Once again, the 76ers had another disappointing season. They had one thing on their mind and once again they didn't. They now look ahead to the 2022 off-season.
If the 76ers want to actually win a championship, they need to go all in on next seasons.
What we know already
James Harden can opt in or out of his current contract. If he opts in, it will be a $40 million contract.
Tobias Harris is still under contract and is owed $37 million in 2022-23.
Daryl Morey stated that Doc Rivers will be the Head Coach in 2022-23
The Brooklyn Nets own the 76ers first round draft pick as part of the James Harden trade.
Joel Embiid is flirting with the Heat
5 easy steps to a successful offseason
1. Convince James Harden to resign for a team friendly deal.
James Harden is not Houston James Harden anymore. He is not worth the giant contract that he can opt into for the 2022-23 season. He can mesh well with Joel Embiid if they go back to the pick and roll. They started off on fire with that, but abandoned it late in the season. If he can re-sign for a team friendly deal, it will allow the 76ers to take that money and invest in another star. Zach Lavine is a possible option. If Harden will not take a team friendly deal, let him walk and find another star.
2. Trade Tobias Harris to get a deeper bench
Tobias Harris' contract is horrible. He is owed a stupid amount of money in 2022-23 season. Not only is owed a dumb amount of money, but his production is no where even close to what he is getting paid. The 76ers achilles heal is their bench. They have no bench. By trading Tobias Harris, we can pick up 2-3 guys that will mesh well with the lineup. We can take the giant contract of Tobias and get 3 players for the price of 1. This will lead to less of a load management on our stars.
Listen I love Tobias Harris, but not at this price. If he had a better team friendly contract, then I would be all for keeping him. However, his production is very inconsistent. He plays like an all-star every couple of weeks, but that is it. He struggled to find his role with Harden. However, he is still a valuable trade asset. A team with the cap could trade for him and trade some role players (keep reading because we need role players.)
3. Invest in shooters.
If you watched a minute of Joel Embiid this season, you notice he gets triple teamed almost every play. Now imagine this; the 2 open players are 3-point shooters. The 76ers have no consistent shooters outside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. Danny Green when healthy is inconsistent, Matisse Thbulle has a good offensive game once in a while, and a bench that scores 5 points a game. This is the same strategy the Heat and Cavaliers did with Lebron. The 76ers need to do the same with Embiid.
Why do you think Seth Curry played so well in Philly? He is a great shooter when he is wide open. The 76ers need to take the attention off of Embiid with shooters. If they can pull defenders off Embiid, then he can just dominate them even more or they can leave shooters wide open.
4. Look to trade Matisse Thybulle
The 76ers have the opportunity to get some real good value back for Matisse. There is no question that Matisse is a great defender. However, offensively he is a huge liability. He is still young and can provide a team with some great defensive help. Before teams start to realize he is not worth the value they are giving up, get rid of him now.
5. Invest in role players
Like I said earlier, the 76ers have no bench. Like we have no bench. How many games did they score less than 10 points? Too many! The 76ers need to invest in role players. Take the load off the starters.
Potential free agent targets
Zach Lavine
Seth Curry
Serge Ibaka
Victor Oladipo
Damion Lee
Gary Harris
Austin Rivers
Jalen Brunson
Louis Williams
If the 76ers can snag 2-4 of these guys, that would be huge. They could provide depth and they can all pair well with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Zach Lavine would be that 2nd star with Embiid. A great shooter and he has taken great strides as a defender in the last couple of years. Curry was phenomenal in Philly and Oladipo is playing like he is still in Indiana.
We all know we need to take care of Embiid. He can not play 48 minutes every single game. By signing Ibaka, he is seasoned veteran that will be able to fill in when Embiid is on the bench or sitting out the game.
The 76ers need to be spenders this off-season, but can not spend money freely. They need to make smart deals and get away from terrible contracts. Tobias Harris was not a smart deal. Take that money that he is owed, invest in 3-4 players who will give you consistent production.
Coaching and Front Office??
We all know how horrible the Doc Rivers experiment has gone in Philly. However, it seems he is going to be the coach to start the season. However, I feel the 76ers give him a month into the season to get his act together. He needs to set good rotations and truly show he can take this team to a championship. If they decide to move on, I would not be opposed to Sam Cassell taking over for the remainder of the season.
The same goes for Daryl Morey. I believe him and Rivers are a package deal. If one goes they both need to go. He is digging the 76ers into a very deep hole. He can get out of it, but he needs to do it quick.
Final thoughts
What I am suggesting is not hard or crazy. They are all realistic goals that the 76ers can do. Joel Embiid's window is getting smaller and smaller. Eventually he is going to want out if this is how the franchise is going to treat him. We have Tyrese Maxey who has the potential to be an all-star in this league one day. The 76ers can win a championship in 2023 if they do this correct.
The 76ers need to invest around Joel Embiid. They invested in him with the contract extension, but now they need to invest around him. I love Tobias Harris, but not at the current price. I love James Harden, but not at the current price. With some moving around and smarter contracts, the 76ers can quickly put together a solid team.