The Philadelphia 76ers lost several key free agents over the summer and James Harden is gone in spirit. Even with depth waning, these players could break into Nick Nurse's starting five.
The Philadelphia 76ers are off to the worst possible start to Nick Nurse's first season as head coach. James Harden is determined to fracture the locker room until he gets his wish, a trade out of Philly. If Harden does eventually get traded, the return will probably pale in comparison to the player Philadelphia is sending out. Another year of Joel Embiid's prime down the drain.
Daryl Morey is a bonafide genius. He revolutionized NBA front office work and spearheaded the analytics movement in Houston. He gets credit for building the best offensive team of his generation, maybe all time. He also gets credit for navigating that god-awful Sixers roster he inherited after the 2020 season, not to mention the whole Ben Simmons snafu that belied this Harden debacle.
But, at the end of the day, the Sixers were able to get to the second round before Morey arrived. Since he has arrived, Philadelphia has done nothing but fall painfully short of the conference finals. Embiid's prime is waning — the heart and soul of 'The Process' is almost 30 years old — and with Harden in saboteur mode, the crowning achievement of Morey's Sixers tenure is quickly turning into his biggest mistake.
So, what can Nick Nurse do with his new group? That's the big question hanging over all of this. If Nurse can unlock Embiid in the postseason while getting another leap in production out of Tyrese Maxey, maybe none of this noise matters. Nurse is a certified genius on defense and he understands how to place his stars in a position to succeed on offense. The Raptors weren't able to generate much offensive punch in the later years of Nurse's tenure, but that was on the front office more than the coaching staff. Embiid, Maxey, and whatever is left of the roster should guarantee the Sixers an above-average scoring profile.
Let's talk through players who could break into Nurse's starting five, with or without a Harden trade.
Philadelphia 76ers player who could break into starting lineup: Danuel House Jr.
P.J. Tucker is 38 years old. He was barely good enough to hang onto a starting spot last season. Another year of miles on his body probably won't help. Tucker still has the respect of coaches around the league due to his toughness and corporate knowledge, but he's not the same elite on-ball stopper he was in Houston. He's not the same offensive player either. Last season, his 3-point volume plummeted and his indecision frequently tanked the offense.
And thus, we arrive at Danuel House Jr. It's not that House was particularly great in 2022-23. He spent a good chunk of the season out of the Sixers' rotation. He is, however, eight years younger than Tucker. He's also a proper wing, listed at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, who can defend two through four. There aren't many such players left on the Sixers' roster.
House is as vanilla as 3-and-D wings come, but that might be enough to get him a spot in the starting five. He takes a lot of 3s and makes them at a half-decent clip (33.6 percent last season, but 36.2 percent for his career). He should probably cut some of the step-backs and awkward dribble improv out of his game, but House mostly commits to spot-up jumpers and backdoor cuts. He will screen, move, and make the right pass more often than not.
On defense, the Sixers got real mileage out of House late in the season. He can guard his man at the point of attack and he doesn't get played off the floor on offense. That has been all too rare an achievement for Sixers wings in recent years. House is a player to watch, especially if the 3-point numbers perk back up. His primary competition for minutes — Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels, Shake Milton — all left in free agency.
Philadelphia 76ers player who could break into starting lineup: Paul Reed
Let's get weird. Again, there's the P.J. Tucker factor. He's old and there's a very real chance he regresses to the point of being unplayable (or at least unstartable) before his three-year contract runs its course. The Sixers are thin on options in that case, especially options that profile as genuine frontcourt players.
There is also, however, the Nick Nurse factor. Nurse famously played several bigs all the time in Toronto. The Raptors would regularly have three or four 6-foot-8 dudes on the floor. Philadelphia is a different personnel situation with a different front office, but Reed has already talked about Nurse comparing him to Pascal Siakam. Mo Bamba also talked about potential two-big lineups in his first Sixers presser. There's something brewing.
The Sixers have six centers (!!!!) on the roster. Montrezl Harrell's injury sucks, but the Sixers still have an overabundance of talent at the position. Embiid will eat up 35 minutes a night when he's healthy, if not more given Nurse's reputation. Reed can handle the other 10-15 minutes — he's the best option on the roster — but he could earn even more playing time with a coach like Nurse, who embraces defensive functionality above all else.
Reed's mistake-prone nature could clash with Nurse's complex defensive scheming, at least early on, but Reed is genuinely one of the best defenders on the Sixers' roster. He's 6-foot-9 with light feet and a ferocious competitive spirit. He can muscle up bigs in the post and compete for rebounds, or he can roam the perimeter while Embiid supplies clean-up efforts in the paint. Reed has long been a more natural power forward on defense (if not on offense) and Nurse might be the coach who really explores the possibilities.
That said, the offense is a real concern. Reed once shot 42.4 percent from 3-point range in his G-League MVP season, but that 3-point success has not translated to the NBA. He's essentially a non-shooter right now. The Sixers have survived non-shooters next to Embiid before, but it's not always the best setup.
Philadelphia 76ers player who could break into starting lineup: De'Anthony Melton
This is going to happen eventually. P.J. Tucker will probably get the nod when the season starts (assuming the roster doesn't undergo sizable changes due to, like, a big trade or something) but De'Anthony Melton was the better player last season and that gap is only going to widen. Melton is 25 years old in the final year of a very affordable contract. He's a player the Sixers will want to extend and keep around. Tucker is on an albatross contract, on a steep decline, and he's hitching his wagon to James Harden on Instagram. So, yeah. Makes sense to prioritize Melton.
The primary concern with Melton is size. He's only 6-foot-4 and he's fairly skinny, which does limit matchup flexibility to a certain degree. On the other hand, he's blessed with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and he spent plenty of time closing games next to both Harden and Maxey last season. Melton is listed as a guard, but he's better thought of as a wing. He's at his best jacking spot-up 3s and generating havoc away from the ball on defense. He's less successful when he's asked to dribble, create for teammates, or defend Kyrie Irving in isolation.
Melton can defend difficult players one-on-one, which is important when projecting him as a potential starter on the wing. Where Melton really thrives, however, is using that 6-foot-9 wingspan to break up passes or pickpocket. He finished near the top of the NBA in steals last season (1.6 per game) and he's a deflection magnet.
This outcome becomes even more probable if Harden does get traded. The Sixers will probably get a starter or two back in a Harden deal — think Norman Powell and Robert Covington — but Melton would quickly assume two-guard duties next to Tyrese Maxey in the event that Philly doesn't land another star guard. Melton doesn't provide much support as a playmaker, which is a concern, but he's an excellent spacer who has chemistry with Embiid working DHOs on the perimeter.
Melton was frequently the third or fourth-best player on the Sixers last season. He's limited as a ball-handler and as a finisher at the rim, but elite volume shooters (39.0 percent on 5.2 attempts from deep) and defensive playmakers don't come around too often. Melton is the best 3-and-D wing on Philly's roster and should eventually start as a result.
