The Philadelphia 76ers stink. I just don’t know why anybody is surprised? Philadelphia currently holds the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. The more concerning part is that they can’t fight their way out of a paper bag on the road. Philly is 9-19 on the road. Good luck winning a playoff series like that. The 76ers are a dysfunctional mess and only have one man to blame, Elton Brand. 2
There has been a lot of finger pointing in Philly. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid can’t play together. Al Horford continues to be a huge pus. Brett Brown doesn’t look like he can coach. Tobias Harris underwhelms as a max player. The bench lacks punch. All of those things are true. The trigger man, Elton Brand is the person to really blame.
Elton Brand should get fired for building the goofiest roster in the NBA. The rest of the league has gone small. The Rockets have gone REALLY small and they should. The 76ers are the one real big team out there. Steph Curry changed the way basketball is played. I’m not saying you have to find the next Steph. You can’t do that. What you can do is learn that small ball is here to stay. Being big and goofy doesn’t work.
Before the season ever started, I wrote that the 76ers are too big to succeed. It would be different if Philly was big and athletic. That’s what Milwaukee is and I’m good with that. Philadelphia is big and slow. Joel Embiid wants to play slow. Ben Simmons wants to play fast. Al Horford is the biggest coward in the sport. Of course, this was never going to work.
The lack of chemistry between Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons is one thing. Jimmy Butler was able to make them look interesting. I think it’s real but also not unfixable. What Al Horford has done is exasperate both problems. He is too big and too slow. Horford also can’t rebound or score at a high level either. I don’t know what he does well. Never did.
Signing Al Horford to a $109 million contract is an inexcusable mistake. This never had a prayer at working. Congrats, Philadelphia, you have two of top ten worst contracts in the sport. That Horford one is only getting worse. He’s already old and slow. What the hell was Elton Brand thinking? That kind of money for 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game? His shooting percentage also sits at a career low.
What has Elton Brand gotten right? Literally nothing. Not a damn thing. Trading for Jimmy Butler was smart but he didn’t end up staying. Philadelphia could really use Robert Covington right now. The Matisse Thybulle trade is up in the air right now. Grant Williams has been great for Boston too. Outside of that, everything is a clear L.
Trading for Tobias Harris wasn’t smart. He could have just signed him in the offseason. Giving away two first round picks, Landry Shamet, and then handing him a big max contract has already come back to bit them. I don’t Philly for trading Markelle Fultz, but they lost that trade too. He would be perfect for them off the bench right now. Giving away Admiral Schofield for nothing probably wasn’t smart. I’ve said enough about blowing their load on Horford.
There is a lot of finger pointing going on in Philadelphia. Rightly so. However, nobody deserves more blame than Elton Brand. He built the goofiest roster of all-time in the modern NBA. The lack scoring, three point shooting, floor spacing, bench prowess, mobility, and pace. You know, everything that matters in the NBA. Elton Brand should get fired before anybody for creating this mess in Philadelphia.
