The Philadelphia 76ers have struggled with injuries to their stars in recent history. Ben Simmons missed his entire rookie season with a foot fracture. Center Joel Embiid has an even more checkered past, injury-wise. He too missed a large chunk of his rookie season with a bone bruise on his knee. Since then, he has missed time with various knee and foot injuries, as well as a facial fracture. In an effort to build big man depth and have some insurance behind Embiid, Sixers GM Elton Brand pursued and acquired former Boston Celtics center Al Horford. Horford provided some much-needed quality back up for Embiid:
Brand highlights the importance of having Horford to serve as a backstop behind Joel Embiid, keeping the Sixers from struggling whenever Embiid is on the bench like they did last year.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 12, 2019
Besides being able to step up if Embiid faces another injury, Horford will also assist the Sixers while Embiid rests.
The signing allows Philadelphia to have a quality big man on the floor for nearly the entire game. The team struggled badly when Embiid rested, but they never have had a second big man of Horford's quality.
Brand hopes that the Horford acquisition will make the Sixers a better rounded and deeper team. The team now has a complete player in spots one through five in its starting lineup.
Horford will bring a defensive presence and scoring punch that was sorely missed by the Sixers when Embiid was out or resting. Time will tell if it can get the team any closer to winning a championship.
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