The Sixers entered Tuesday night losers of six consecutive games, and things were not going to get any easier as they concluded their three-game road trip. With Joel Embiid still out due to increased swelling in his left knee, the undermanned Sixers took on three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, altitude and the Denver Nuggets.
Despite posting one of their best offensive halves in recent memory as they totaled 67 points prior to halftime, the Sixers trailed by double-digits at the midway point of the game as an unacceptable lack of hustle on the defensive end of the floor sunk them. Tyrese Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele were particularly excellent offensively, but the team cratering defensively was a recipe for disaster, and it only continued in the second half.
With the Sixers fighting for their playoff standing with every passing game, their lack of focus on defense amid a massive skid presented as rough of a look as there is. It never felt like they stood a chance in this game. Now, they are a season-worst 12 games below .500.
Three things to note from another rough loss as the Sixers fell 144-109 in Denver:
Sixers defense pummeled, with questionable effort to blame early
The Sixers forced six Nuggets turnovers in the opening frame, typically a very good sign for a defense. But the Sixers still gave up 35 points in the opening 12 minutes of action. Jokić is the best basketball player on the planet and the Nuggets have a very good team, but the Sixers dug a major hole for themselves early on with inexcusable effort on the defensive end, particularly in transition. It felt as if the Nuggets could walk into easy transition buckets every time Jokić got them on the move.
CB flyin' in for the slam pic.twitter.com/iMGAUCELzo
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 22, 2025
Jokić totaled 11 points and four assists on six shot attempts in the first quarter, calmly and casually dissecting the Sixers' defense time and time again. Nurse had to call two timeouts in the first seven minutes of the game, then resorted to inserting rookie center Adem Bona and veteran point guard Reggie Jackson into the game in hopes of finding a spark. Bona and Jackson were part of a very brief Sixers spurt to end the frame, but even that solid finish only trimmed the deficit to eight points.
Could the Nuggets be a trade candidate for Yabusele?
As Yabusele made his return to the floor in Denver and shredded Denver's defense, posting his fourth 20-plus-point game of the season, it was hard not to wonder how he would look in a Nuggets uniform.
Like the Sixers, Denver has struggled mightily with their backup center position in recent years — former Sixer DeAndre Jordan recently replaced former Sixer Dario Šarić as Jokić's primary backup. Even as Russell Westbrook is in the midst of his best season in years, Denver's depth is shaky at best, and despite having extremely limited resources, the Nuggets will do their best to patch rotation holes.
Yabusele would be a perfect fit in Denver, not just because his veteran's minimum salary makes him attainable from a cost perspective, but because he could handle backup center minutes behind Jokić while also playing alongside the superstar center when needed.
The only issue: the Nuggets have one tradable draft pick, their 2031 first-rounder, which they would not surrender just to add Yabusele.
One idea of how the Sixers could attempt to convince Denver to part with that first-rounder: taking on the contract of 24-year-old big Zeke Nnaji, who is in the first season of a four-year, $32 million contract which sticks out like a sore thumb on the Nuggets' cap sheet. Nnaji has failed to solidify himself as a rotation piece and his deal has made it far more difficult for the Nuggets to accumulate depth, and maybe if the Nuggets could shed the majority of that contract while also adding Yabusele and another player to the mix, they would give up a protected version of that 2031 first-rounder.
In order to make the deal work, a third team would have to be involved, taking on a Sixer. The Toronto Raptors are a team known to be open for business. Here is a framework of a deal between the Sixers, Nuggets and Raptors:
Sixers receive: Zeke Nnaji, lottery-protected 2031 first-round pick via Nuggets
Nuggets receive: Guerschon Yabusele, Eric Gordon
Raptors receive: Andre Drummond, 2027 and 2028 second-round picks via Sixers
My guess is the Nuggets would ultimately decline this offer, but it is something to think about.
Ricky Council IV stock keeps trending downward
Council's second NBA season has not gone as planned in any respect, and he was once again axed from Nurse's regular rotation on Tuesday. In search of a spark, Nurse brought Council into the game in the third quarter. But unlike his rookie campaign, Council has repeatedly failed to shift the tenors of games when inserted into the action. Council has regressed hard from three-point range, is not making an impact defensively and has not made a leap on the glass as Nurse has hoped.
Perhaps the bigger issue is that Council has clearly not earned the complete trust of Nurse and his staff as a decision-maker on either end of the floor.
Ricky Council IV catches the ball several steps beyond the three-point line with five seconds left on the shot clock. He somehow ends up going straight into a step-back three-point attempt, which airballs: pic.twitter.com/SgYeTFlE2J
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 13, 2025
To be clear, it is not Council's job to save the Sixers when they don't bring enough intensity. But Council has been unable to impact winning this season, and while his potential remains obvious, his long-term outlook has been muddied.
Up next: With their hellacious three-game road trip complete, the Sixers will enjoy two days off before logging yet another back-to-back, which begins on Friday night at home against the dominant Cleveland Cavaliers.
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