Philadelphia 76ers: How much blame falls on Elton Brand?

Sixers were disappointing from the start

Interestingly enough, the Philadelphia 76ers were relatively disappointing before the season’s transfer over to the “NBA Bubble” format. With a record of 39-26 when the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Philly was poised to fight for a spot within the 4th-to- 6th seed range in the Eastern Conference. While not necessarily the best team in the conference, Philadelphia seemed as though their roster was built for a playoff run.

Now, more than halfway through the seeding games, the Sixers are likely to end up at either the 5th or 6th seed. That would likely make their first-round opponent a team like the Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat.

The Sixers are a total of 6-2 against Boston and Miami this season, so these matchups don’t seem as daunting, per se. But, given the Sixers’ injury concerns with Simmons out for the season and Embiid’s status uncertain, there is a likely scenario where Philly goes out quietly in the first round.

Circling back to Elton Brand, part of the problem lies in the construction of the Philadelphia 76ers. In particular, the lack of spacing that the Sixers exhibit on a nightly basis. The original starting lineup of Ben Simmons-Richardson-Harris-Horford-Joel Embiid showed promise defensively but was problematic offensively. Because Simmons does not shoot the ball, defenders could sag off, leaving the paint clogged, and thus hurting the Sixers offensively.