The 76ers may finally be getting a real answer to one of their earliest problems of the season.
On Tuesday, Tacko Fall was upgraded to a full participant at practice, a welcome development for the two-way big man after he missed all of preseason and Philadelphia’s first four games with a lingering hip strain. His return puts him on track to make his 76ers debut, and it could come at just the right time for a team that has opened 3-1 but still has obvious questions in the frontcourt.
The issue is simple: the Sixers do not have much size they can trust right now. The new starting five has looked solid, but it can only cover so much. At center, the lack of reliable production has already become a problem, especially on the glass.
Adem Bona has been left as the main option after Ariel Hukporti went down, but he has not done much to lock down the job. Through four games, Bona has had three rebounds or fewer in three of them, which has only sharpened the need for Philadelphia to look elsewhere.
That’s where Fall enters the picture.
If he is fully healthy, the Sixers could elevate him from his two-way status to the main roster for the week and give him the backup center role in games against the Pacers, Knicks, and Hornets. It would be a direct test of whether he can actually serve as a solution in that spot, rather than just a body on the depth chart.
The point isn’t just to hope for a breakout. It’s to gather information. Nick Nurse and the Sixers need a clearer read on what they have, and Bona has already given them enough to know he may not be the answer as the primary reserve.
This stretch would also give Fall a meaningful exam against a real mix of center talent. He’d see Karl-Anthony Towns, Ivica Zubac, and then a Charlotte frontcourt that includes Naz Reid, Moussa Diabate, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. That’s the kind of sample that can tell Philadelphia whether Fall can hold up against the different looks a center has to handle over a season.
There is risk in giving him the chance. He could look overwhelmed.
He could show very little. Or he could flash enough to matter in a depth role.
Either way, the Sixers would come away with something useful.
And with Bona logging just 14.5 minutes per game, there is room to reallocate those minutes without putting the rotation in jeopardy. In fact, the move could open the door for more productive use of the center spot overall.
For a team still trying to figure out what it has at the position, this week could say a lot.
In Other News...
Sixers Could Catch Pacers At The Perfect Time Wednesday
Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe are expected back in the 76ers lineup Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers, giving Philadelphia a major boost after both sat out the previous game with injuries. Even with those reinforcements, the Sixers are still working around several absences of their own, including Dominick Barlow, Tacko Fall and Jabari Walker, so the rotation is not exactly at full strength yet.
Still, the timing could matter. Indiana arrives with its own injury concerns, and the Pacers have several players on the report, including some key names who are either out or in question for the matchup. For a Sixers team trying to stabilize itself, this is the kind of spot where getting Embiid back can change the feel of the night quickly, even if the full picture on the other side is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Adem Bona Just Put Real Pressure On The Sixers Backup Center Race
A recent run of minutes gave Adem Bona the kind of opportunity the 76ers have been waiting to see him seize. In 25 minutes, he finished with six points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, a line that underscored why the coaching staff had already envisioned him as part of the center rotation. With injuries thinning the big-man group and Andre Drummond gone, the pathway behind Joel Embiid has opened wider than expected.
Bonas case is built less on scoring than on the traits Philadelphia needs most when Embiid sits: activity, rim protection and work on the glass. The competition for backup center minutes is still shaped by who is available, but Bona has clearly put himself in position to be the primary option off the bench. For a team trying to preserve Embiid while staying solid in the frontcourt, that is no small development. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Nets Wanted No Part Of Jaylen Brown
Before Jaylen Brown ever got to Philadelphia, the Nets apparently had a chance to bring him to Brooklyn and passed. According to league insider Brian Lewis, Boston floated Brown in trade talks, but Brooklyn declined in large part because of his close relationship with Kyrie Irving, a connection the organization apparently did not want to revisit after the turbulence of Irvings run there.
For the Sixers, the backstory is part of the larger appeal of landing a player who has settled in and produced right away. Brown is performing well this season, and while the Brooklyn angle is mostly a what-if now, it helps explain why his arrival in Philadelphia mattered beyond the normal trade chatter. The Nets may have had their reasons for staying away, but the Sixers are the ones benefiting from what they saw as a clean fit. [Read more 🡒]