The Sixers spent the summer chasing star power, but the other half of the equation is just as important: building out a bench that can hold up when the games get tighter. That’s where Anfernee Simons and Dean Wade come in, two additions whose value will be measured in very different ways.
Simons, who signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia this summer, is already known as a dangerous scorer and high-level shooter. The real question is what happens on the other end.
Adam Aaronson of the Philly Voice framed it bluntly: the issue isn’t whether Simons will be the weakest defender on the roster, but whether he can avoid being so damaging that the team won’t trust him in the playoffs. Trail Blazers reporter Sean Highkin told Gina Mizell of the Philly Inquirer that, given a bench role, that defensive problem might be easier to live with.
And if the shot keeps falling, Aaronson noted, Simons could still carve out a place in some of the team’s best lineups.
Wade arrives with a different calling card. The former Cavaliers forward signed a four-year, $39 million deal, and his reputation in the league is built on the kind of work that doesn’t always show up in a box score.
Chris Fedor told Mizell that Wade’s relentless effort is a big reason he’s become such a reliable role player. His value is expected to come through defense, intensity and all the little things that help a team function.
Wade said he’s excited to join a versatile defensive group that includes James, VJ Edgecombe and Jaylen Brown. “That’s what’s going to separate us on the defensive end too, we have so many great defenders, great help side defenders and great on-ball defenders,” Wade said.
The one area the Sixers want more from him is his confidence as a shooter. Maxey was direct on that front: “[I’ll] be on him this year about shooting the ball,” Maxey said.
“I want him to shoot a lot of threes. He can shoot the ball.”
The Sixers are also already thinking about how to manage the grind for their biggest names. Joel Embiid and LeBron James are both heading into the season with real questions about how they’ll hold up across the regular season, and the team hasn’t settled on a load management plan yet, Tony Jones reported for The Athletic.
Nick Nurse said the conversations are coming. “We are going to start having conversations,” Nurse said.
“It’s obviously a very good question and a very good point, and it makes sense that people are talking about it. We’ll have plenty of discussions about it.
I think that now that we’re kind of here, we’re kind of lasering that down into what it’s going to look like.”
Tyrese Maxey, meanwhile, is less interested in individual recognition and more focused on the kind of season that ends with wins. Dave McMenamin of ESPN wrote that Maxey has been an All-Star in two of the last three seasons and is set up for another strong year, but the guard made it clear he wants to be judged by the team’s results.
“I’m at the point now where I’ve showed what I can do talent-wise,” Maxey said. “Of course, I’m going to continue to get better, but I want to be judged by winning.
If we win, that’s what I want to be judged by. That’s really my main mindset, my main goal, is finding ways to win.”
He also said he understands he’ll be a leader, while still embracing the chance to take on different roles depending on the lineups around him.
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Joel Embiid Just Changed The Biggest Sixers Question This Season
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Recent observations suggest Embiid has lost significant weight, a change that could ease the load on his knees and feet and potentially help him stay on the floor more often. For a Sixers team that needs him to look like himself from the start, the early weeks of the season may offer the first real clue about whether this is the version of Embiid Philadelphia has been waiting to see. [Read more 🡒]