As we get set to roll into the New Year, here’s a series of thoughts I have on the good ol’ Philadelphia 76ers as of late…
The discourse around the minimum games played threshold is a joke
So, as you’re all aware, the NBA implemented a rule a couple of years ago that
players needed to reach a 65-game and a specific minutes threshold to be considered for end-of-year awards and honors. I kind of get that in principle even though it was clearly a middle finger unjustly pointed directly at Joel Embiid by the league and basketball community at large. Now, with another instance of injuries plaguing superstars like Nikola Jokić, the discourse is rocking backward as people claim it’s unfair given how electric Jokić has been this season and how otherworldly his numbers have been.
This is what you all wanted! This is Adam Silver’s NBA! Either get rid of the specifically spiteful regulation or get over it given that Jokić is still going to go down as one of the dozen-or-so best players ever.
The Sixers’ ‘Big 3’ isn’t a real ‘Big 3’
I get that we’re all going to refer to Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George as the franchise’s “Big 3” given their past accolades and contracts as long as they’re all still remaining in Philly, but I’ll be honest: I’m tired of it. I was tired of it when things went surprisingly well to start the season and I’m even more tired after some tough losses over the last week or two.
It feels like we’re begging for something that doesn’t exist, never truly existed from the start and isn’t even the predominant team-building strategy in the modern NBA. Daryl Morey is holding onto not just relics from his Houston days in the forms of roster spots blown on the likes of Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, but down to an actual outdated method of roster construction. Maxey is a First-Team All-NBA player this season. I will be forever grateful for how Embiid transformed this franchise. George, uh, exists. I’d be lying if I said I’m not counting down the days until Maxey is the only one still in Sixers red, white and blue (or black and gold).
Jared McCain needs to have no qualms about launching up threes
I want McCain to be unconscionable as a shooter. There was a sequence on Tuesday night where he passed up an open look and sent the ball Paul George’s way. Dude, let it fly. Prove to Nick Nurse and the Sixers’ decision-makers that your brief, but torrid run from your rookie campaign wasn’t an aberration. Maybe it ultimately was, and the Sixers’ perimeter is crowded as is, but I am nervously waiting for a wiser organization to swoop in and make a deal for him.
I want Dominick Barlow in Philly for the foreseeable future
I can certainly be critical of the Sixers organization as a whole, but credit where it’s due: signing Barlow to a two-way deal this summer was an absolutely ace move from the front office. Get him a long-term deal. I like the way he likes playing forward both alongside Embiid and in those times Embiid is off the court. His energy is infectious. Is he a star? Of course not, but he just screams “winning player” whenever I see him out there.
Why was such a colossal Sixers loss a part of one of the defining films of the 2010s?
Alright, let’s end with something a bit more esoteric and fun. The film Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet and from Josh Safdie, dropped on Christmas and I loved it. Safdie’s previous directorial effort was with his brother, Benny, in 2019’s Uncut Gems. The heart of the film centers on Adam Sandler’s character Howard Ratner gambling on the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup between the Sixers and the Celtics. I don’t know why I had to relieve my previous torture of watching Kevin Garnett destroy Spencer Hawes with moving screens, but, hey, it was a great flick. It’s an easy 4.5/5 on Letterboxd for me.
If the Sixers have an off night this winter, go hit the local cineplex!
