The 76ers are still searching for answers behind Joel Embiid, but Mason Plumlee is no longer one of them.
Sacramento has signed Plumlee to a non-guaranteed contract, removing the 13-year veteran from the open market. For Philadelphia, that may be a break rather than a setback.
The center spot off the bench remains a problem just 12 games into the season, and the front office still needs help. But Plumlee, at this stage of his career, does not look like the kind of fix that would move the needle.
He has long been a useful NBA big man, yet the last couple of seasons have shown how far he has drifted from being a reliable rotation piece. Last year, he split time between the Hornets and the Spurs and logged only 172 minutes across the entire season. At 36, with a long injury history, he does not offer the kind of durability the 76ers need from a backup center.
Plumlee still brings some value. He can defend, rebound and read the game well for a big.
But Philadelphia needs more than that if it is going to add another center. The team could use a different skill set, especially from a bench big who can provide scoring.
Plumlee has never really been that guy, and he is no longer sturdy enough to be counted on as a consistent board-crasher either.
So while the 76ers continue to look for depth, Sacramento’s move may have spared them from a questionable addition. There was a path where Philadelphia could have turned to Plumlee out of necessity. Instead, the Kings took him off the board.
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Powell was the kind of veteran stopgap the Sixers could have used as they try to survive the long stretch of the season without overtaxing Embiid. Instead, they will likely have to keep looking for another body and another layer of insurance at center, because the current options do not offer much security if the rotation gets tested again. [Read more 🡒]
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For a team that has already had to navigate absences, the win carried extra value as Philadelphia improved to 10-3 and kept itself on track in the Eastern Conference race. The Sixers also did it with a shortened rotation, while Toronto was missing key pieces of its own, making Embiids early scare feel like the kind of subplot that could have changed the entire feel of the night. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Got The Relief They Needed After Joel Embiid's Early Scare
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Embiid did return, and Philadelphia steadied itself enough to pull away for a 123-112 win after a sluggish start. Tyrese Maxey and Anfernee Simons helped spark the offense with key plays when the Sixers needed them most, turning what could have been a nervous night into a much-needed result. [Read more 🡒]