Few teams needed the All-Star break as badly as the Philadelphia 76ers did. The injuries piled up on them until they were leaning on multiple players on two-way contracts to play real minutes. The time is now for the Sixers to start proving that winning without Joel Embiid can become a trend, not a handful of fluke performances.
Embiid's recovery casts a long shadow of uncertainty over the 76ers. The pressure will be on Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris and Buddy Hield to step up as the main options as long as Embiid is out. Nick Nurse will have to prepare the team for whatever comes its way while Embiid makes his way back. There’s no telling what awaits the Sixers in their final 28 regular season games. But they know the options in front of them are to either sink or swim.
Here are five bold predictions for the 76ers following the All-Star break.
Buddy Hield reaches new career-highs in assists per game, points in a game
Hield has been nothing short of brilliant in his time with the 76ers so far. Daryl Morey's take that he was the best player traded at the deadline has been vindicated by how Hield has nearly single-handedly transformed Philly's Embiid-less offense. So far, he hasn’t sacrificed any of his incredible efficiency as he sees a sharp uptick in his usage.
With his new green light in Philly, Hield should be able to reach highs in assists per game and surpass his personal record for points in a single game of 42.
Hield is averaging 3.0 assists per game this season, just 0.6 behind his career-high. Assuming he plays the rest of the games left on the 76ers' schedule — a fair assumption given how durable he has been over his career — Hield would need to average 4.8 assists per game to set a new career-best mark. So far with Philly, he has been averaging a whopping 7.5 assists per game and reached 10 assists for the first time in his career.
The way Hield opens up easy passing opportunities with his scoring gravity gives the 76ers a massively important pressure valve and a weapon they can use in a variety of ways. He can read the defense very well and make the right passes to rollers, spot-up shooters and players ready to attack closeouts. Approaching five assists in each game is totally doable.
Additionally, Hield shoots too many threes and has too good of a shooting touch to not have at least one game where he goes ballistic. Before he even got the chance to practice on consecutive days with the Sixers, he ripped off four straight 20-point games for the first time in nearly three years. He should be a threat to have a big game night in and night out with his new team.
76ers post top-10 offense for the rest of the season
The sample size of post-trade deadline games is small but indicative that, when the roster gets some of its key contributors back, the 76ers could be a strong offense. They ranked 11th in offensive rating in that span. Even if Embiid misses most of the remainder of the regular season, Philly should continue to be more than passable offensively.
Hield's shooting repertoire has opened the floodgates of possibilities for the 76ers' offense. Simple motions like ghost screens and pitch actions are tailor-made for a shooter like him and a speed demon like Maxey. Philly has started upping its pace with its big fella out, which should make its offense even more potent.
Nico Batum's return to the lineup, which should happen any day now, will bring playmaking and shooting from the forward spot. Kyle Lowry will help provide the same as well as a savvy, tough-as-nails presence on the floor. Both veterans should also provide boosts on defense, opening up some more opportunities to get out in transition. De’Anthony Melton's return will be helpful, too.
The issue of the 76ers' defense will have to be addressed as soon as possible. Since the deadline, only six teams posted a worse defensive rating. The immediate imprint the new-look roster has in its first few games provides an outline for perhaps their most effective way to play without Embiid.
Ricky Council IV stays in the rotation, though as a fringe option
The revelation of the undrafted rookie has made fans worry way less — in many cases, not at all — about trading Jaden Springer to the Boston Celtics. As one promising young player leaves, another steps up in his spot. Council has been huge for the 76ers, averaging 13.3 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting from the field in the final three pre-break games.
The 76ers don't need to sign Council to a new contract to keep him active for the remainder of the regular season. He has been active for 18 of the 50 games allowed in two-way contracts so far, giving him 32 remaining games, and Philly has just 28 left on its schedule. Since Council can enter restricted free agency this offseason, the front office may choose to wait to sign him to a new deal and preserve as much cap space as possible (or match an offer from another team should he get one).
However, the 76ers would have to sign Council to a standard contract to have him eligible for the playoffs. As risky as it may be to have a rookie play a tangible role, even a small one as rotations shrink, Council could be a difference-maker on the margins. He can defend multiple positions and blends aggression with dexterity and a sense of drawing fouls as a slasher. His shooting may not be all that great but he's not a disaster in that area.
The wing depth in Philly is not strong enough to totally rule Council out of a spot, though the preference for a bigger 3/4 wing as opposed to a 2/3 wing complicates things. Robert Covington's knee issue affords a spot Council should compete for with K.J. Martin, as Nick Nurse mentioned after the final pre-break game. Philly also signed G League standout and former first-round pick Darius Bazley to a 10-day contract. At 6-foot-9, he has the size and athleticism to play the four spot.
Council will face an uphill battle for playing time with the fully healthy 76ers. But as he has shown, he only goes at one speed: full-throttle.
Tyrese Maxey scores 50 points one more time
Maxey has scored 50 points twice this season. Embiid, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only other players to do that. There should be enough time left in the season for Maxey to cook up one more 50-burger.
The Sixers will still see some of the worst defensive teams in the league. Three of their final four games come against defenses ranking in the bottom 10 in the league. They’ll see the Charlotte Hornets, owners of the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA, twice more and have one more meeting with the Toronto Raptors, who are tied for the league's seventh-worst DRTG.
It's also possible that Maxey goes nuclear against one of the better teams in the league, leading the 76ers to a victory like he did when he dropped a career-best 51. He'll have all the freedom to get up those shots. Should he have more shots to play with Embiid again, he'll have the massive benefit of the reigning MVP helping him out. Maxey has scored 50 both with and without him, though, affording him the capability to reach the half-century mark again before the playoffs roll around.
76ers end regular season as Eastern Conference's 7th seed
With Embiid's return roughly estimated to be sometime near the very end of the regular season, it's not out of the question for the 76ers to fall into the dreaded seventh seed, where they would have to play their way into the playoffs. On top of being just 6-14 without Embiid this season, the remainder of the 76ers' schedule is not easy.
Per Tankathon, they have the ninth-hardest schedule the rest of the way. They’ll see the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder one more time apiece, face the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers twice each and play the New York Knicks three more times. They’ll start their post-break slate of games with a Knicks-Cavs back-to-back followed by a matchup with the Bucks and then a road matchup with the Celtics. Quite difficult!
Staying ahead in the standings race is not only difficult when the terrain ahead of them is rough. The 76ers also have teams right on their tails, traveling at a faster speed ready to pass them.
The Indiana Pacers have not been great in the games featuring the new Tyrese Haliburton-Pascal Siakam pairing so far, posting a record of just 4-6 in games together. But should they figure it out, they should easily be able to make up ground against Philly, whose standings advantage is just two games. The Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, each just a half of a game back from Indy, loom as other threats to pass the 76ers in the standings.
Oh, and each of those teams has easier remaining schedules than the 76ers do. The Magic have the easiest, the Heat have the fourth-easiest and the Pacers are just outside the top 10. Indiana also has two fewer games than Philly, while the Florida teams each have one less.
So long as the 76ers aren’t beaten into the ground by injuries, they should be able to stay in the playoff picture. They have a decent lead in the standings, though it won’t be big enough to ensure they can avoid the play-in. It'll take a rapid turnaround in their Embiid-less game plans or a very early return from the big fella to hold onto a top-six seed.
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