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Heading into the 2022-23 NBA regular season, plenty of folks thought that Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers would finally take that next step after years of losing in the second round of the playoffs and establish themselves as a legitimate title contender. But fast forward to the current day, and the Sixers clearly fell short of these expectations.
The Sixers did little but tread water during the 2022-23 campaign. They finished the regular season with a 54-28 record, the third-best record in the conference and the NBA. But after making quick work of and sweeping Mikal Bridges and the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the postseason, the Sixers lost to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics in seven games in round two. The Sixers were up 3-2 in the series at one point but failed to close out Boston in Games 6 and 7, thanks largely to masterclasses from Tatum in both contests.
The Philadelphia 76ers' 2022-23 season was certainly underwhelming, but a productive offseason period could have helped fans forget about the season that was. Unfortunately, though, the Sixers have lost more than they've gained thus far this offseason.
Wings Jalen McDaniels and Georges Niang, along with guard Shake Milton, have all found new homes with other NBA franchises via free agency. And the Sixers' only notable acquisitions to this point have been veteran floor general Patrick Beverley and center Mo Bamba — they also signed a few undrafted rookies from the 2023 NBA Draft. The Sixers are a worse team on paper now than they were at the end of the 2022-23 season, and they are also short on players of one important archetype. With all of that said, let's look at the Philadelphia 76ers' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency:
Sixers' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency
Lack of wing defenders
The Sixers are short on wing defenders at this point in time. They lost arguably the top wing defender on their squad, Jalen McDaniels, to the Toronto Raptors in free agency. It's a bit puzzling that the Sixers let him walk in free agency, considering they traded Matisse Thybulle and a second-round pick for him prior to the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline.
While McDaniels rarely played non-garbage-time minutes during the postseason, he was a very productive defensive player in limited minutes with the team during the regular season, as he averaged 0.9 combined stocks — steals and blocks — across 24 regular-season games with Philadelphia.
The best wing defender remaining on the Sixers' roster is PJ Tucker. Tucker is a highly-regarded defender at the wing position who uses his physicality to make life difficult for opposing wings. But he's also quite long in the tooth, as he's 38 years old, and thus it's unclear how many years of stifling defense Tucker has left in the tank. Tucker is also, more or less, a liability on the offensive end at this point, as during the 2023 postseason, teams often left him unguarded and dared him to take perimeter shots.
Only time will tell if the Philadelphia 76ers will decide to keep their roster as it is for the most part or add more players via free agency or trade. But what's already abundantly clear is that the Sixers should try to add another wing defender to their roster before the beginning of the 2023-24 NBA regular season.
