda clarifies the entire Sixers summer: Harrell helps in May and June because he helps Joel Embiid in November through April. And that might end up being more crucial than anything he could give us in eight postseason minutes a game. 

Harrell certainly fits in with the Sixers' offseason priorities of upping their toughness, their rebounding, and their count of former Houston Rockets. But just as importantly, he fits their ability to build a James Harden team around James Harden when Joel Embiid's not around. Harrell will be an infinitely more dynamic pick-and-roll partner than DeAndre Jordan -- and yeah, probably way better than Paul Reed too, particularly at season's start -- and those two guys plus shooters (and/or Maxey) can serve as the foundation of a high-level NBA offense. It won't work in every matchup, but it will in most, and while the bloom is off the rose a little with the former Sixth Man of the Year winner he's hardly over the hill: 20 points per 36 minutes on nearly 65% shooting last year in Charlotte and Washington. He'll make hay on this team when called on to do so.

And you get the feeling that call is coming early and often. After two straight second-place MVP campaigns capped by injury-plagued postseasons, it certainly seems like Embiid will be picking his spots a little more with the first 82 games next year; recurring Sixers mouthpiece Drew Hanlen has essentially voiced as much already. Joel has hardly needed much outside help missing games over the course of his career, but he's always pushed to play as many as he can when he can, particularly with the MVP in his laser sights. This year, though, a sore calf may result in a three-week IR stint; if he stubs his toe in his hotel room early on a road trip there'll be a car outside within five minutes ready to take him to the first flight back to Philly. If he played over 65 games this year I think we'd all be shocked; if he played under 55 games I think we'd probably be pretty grateful.

Harrell -- with Harden quarterbacking -- will certainly help paper over the Big Man's absence. So will Paul Reed, and so will P.J. Tucker if he has to man the middle for 5-10 games this season. The Sixers have built up pretty good frontcourt depth this season, most of which won't be of tremendous help in the playoffs, but all of which can help Joel take a load off if he decides he'd rather tour the Riverwalk in San Antonio than bang bodies with Jakob Poeltl for 35 grueling minutes. Hell, by season's end he might be showing up with the fans in the upper deck to get plastered and heckle his understudies, like Liam Gallagher torturing his older brother during Oasis' MTV Unplugged. Sounds like fun.

All this said, I probably shouldn’t go this entire piece without mentioning that on its own, I don't actually like this move much. A lot of this article is cope, no doubt, over the fact that I just wrote an article last friggin’ week praising Daryl Morey and the Sixers for NOT signing a veteran big man to get in the way of Paul Reed, who I believed (and still believe) should be given the keys to the kingdom and allowed to run wild as the Sixers' leashless back-up big. He's the better, more versatile, and -- ridiculous to say given the disparity in age and experience between the two -- the more reliable postseason player, and the player with the higher two-way upside in general. Great to fantasize about a timeshare regular season followed by a postseason where BBall Paul fully takes over once Harrell can no longer hang, but we've seen little evidence that Doc Rivers will be able to keep himself from defaulting to seniority when it comes to deciding his playoff rotation — indeed, it was in large part his reliance on Harrell himself in the Clippers' second-round series against Denver in 2020 that brought his tenure in Los Angeles to a premature end. Doc seems to take great pride in not learning from his mistakes, so I doubt the story will be much different this time around.

But it is also fair to point out that as batty as Doc's insistence on Harrell getting some center minutes in the playoffs may end up making us, we'll probably still find it an acceptable tradeoff if a healthy Joel is soaking up all the rest for our entire run. That's still the thing -- more than our perennially insecure backup five position, more than our toughness or rebounding or shot-making, more even than James Harden's hamstring health -- that makes the biggest difference between the Sixers being another harmless two-and-done and true championship contenders this postseason. If Harrell's presence helps make that possible this spring, I'll be there for the unveiling of his statue outside the Wells Fargo Center. Maybe it’ll even be bigger than Mike Muscala’s.