Internally the Philadelphia 76ers went into the 2019-20 season with championship aspirations. Yesterday they were swept in the first round, ending a season that was full of disappointment. What went wrong though? What changes need to be made to make this team a true championship contender?
Fire Brett Brown
I did write this before it became official but they did fire Brett Brown. Which is a start. There has been chemistry issues–particularly on offense–the entire season. Josh Richardson has gone on record–according to Chris Haynes most recent article–that there was no sense of accountability or leadership internally. Joel Embiid yesterday said that he wished they would have been able to find their identity both offensively and defensively. Al Horford–normally a pretty quiet guy–expressed his frustration with the lack of a defined role in the offense. And several players were questioning if Brown had a bone to pick with Matisse Thybulle–who displays extremely strong defensive play– with his fluctuating playing time, playing 32 and 24 minutes in the first couple of games, then only playing eight and nine minutes in the final two games of the series.
All these issues show that the Philadelphia 76ers’ lack the leadership that is needed in order to be a championship. So if they really want to reach their potential they need a new head coach.
Retool the Roster
Despite what the people in the 76ers locker-room think, this current roster is not built to win a championship. The first problem is the spacing issue. Ben Simmons is obviously a non-threat outside the restricted-area. While the rest of the starting lineup–Embiid, Richardson, Harris, and Horford–can hit threes they certainly don’t excel at it and will generally need to be wide open to shoot at an average rate. They have some good shooters off the bench, but the impact there does vary and not something you can rely on.
Next is the cap issue. Between Simmons, Embiid, Harris, and Horford, they are making a combined $120,650,860. The salary cap for next season currently stands at $115 million. So that much money for a first round sweep isn’t going to cut it. Yet, they can’t really get any better is it stands with this group. All they can really do is draft some rookies, have someone on the MLE, and sign a bunch of veteran minimums. So their only chance of actually getting better is trading one of their bigger salary guys.
So who should they trade? Well that is the tough question because I doubt they trade Embiid. The other options, Harris, Simmons, and Horford are very unappealing to teams. Harris is probably the best of the three, but is getting a max salary for averaging less than 20 points a game and has been at best a fringe level all-star. Horford is 33 and only going to decline.While he is a guy who has intangibles among other things that does’t show up in the box scores, that only has so much impact and definitely not worth the $27.5 million he’s getting paid next year. Then there is Ben Simmons where outside the restricted-area he is a non-threat to score. He is very useless on offense if the ball isn’t in his hands and in an era where ball movement is crucial you need everyone to be able to do something off-ball. So whoever they trade they won’t get back what a lot of people think they should get due to the fact they are overpaid, among other things that like spacing, age, or production that will really drive down their value.
What Would I Do?
First, I would fire Brett Brown. For the replacement, it is more about preference. If it were me, I would look at a guy who a lot of people consider a players-coach and over-correct the lack of accountability and leadership. So my choice would be Jacque Vaughn.
Next, I would trade Ben Simmons and Al Horford. Again, they probably won’t get the haul that people would expect, but the goal of dealing those guys are to get cheap guys who can space the floor. Try to open some cap space in order to make one impact signing. Trades I would suggest would be:
Charlotte Hornets get:
- Al Horford
- 2020 First Round Pick
- 2020 Second Round Pick (via ATL)
Philadelphia 76ers get:
- PJ Washington
Then..
Detroit Pistons get:
- Ben Simmons
- 2021 First Round Pick (Unprotected)
Philadelphia 76ers get:
- Derrick Rose
- 2022 1st Round Pick (Best Swap)
With all that money moving around that should get them to get one decent free agent signing, and with that I would sign Jeff Teague. So with all the you end with two ball-handlers who score on all three levels, along with a younger and more athletic forward to replace Horford. For the sake of the reader I did not really put a great deal into the trade examples, but those are the guidelines I would look for when dealing these guys. That’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.