What's Wrong With The Philadelphia 76ers?

This image is a derivative of Philadelphia 76ers by Michael Tipton (CC BY-SA 2.0)

*Stats and team records updated through to 20th November, 2019*

The 82-game NBA regular season marathon cautions against overacting to poor starts or alarming trends.

It’s particularly true in an Eastern Conference where mediocrity has often been rewarded with a post-season appearance. Last season the Detroit Pistons’ 41 wins earned them a playoff spot, while 38 wins were enough for the Brooklyn Nets to book a place in the post-season five seasons ago.

All of which suggests that the Philadelphia 76ers' 8-5 start to the season is neither serious cause for concern, nor an impediment against qualifying for their third consecutive playoff appearance.  

But, whichever way you look at it, it’s been a start to the season that’s so far failed to meet the lofty expectations in the City of Brotherly Love.

After years of undertaking one of the most high-profiled and comprehensive 'tank jobs' ever seen in professional sports, ‘the process’ was thought to be complete with their 2019/20 campaign supposedly the launching pad to potential 76er championship status.

Not only did the Sixers last season take the eventual NBA Champion, Toronto Raptors, to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, but they have two supposedly transcendent stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid entering their primes. The starting lineup has also been rounded out nicely by recruiting the likes of five-time All-Star, Al Horford, along with Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson, who last season emerged as a two-way star in Miami.

However, rather than jumping out of the gates to announce themselves as amongst the cream of the Eastern Conference crop, the 76ers have, so far, looked decidedly pedestrian, with many beginning to question both the composition of the roster, as well as the tenure of current head coach, Brett Brown.

RELATED: Are the Philadelphia 76ers Geniune NBA Championship Contenders?

Just two of the 76ers wins this season have come against teams currently occupying a playoff position, while most alarmingly, their game style is thoroughly lacking in imagination, barely posing any perimeter threat while continuing to turn the ball over at an exceptionally high rate.

Only five teams this season are averaging less than Philadelphia's 9.8 made three-pointers per game, with apparent perimeter threats such as Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson combining for just 44 of 119 long-range shots (29%). Meanwhile, Ben Simmons continues to lack even a semblance of a jump-shot, still yet to make a single three-pointer over what is now 193 games of regular and post-season basketball.

However, most concerning for the Sixers - and, it's been an issue throughout Brown’s tenure as head coach - is that the 76ers continue to present as a well-oiled turnover machine.

Since Brown took over at the start of the 2013/14 NBA season, Philadelphia has remained deplorable where keeping possession is concerned, with this season once again marooned in the bottom five for giveaways. The Sixers have won the turnover battle in just three of its thirteen matches this campaign, while their 15.2% turnover rate is a figure only three teams can claim to be performing worse in.

Alarmingly, Ben Simmons remains a major culprit committing 3.6 turnovers per game, which is even more of a red flag considering his usage rate is at a career-low 19.6%.

In isolation, committing so many turnovers can be mitigated by a team who either employs a breakneck tempo or operates a very efficient offense. Neither, however, is the case with this Philadelphia franchise, who in last year’s playoff exit against Toronto committed 110 turnovers to the Raptors’ 73. 

In a series that went to the last minute of a seven-game series, it's no exaggeration to suggest those extra 37 Raptor possessions played a major role in their progression.

Rather than address their turnover proclivity in the off-season, perhaps through recruiting a more accomplished ball handler, Philadelphia GM, Elton Brand, instead opted to double-down on size, signing Al Horford from the rival Boston Celtics in free agency, while also extending forward, Tobias Harris, to a massive, five year, maximum $180 million contract.

To be fair, Philadelphia's size and length has enabled them to be a genuinely brilliant rebounding and defensive team who, on the one hand, is consistently able to out-board the opposition with +6.4 rebound differential per night, while also producing 52.6 'points in the paint' per game, which remains a top-five metric in the league.

The problem for the 76ers, however, is that sophisticated outfits such the Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston are able to punish the 76ers because of the extra possessions the Philadelphia turnovers allow them, even if these teams know they might be at a disadvantage in regards to size.

SI Championship Rankings: LA Teams Sitting Pretty At The Top

Dismissing Brown just 13 games into the season would seem like a massive call. This is a coach who took over a franchise whose roster - and general morale - was shot to pieces as a result of the first, incredibly brutal phase of 'the process.' In addition, Brown boasts 12 years experience as championship winning assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, while next year will be leading the Boomers at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

In his first two seasons at the helm, the 76ers combined for just 28 wins. Brown's now been at the helm of back-to-back 50+ win seasons, which isn’t something that can be said for any Sixers team since the mid-70s. If the Sixers were to dismiss him, they'd better have a suitable, more qualified candidate than Brown in mind.

Instead, Philadelphia's most pressing issue may well be the roster which they’ve backed themselves into with seemingly little room for improvisation. 

Over the next three seasons the 76ers have committed almost $200 million to Horford and Harris, who, while both excellent, hard-working players, fill similar roles in terms of forwards who can both spread the floor and pass or create their own shot.

A lack of a dependable, league-average backup point guard (apologies to Raul Neto, Shake Milton and Trey Burke) continues to stifle Philadelphia, while also preventing Simmons’ game from growing wings. With a genuine point guard next to him, Simmons would be able to play off-the-ball and closer to the rim in more concentrated spurts, which would allow him to experiment with different facets of his game - including, but not limited to his three-point shot - while also not having the unrelenting responsibility of being the chief playmaker at all times.

Ironically, second-year guard, Landry Shamet, might have been perfectly suited to that role, however, was traded to the LA Clippers - along with two first-round draft picks - in order to secure Harris last February.

The Sixers will simply have to get creative if they are to mount a serious challenge in the East this season.

While their brute strength and sheer quality will ensure they regularly beat up on weaker teams and will ultimately make the playoffs, their lack of offensive evolution threatens to derail their progression once there.

Would GM Brand look at trading out some of Philadelphia's young talent such as defensive swingman, Zhaire Smith, or even recent first-round draft pick, Matisse Thybulle, who has looked exceptional on defense, but, who - like so many 76ers - has lacked a consistent scoring touch, averaging just 3.3 ppg while shooting the three-ball at just 29.2%.

If the Sixers are insistent on keeping their young depth players, they could also even look at moving the talented Josh Richardson and the $20 million he’s owed over the next couple of seasons, especially if it resulted in moving Simmons to a point-forward role while limiting turnovers and upgrading the shooting capability at the point guard position.

Indeed, the season is long, but so too is the intense competition in the East this season.

Anything short of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance would be unacceptable in Philadelphia, while no doubt causing some serious headaches in an organisation hungry for success.

What do you think the 76ers should do? Leave a comment below, or join the conversation on the Stats Insider Twitter or Facebook page.