No one is questioning the Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason on talent. Add Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to a roster that already includes Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, and the first reaction is obvious: that’s a serious group.
But the Celtics already showed how quickly that kind of setup can turn messy.
Back in 2018, Boston looked loaded after coming within a game of the NBA Finals and getting Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back. The idea was simple enough on paper: plug in more star power and keep rolling.
Instead, the season became a reminder that talent alone doesn’t smooth over everything. The Celtics had Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris Sr., yet the group never fully clicked.
It wasn’t a disaster in the sense of being bad; it was worse in a different way. The ceiling was obvious, and they kept missing it.
Brown felt the effects of that imbalance most sharply. Boston asked him to function as connective tissue, a job he wasn’t built for. He even got benched, and he didn’t reclaim his starting spot until Smart was hurt near the end of the regular season.
That’s the warning sign for Philadelphia now. The names are huge, but the fit is murky.
If Brown is supposed to carry the shot-making load, who handles the connector role? Embiid?
Maxey? LeBron?
None of them has built his game around being that piece. All four are most comfortable with the ball in their hands.
The usage numbers from last season make the point even clearer. Brown was at 36.2, Embiid at 33.5, Maxey at 29.4 and James at 27.2. That adds up to 126.3, before even getting to VJ Edgecombe’s 20.1 and Anfernee Simons’ 23.6, which pushes the combined total to 170%.
Of course, basketball doesn’t work that way. One ball, 100 percent usage, and plenty of players having to give something up.
That’s why the Sixers’ moves are smart and risky at the same time. Brown is not a 3&D player, and Embiid is not a lob threat. Someone is going to have to bend.
James brings his own layer of complication. His teams have a pattern of needing time to settle in when he arrives.
The Heat started 9-8 when Miami first formed the Heatles. Cleveland opened 19-20 when he returned.
His first year with the Lakers never really found smooth footing either.
So even if Philadelphia has enough talent to pile up wins, the adjustment period is baked in. James joined the Sixers because he believed the roster gave him a real title shot, but he has always trusted talent more than fit.
That formula has worked when the supporting pieces adapted. Miami won because Chris Bosh embraced the connective role.
Cleveland won because Richard Jefferson added versatility. The Lakers’ run hit trouble because Russell Westbrook was a bad fit, no matter how much talent he brought with him.
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Celtics Just Got Clarity On A Rival Move That Matters Later
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For Boston, the ripple effect is worth watching later. Duren would have been positioned to hit unrestricted free agency after the season, which could have opened another path for a team looking to keep tabs on the market and on Detroit's cap sheet. Instead, the Celtics can cross one possible rival shake-up off the list, even if the larger questions around how the Pistons manage the rest of their roster are still very much in play. [Read more 🡒]