Today is Tuesday, and that means the time has come to answer your Sixers questions in another mailbag. Many of the questions were not as basketball-centric as usual. I wonder why that would be! Let's get into the questions, submitted by my followers on Bluesky:
From @jake-murphy.bsky.social: As miserable as the season has been, which bright spots do you think are “real,” not just guys putting up big numbers on a garbage team?
Quentin Grimes has to be the main answer here. His on-ball eruption since joining the Sixers is not just an example of a player scoring a lot of points because they are being afforded chances to take a lot of shots. Grimes is showing legitimately dynamic scoring chops, and he is now doing it while almost completely devoid of teammates who can help shoulder any sort of ball-handling workload. Grimes has skyrocketed to the top of scouting reports and still found a way to thrive as a scorer at all three levels:
After rewatching it, I think Quentin Grimes' 30-point night in Minnesota might have been more impressive than his 44-point game vs. GSW, just because he had to create so much on his own. I uploaded a bunch of encouraging clips to @SixersAdamClips, here's a supercut of those: pic.twitter.com/1CNc1dpsdE
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 6, 2025
Is Grimes going to be this good of a scorer for the rest of time? Likely not. But even a world in which he can step into this sort of role once every few games when one of the team's highest-usage offensive players is sidelined or cannot find a rhythm is a major win for the Sixers.
In the month of March, Grimes is not just averaging 25.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game, but also posting elite efficiency marks — including a marvelous 65.6 true shooting percentage. As a whole for the Sixers, he is averaging 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game on 62.0 percent true shooting, considerably higher than league average in terms of overall efficiency. Even if Grimes is never again given the chance to shoot and control the ball this often, the fact that he has handled such a workload and still produced with significantly positive efficiency is a massively encouraging sign.
Otherwise, Justin Edwards has to be mentioned — in part because the 21-year-old undrafted rookie has done so much to impress without gaudy statistics in box scores. Perhaps the most attractive aspect of Edwards' is his three-point volume; the hometown kid has taken 8.0 long-range tries per 100 possessions. His 36.1 three-point percentage is more than satisfactory given the frequency with which he is firing away:
Sixers two-way wing Justin Edwards is shooting 34.1 percent from three-point range as an NBA rookie, but the quickness of his release stands out: pic.twitter.com/7okY7Ve8CM
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 24, 2025
Edwards has stood out by doing all of the little things that translate to any team environment or game context. His feel for the game is absolutely off the charts, his most valuable asset at this juncture. Edwards is extremely decisive with the ball in his hands, an impressively quick decision-maker in all facets. And he also has the requisite frame, mobility and mental makeup to handle the toughest defensive assignments on a nightly basis.
On an island against one of the most lethal one-on-one scorers of a generation, Justin Edwards holds his ground against Kyrie Irving: pic.twitter.com/PFvV3k2qfJ
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) February 11, 2025
Edwards has guarded a massive collection of superstars in just a few months as a rotation player, experience head coach Nick Nurse believes has already done Edwards a lot of good.
"I don't think he gets embarrassed at all, any of that kind of stuff," Nurse said. "It is great experience for him to guard these guys, fight through all the actions, do all this stuff, get scored on, and then pull his socks up the next time down and try to go at him again. I really see some determination from him and not a lot of discouragement. That’s the way you’ve got to do it. These guys that are really great are going to score baskets in this league. And you’ve just got to kind of shorten your memory and forget about it and dig inand go to work again. And I think he's got that attitude."
MORE: Edwards is guarding the NBA's elites, and 'he's not backing down at all'
From @velodus.bsky.social: How excited are you for the return of the Sixers' black Iverson-era uniforms?
This is a good opportunity to let anybody know who did not see this last week: as we expected last summer, the Sixers appear to be on the verge of bringing back everyone's favorite throwback jerseys next season:
According to realbrick1 on r/sixers, this was part of the Sixers’ email to season ticket holders about possible renewals:https://t.co/eXiE8u6O8E pic.twitter.com/KhRL7bS7qF
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 6, 2025
Many 25th anniversary celebrations honoring the 2000-01 Sixers appear to be in order for next season, including the return of the black uniforms people have been clamoring to see worn for many years.
The Sixers hinted at the return of these jerseys last summer within the production of what became known as the "Maxey Museum," an exhibit created over the summer to honor Tyrese Maxey as he got set to ink a new five-year contract with the team. The exhibit including a mock SLAM Magazine cover featuring Maxey donning an Allen Iverson-era black jersey:
A snapshot from the Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey video just now. Seems like it’s happening… pic.twitter.com/d2wrkIoBcE
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) July 8, 2024
The Sixers later said they were indeed in the process of bringing back the throwback jerseys, but it would not happen in the 2024-25 season. It certainly seems like next season will — finally — be the time the people get what they want.
MORE: Key Sixers veterans set for workload reductions, young players emerging
From @divacphys.bsky.social: Honestly, how difficult is it to watch these games? How much do you space out or multitask?
I have received many questions of this sort over the last few months, and while I sincerely appreciate everyone's concern, I am doing fine. It is just basketball, after all, and I feel far more for the diehard Sixers fans whose expectations have not been met this season. And even during this hellish season, when the Sixers are in the midst of a horrid stretch of play and then come out flat on their home floor, all it takes is one run of a few big shots and a few hustle plays for the crowd to get into the game.
From the kind folks who read my work here, to the ones who interact with me on social media on a daily basis, to the people who fill the Wells Fargo Center 41 times each regular season, I genuinely find myself blown away by the passion I see even in the most disastrous season imaginable. While I get my fair share of "who cares" responses these days, I also have people asking me about Edwards' salary cap hit in 2025-26, obscure draft prospects and the merits of Jalen Hood-Schifino's two-way contract.
This season has not gone the way it was drawn up for anyone, and I would throw the media in that basket. But I am still grateful to be doing what I am doing. Now that wins and losses are secondary to covering the Sixers for the time being, I have enjoyed the challenge of finding other ways to cover the team in a way that (hopefully) interests people.
MORE: How a benching, talks with Nick Nurse helped Kelly Oubre Jr. evolve for Sixers
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