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Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid has been sidelined since the All-Star break. He has opted to proceed with caution by sitting out a string of games as he's been experiencing some soreness on his left knee.
In his time off, the two-time All-Star is contemplating about how the Sixers can make things work with all their new pieces. In an interview with Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Embiid said that they have to learn how to play together, share the ball, and work as a team.
“It's easy,” Embiid said. “It goes back to our culture. When these guys got here — Jimmy, Tobias — what we told them was it is all about sharing the ball, and it is all about defense.
“I haven't been playing basketball for a long time. It's only been like, what, nine years? But watching Golden State, I've come to figure out you have to play together, you have to move the ball, you have got to work as a team, and that's how we've got to play.”
Everything that Embiid mentioned is the ideal way that teams should play. Likewise, all of that is easier said than done.
The Sixers have sped up “the process” this season, trading some of their younger assets and future picks for proven stars Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, along with some other pieces. However, this is a major gamble for Philly as most of them, including Butler and Harris, are set to become free agents at the end of the season.
If there's anything the Sixers should know, everything is a process. Team success doesn't happen overnight. It also doesn't happen with a major mid-season move.
Sure, those moves made them stronger on paper. They also arguably have the best starting line-up in the East with the additions of Butler and Harris. However, the Sixers still have some major things to iron out before we can put them firmly above Milwaukee, Toronto, or even Boston, for that matter, despite how disappointing they've been playing this season.
Without a doubt, Embiid's state of mind is right. The team has to learn how to play together. That means everyone is completely bought in to what the team is doing. However, these are all the issues the Sixers have to address.
Can a mere two to three months of playing together be enough to give them the much needed chemistry to put them over the top? Is everyone buying in to what Philadelphia is building around their budding star tandem of Embiid and Ben Simmons?
If this doesn't pan out the way GM Elton Brand envisioned it to be and they get bounced early in the 2019 playoffs, then “the process” will have to go on much longer.
