The Philadelphia 76ers just flipped the script on the entire NBA, nearly rebuilding their roster this offseason with massive additions like LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. The spotlight is absolutely blinding on this squad now, with media scrutiny hitting levels they’ve never seen before. Everyone’s buzzing about how this new-look team is going to gel, especially with some interesting dynamics at play.
The New-Look Sixers and The Embiid Conundrum
Philly’s new roster is stacked, no doubt, but one of the biggest questions looming over the Wells Fargo Center is how Joel Embiid fits into this lightning-fast machine. While Embiid is still incredibly skilled, he doesn’t exactly move at the same breakneck pace he used to. That’s a huge contrast to the rest of the starting five, who lead the entire league in transition baskets. How do you mesh that kind of mismatch? That’s the million-dollar question heading into the season.
Weighing In On The Pace Problem
The Liberty Ballers crew has been diving deep into this exact issue. Bryan Toporek, for one, is genuinely curious about it. He points out that outside of Embiid, the whole roster is designed to fly up and down the court. The idea is they’ll push the pace hard off any missed basket, but if that doesn’t lead to a quick score, they’ll likely slow it down to get Embiid into some half-court actions. Toporek is adamant: Embiid needs to get himself into tip-top shape before the season kicks off.
Sean Kennedy, on the other hand, thinks it’ll all work just fine. He sees Joel concentrating on boxing out, then firing kick-ahead passes to the other guys to get them streaking down the court. If a transition opportunity doesn’t pop up organically, Embiid will just saunter into position, either around the nail or top of the key, ready to run a pick-and-roll or dribble handoff with 16 to 18 seconds still on the shot clock.
Josh Grieb isn’t worried at all. He reminds everyone that after drafting VJ Edgecombe, the Sixers made playing fast a priority last season. Their speedy backcourt and ability to create turnovers meant they could run the floor without Embiid even having to get involved. The only time that pace really got disrupted was during Embiid’s prolonged stretches of availability, and even then, the offense slowing down because he was scoring like his old self was a perfectly viable path to winning. Grieb expects the backcourt to be hunting turnovers again and, let’s be real, Embiid will probably miss a good chunk of games again. He believes the Sixers won’t have any problem getting transition baskets, even when Embiid is on the floor. Drew Peltzman also chimed in, simply stating, “I believe we will.”
This season is set to be one wild ride for Philly. With so much new talent and a definite shift in team construction, all eyes are on how this new group finds its rhythm. Can they truly blend Embiid’s unique style with their league-leading transition game? The anticipation for what’s next is through the roof!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Liberty Ballers.
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