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

Shooting a perpetual concern

On top of that, Brand failed to account for Horford’s and Embiid’s lack of proficient shooting, which also prevents Simmons from being as effective as he could be. Both shoot the three-ball at a clip in the 33 to 35 percent range. With that in mind, both players are quality contributors in their own right, but might not work well together. Simply put, the Sixers do not shoot the ball nearly as well as their price tag should indicate.

Not to mention, investing the kind of money Philadelphia did in their starting lineup inhibited their ability to build a decent bench. So much so that Philly ended up trading for Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III at the trade deadline just to get by. Burks has been decent, while Robinson III has not found a stable spot in the rotation. Overall, Burks has been the shining piece in this deal.

With all of that said, the Philadelphia 76ers have constructed a roster that’s not sustainable. Elton Brand played his own role in this by going against the grain. He saw that the NBA was moving towards spacing and shooting, and built a team that wins on defense. However, this philosophy fails when the team does not defend well enough to mask its offensive shortcomings.

It would be inferred that Elton Brand needs to either re-shape the roster by dealing one of these big-time pieces, by developing a deeper bench, or both. As such, Elton Brand’s role in this situation puts him at fault and he will need to do what he can to fix it if he wants to keep his job.