Will Joel Embiid win Rookie of the Year? What's up with Ben Simmons? What moves should the Sixers make?
Our NBA Insiders preview Philly's 2016-17 season.
1. What's your take on the injury to Ben Simmons?
Amin Elhassan, ESPN Insider: Unfortunate, but not the end of the world. Obviously, you'd like to know how he fits on court with his teammates, particularly Joel Embiid. The nature of the injury is concerning, as you never want to have your bigs have foot issues (particularly this early in his career), but it's far too early to draw any concrete conclusions or hit any panic buttons.
Tom Haberstroh, ESPN Insider: Better open up the hangar again and dust off the tank. There's no need to rush Simmons back from the injury, something that may be tempting with a No. 1 overall pick under a new regime. This is the year we learn about Dario Saric and Joel Embiid. And that's plenty of unknown quantities to get excited about. Also, do tanks get stored in hangars?
Jeremias Engelmann, ESPN Insider: The fact that it was an impact injury and not a stress fracture is a positive. That said, I would definitely take it slow and be on the safe side: Sit him out until it's an absolute certainty that the injury has fully healed. I see zero reason to rush him back.
Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Insider: It's frightening but let's be optimistic and say he's cleared to get back sometime between mid-December to mid-January. There is still time to get him established before the end of the season. It's rough because the Sixers were positioned to build off of what he does and let that dynamic grow. Now, after a disastrous all-around preseason, they are still just kind of flapping in the wind.
Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider: It's terribly unfortunate for the Sixers and Simmons. It's entirely possible we look back on it five years from now as nothing but a footnote to Simmons' career -- as is the case with Blake Griffin missing his entire first NBA season -- but for now everyone would like to see him on the court and Philadelphia has less time to see how his skills fit with the rest of the roster.
2. Fact or Fiction: Joel Embiid should be the favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Elhassan: Fiction. In a sense, Simmons' injury makes the handling of Embiid with care an even bigger priority. That means closely monitoring his minutes per game and perhaps even his games played. Since the winner of rookie of the year is usually the guy who led rookies in scoring, there's a strong chance through the monitoring mechanisms that Embiid will not play long enough to produce per game averages to secure the award. But the talent is definitely there!
Haberstroh: Fiction. He's averaging a monstrous 26.3 points and 14 rebounds per 36 minutes in the preseason so far but I'm erring on the side of caution here. My guess is he'd need about 20-25 minutes per game and at least 60 games played to qualify, and I'm going to take the under. My darkhorse is Jamal Murray in the Mile High City.
Doolittle: Fiction. He's the best rookie I've seen but I think it'll be one of those deals where he'll put up the best metrics but not get enough overall minutes to get the actual award. Someone like Buddy Hield or Kris Dunn will put up big superficial numbers in a larger role and get the votes.
Engelmann: Fiction. I'm not crazy about Embiid due to his extensive injury history. Yes, with Simmons injured there now isn't a clear favorite for ROY, as the No. 2 pick, Brandon Ingram, doesn't seem completely NBA-ready yet. I agree with the Vegas bookmakers, though, who give the edge to Kris Dunn and Buddy Hield.
Pelton: Fiction. I think he's a strong contender, but I'm not even sure he's the favorite on his own team given Dario Saric is more likely to play big minutes and more games. If you could guarantee me Embiid would stay healthy all year, I might make him the favorite, but nobody can guarantee that.
3. What is the biggest issue facing the Sixers this season?
Elhassan: With the change in management, there is going to be a clamor for immediate dividends with this team, namely wins. The Sixers are still a massive work in progress and are going to require some more patience and roster improvement before they are ready to start winning more than they lose. They're not out of the woods yet.
Pelton: The crowd at center. Provided all three recent lottery picks are healthy, there's no way Brett Brown can find enough playing time to keep everyone happy -- particularly given that playing one of them out of position at power forward hasn't made them happy in the past.
