This tweet from Liberty Ballers’ own TrillBroDude has been living rent-free in my head for the past four-plus years.
Thanks to the Sixers’ moves over the past 18 months, we’re closer to that dream than ever.
Tyrese Maxey’s resume speaks for itself at this point. Jared McCain was a revelation early last season before a torn meniscus prematurely ended his potential Rookie of the Year campaign. Quentin Grimes had a late-season
breakout after his arrival at the trade deadline. And the Sixers spent the No. 3 overall pick on VJ Edgecombe, who’s been turning heads early in training camp with his dynamic athleticism.
Head coach Nick Nurse is eager to take advantage of that backcourt depth this season.
“It should give us an ability to play a little faster for a couple reasons,” he told reporters during media day. “The guards can move, they can get back, they can run, they can run backward, they can run forward, they can go side-to-side. But also, it should be able to keep energy up with some shorter stints just because of the sheer numbers.
“I think there’s some versatility there. Some guys can play combo positions. I could see VJ, for instance, playing some 1, and I could also see him playing some 3. And maybe, a four-guard rotation at times. It’s happening in this league now. There’s a lot of teams playing four guards at once. So I think we need to be versatile enough to match up against those teams, I think we have the possibility of pushing guys both directions.”
To Nurse’s point, the Indiana Pacers came within one game of winning a championship last season while starting a trio of 6-foot-5 players (Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith). By the end of last season, the Golden State Warriors were starting 6-foot-2 Stephen Curry, 6-foot-5 Moses Moody, 6-foot-5 Brandin Podziemski, 6-foot-7 Jimmy Butler and 6-foot-6 Draymond Green. The Cleveland Cavaliers won 64 games last season while starting 6-foot-1 Darius Garland, 6-foot-3 Donovan Mitchell and 6-foot-5 Max Strus together for much of the year.
McCain and Tyrese Maxey are both only 6-foot-2, but Edgecombe and Grimes are each listed at 6-foot-5. They might struggle guarding bigger wings like Jayson Tatum (when healthy) or LeBron James, but enough teams are trotting out like-sized lineups that three- or four-guard lineups are a chip worth having in the Sixers’ back pocket.
That versatility isn’t exclusive to the backcourt, though. The death of traditional power forwards like LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Garnett from earlier eras means that 3s and 4s are largely interchangeable as well. Paul George is therefore open to playing more at the 4 this year, particularly if it allows the Sixers to cram three of their talented guards in a lineup together.
“If you asked me about [playing the 4] 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have been a fan of it,” George said at media day. “But in today’s game, there’s not real 4s like there used to be. And at this point in my career, let the young guys go out and play the wing positions. We got great defenders in [Kelly Oubre Jr.], VJ, Quentin. And then I know where I’m at in my career. I can adjust and play at the 4 spot, give extra ball-handling on the floor, better spacing. I’m very comfortable playing at the 4 spot this year, being kind of a point forward type of style in Nick’s offense.”
When someone asked Nurse about George’s comments, he feigned incredulity about the notion of the power forward position.
“Is that still a position in the NBA? Power forward?” he said. “As the game continues to evolve really quickly, 2, 3, 4 is so interchangeable. So much four out, five out. I just wanna make sure we get the best players on the floor. And if it means playing 4 or 2, however it lands that day or whoever we’re playing, we do it. I really believe in trying to get the best players on the floor, and positions don’t matter nearly as much, I think.”
Trendon Watford could be the Sixers’ secret weapon in that regard.
“He’s a guy that can run the floor, sprint to the corner and finish a layup,” Nurse said at media day. “Or he can grab the rebound, bring it himself, get you into the offense. Great vision. Sees the floor. Draws defenders. Finds the right plays. And then he can score a bucket, too, if we need him to. We like it. I’m glad he’s here.” (Team president Daryl Morey added that Nurse had seen Watford “as a good fit for a while” and had been clamoring for the Sixers to acquire him.)
Nurse said he wants the Sixers to be “a little more athletic, a little faster, a little younger, a little quicker up and down the floor,” which is another area where the guards can help. Maxey, who started next to two other guards in Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans during his lone season at Kentucky, has seen that firsthand.
“I’m gonna give a shout-out to Coach Calipari, just because I played in a lot of three-guard lineups in college,” Maxey said at media day. “Coming from high school, I played on the ball, on the ball, on the ball. And then you get to college and it’s three guys that can have the ball, who can push it at all times. That just really helps, especially when you have dynamic shooting, dynamic playmaking, guys who can play off the catch, play off closeouts, guys who can attack the paint. When you can attack the paint and kick out to some of your teammates who can also attack the paint and kick out and make plays, it makes you more dangerous.”
Unpredictability is king in today’s NBA. When opponents aren’t sure who’ll be handling the ball on a possession-by-possession basis, that makes it easier to throw defenses off-kilter. Maxey, McCain, Grimes and Edgecombe all figure to take turns controlling the offense at times, and both Embiid and George are willing and able passers as well. Add in Watford off the bench, and the Sixers should be interchangeable at most spots on the floor.
Health will ultimately determine how far this year’s Sixers can go, but leaning into the versatility of their roster and experimenting with funky lineup combinations is exactly what the regular season is made for. It’s time for Nurse to let his freak flag fly.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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