Who wouldn't want to talk about these Sixers right now?
The day is Tuesday, and that means, 2-11 record and all, it is time for a Sixers mailbag.
This week, I took questions from my new followers over at Bluesky. Follow me there if you are one of many giving that platform a try — and for those of you sticking to Twitter, no worries, my activity there will not be changing.
Let's get to the questions:
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From @ericwetz.bsky.social: Fill in the blank: If the Sixers want to contend for a title this year, they need to be .500 by game __.
The thing that is almost frustrating is that in this year's Eastern Conference with the current Play-In Tournament format, the Sixers could theoretically never touch a .500 record and still end up in the playoffs. Only four teams in the conference are .500 or better right now; the Sixers are tied for the worst record in the NBA yet find themselves just three games back of the No. 10 seed in their conference — the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.
For those who need a refresher on how the Play-In Tournament works: in each conference, the No. 7 and No. 8 seed at the end of the regular season play a game; the winner of that game is the No. 7 seed for the playoffs. The No. 9 and No. 10 seed at the end of the regular season play a game; the winner of that game is eliminated. The loser of the first game then plays the winner of the second game; the winner of that game becomes the No. 8 seed for the playoffs and the loser of it is eliminated.
So, if the Sixers earn the No. 7 or No. 8 seed, they will have two chances to win one game that clinches a playoff berth. If they are the No. 9 or No. 10 seed, they will have to win back-to-back games, otherwise their season will be over.
Last season, the Sixers were the No. 7 seed in a very strong year for the conference, winning 47 games and still being forced into the Play-In Tournament. Otherwise, teams which have earned the seventh-best records in the Eastern Conference in recent years have ranged from a few games over to a few games under .500. This certainly seems like a year where it will not take a tremendous number of wins.
But unlike last season, there is more than one team to avoid in the playoff bracket. The Boston Celtics remain a dominant force that every team should do its best to prevent itself from facing in the playoffs for as long as possible. But on Tuesday night, the Celtics welcome the 15-0 Cleveland Cavaliers to Boston as the Cavaliers look to continue their historic start to the season. Cleveland looks every bit like a juggernaut, and so even if the Sixers recover enough to nab the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the regular season and win their first Play-In Tournament game, they would be forced to play Boston or Cleveland in the first round — and they would be considerable underdogs in either series.
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From @mikelederer.bsky.social: Should fans be concerned with a potential loss of athleticism due to Embiid’s knee injury? Do you feel his early performance is part of a ramp up phase or is this the new normal?
I am certainly not ready to say that the version of Embiid which has struggled mightily for three games to begin his 2024-25 campaign is the new normal. But at this point, it would feel insane to suggest Sixers fans should not at least be concerned about the way he is playing and moving.
Embiid's mobility looks noticeably diminished, on several occasions in just those three games he has simply not left his feet to grab an easy board and allowed an opposing player to swoop in and take the offensive rebound. He has looked fatigued in the second half of every game he has appeared in, and in two of those games began to submit to his worst tendencies when exhaustion kicks in: difficult fallaway jumpers and turnovers via mistakes that easily could have been avoided.
Against the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic, Embiid's approach was imperfect, but he was aggressive and his ability to draw fouls whenever he fails to get going from the field provided him an extremely valuable floor of offensive production.
During the Sixers' loss to the Miami Heat, though, Embiid was more passive than I can ever remember him being offensively. His passing was strong, but eventually he relied on it too much. For a half-decade, Embiid has been an automatic bucket or whistle against single coverage. But in Miami, he repeatedly declined to attack against one-on-one defense — resulting in his first full game without a free throw attempt in nearly seven years:
Joel Embiid: 31 minutes, no free throw attempts. It has been nearly seven years since he has gone an entire game without stepping to the free throw line. https://t.co/UD5vjzfECc
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 19, 2024
The Sixers need Embiid to figure this out, and it has to happen soon.
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From @zteutsch.bsky.social: Morey is generally skeptical of rookies making meaningful contributions to contenders. What does that mean for Jared McCain? Getting traded to a rebuilding team? Or is McCain dazzling to the extent that he changed Daryl's mind?
Lost in the embarrassment of Monday night's loss was McCain knocking down at least three triples for the sixth straight game, and doing so in what was also his fifth consecutive 20-point outing.
tornado watch! 🌪️🌪️🌪️ pic.twitter.com/w7YgeJNghC
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 19, 2024
You are right that Sixers President of Basketball Operations Morey has often expressed skepticism regarding rookies being able to help NBA teams as reliable, high-level contributors. But from my perspective, that doubt has been a motivating factor behind offseason plans, not midseason ones.
Morey wants to create enough depth so that his team is never reliant on a rookie being a rotation regular, but that does not mean he would watch a rookie excel to the degree McCain has and immediately deem it a fluke.
McCain is too good to remove from the Sixers' starting lineup, let alone not be relied on as a core contributor. Morey and Sixers head coach Nick Nurse can clearly see that this is the case. What he is doing is special and, in some ways, historic for a 20-year-old rookie. I would be absolutely floored if the Sixers even broached the idea of moving him in the first year of a four-year rookie scale contract.
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