Doolittle: A complete lack of cohesion. When Simmons was hurt, it blurred the focus the Sixers finally seemed to be finding. Then Noel was hurt and Okafor, and even Jerryd Bayless. Not only has Brett Brown been unable to use the best rotations he'd have with a healthy roster, but there is the ongoing issue with one of the big men likely being traded at some point.
Engelmann: The fact that the roster doesn't feature a single NBA player who is yet above average besides Robert Covington. This season's 76ers aren't going to be significantly better than the team that won just 10 games a season ago. Also, Noel's recent comments on how they have too many centers have me worried about chemistry.
Haberstroh: They need more shooting. Nik Stauskas hasn't delivered yet, leaving Covington and Hollis Thompson as to the only snipers out there. Teams will gladly just throw multiple bodies in the post and live with the results.
4. What trade would make the most sense for the Sixers?
Elhassan: The elephant in the room is still the glut at the center position, and contrary to popular opinion, having an embarrassment of riches at one position is not actually an embarrassment of riches, especially when all three players are relatively unproven.
Every passing day they spend together, two things happen: someone will establish himself as a keeper, while one (or two) others will make it extremely difficult to attract suitors. I would posit that Okafor has the least fit with the rest of the roster. Therefore, the earlier that he can be moved, the better.
Doolittle: Okafor is the first big that needs to be dealt. He's the one guy you look at and think that maybe on a team short on size, he can be a good producer if paired with a low-usage defender in the frontcourt. But he just doesn't seem to fit with any of the bigs on the Sixers.
I'd give Noel some time to work in lineups with Embiid and, eventually, work in that duo with Simmons in jumbo lineups. But if none of that seems workable, I'd trade Noel, too. The Sixers need to target versatile scorers and shooters for the perimeter.
Haberstroh: I'd look to move Noel for a guard prospect like Jerian Grant, Jordan Clarkson or Seth Curry. This would help loosen up the frontcourt logjam while also keeping an eye on the future.
Engelmann: The 76ers own valuable future first-rounders from both the Lakers and the Kings. They should be ready to deal those, plus one of their many big men, for a star, the minute one becomes available. Maybe throw in one of the eight (!) future second-round picks they're owed.
Pelton: Obviously it's dealing one of the centers. Assuming the Sixers could get fair value for both of them, I'd favor trading Okafor over Noel. The big issue with Noel's value -- that he's about to get expensive with the expiration of his rookie contract -- isn't as big an issue for Philadelphia as other teams. And I think even Okafor's diminished value league-wide probably exceeds my expectations for his development.
5. Fact or Fiction: The Sixers will win 50 games by 2020.
Haberstroh: Fiction. Let's pump the brakes -- 50 is a pretty steep expectation considering they haven't won that many in a season in the past 15 years. I'll say they top out at 48, which is still impressive considering their core would be just entering their primes.
Engelmann: Fiction. First off, 50 wins is a lot. Further, even if all their players are healthy at some point, I'm not sure they can all be above-average NBA players. Okafor ranked in the bottom 10 in real plus-minus last season, while Noel ranks in the bottom 4 percent, offensively, of all players since 2005. I'm not a fan of their new GM Bryan Colangelo, either.
Doolittle: Fact. That's really not that high a bar. The Colangelos could decide to move several of the younger pieces for veterans and mixed with, say, Simmons and Embiid, that group could easily be fashioned into a 50-win team. The real challenge is leveraging this young, talented but redundant crew into an elite team. The first step is simply to have better luck.
Elhassan: Fact. Mayyyyyybe. They definitely have talent with high-enough upside, but the health concerns of so many key players so early in their careers is a very real damper to any sort of rosy expectations in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. So I guess I probably should have said fiction!
Pelton: Fact. What with the draft picks still coming in addition to the talent on the roster, Philadelphia has a lot of paths to get there within the next four seasons. It's far from a certainty but more likely than not in my view.