Even by the Sixers’ standards, it has been a bizarre week. They’ve had multiple controversies inciting league investigations, they’ve had bad losses and now they have had a more encouraging showing which still resulted in a loss.
Amid all of the chaos, you have questions. Let’s get to my second Sixers mailbag of the season:
MORE: Suns 118, Sixers 116
From @sixersallie: Do you think the Sixers need an additional backup center for the stretches where Joel Embiid is out?
If the Sixers are being entirely truthful when they say that Embiid not yet playing has been the byproduct of their plan to be aggressive in protecting his left knee from further injury, it makes their center depth (or lack thereof) completely mystifying.
Guerschon Yabusele has, on the whole, done a fine job. Monday night’s game in Phoenix was by far his best since joining the Sixers, even while including a pair of late blunders. But Yabusele has been the Sixers’ backup center behind Andre Drummond all year despite being considerably undersized for the position.
In some ways, Yabusele has helped the Sixers at the five. He represents a genuine threat from beyond the arc if left open, giving the Sixers some much-needed floor spacing when he is on the floor. But his unorthodox frame for someone manning the middle has rendered him a weak rim protector, and as tremendous as his hustle is, sometimes superior rebounders can have their way with him on the glass. Yabusele’s mobility has improved in the last half-decade since he returned to the NBA, but he is still on the slower side.
I say all of this to say: Yabusele is a fine backup center option in some matchups, but not someone who should be locked into the position on a nightly basis for any considerable stretch of time.
Meanwhile, the Sixers’ temporary starter and eventual backup has not played particularly well in the aggregate. Andre Drummond is an all-time great rebounder with terrific hands, but is shooting just 45.2 percent from the field while fouling at an alarming clip. Over the last two years with the Chicago Bulls, Drummond has been known for posting gargantuan per-minute statistics. But as his minutes have gone up, those impressive rates have suffered rather than be extrapolated.
If the Sixers knew ahead of time that Embiid was going to miss so much time, why is the only other center on their roster second-round rookie Adem Bona, who is considered a long-term project not yet ready for rotation minutes? The Sixers have an open NBA roster spot, though they prefer to keep it open to account for any (additional) future injuries that could adjust their needs. But even then, they have pieces currently in place who seem far less vital than another NBA-caliber center who can play in more traditional matchups.
From @MattTalksBall_: I’m heading to Philly from the UK next week to see the Knicks & Cavaliers back-to-back [Nov. 12 and 13]….
What’s the likelihood of seeing Joel and/or PG in action?
This is the first back-to-back of 2024-25 for the Sixers, and it is a brutal one. Both games are at home, at least, but the Knicks are a team the Sixers have had circled on their calendars for months — plus, this will be the first game of NBA Cup Group Play — but the Cavaliers look like a buzzsaw under new head coach Kenny Atkinson. They are 8-0, and are completely obliterating opposing teams in the process.
Barring a new injury in the next week, you will certainly see Paul George in at least one of these games. His knee has fully recovered, as evidenced by his return to action on Monday night, and the only consideration at play right now seems to be his conditioning. Even then, George was able to log 32 minutes in his return. He could sit out one of these games in theory — I would guess the Cavaliers game if so — but he is a much safer bet to be in action than Embiid.
I would guess that Embiid will be back in a week’s time, but it is somewhat of a fool’s errand to try to predict his timeline at this point. Embiid himself has refused to make any sort of estimates about when he would return. If he does return before these games tip off, do not expect to see Embiid twice. He has already made it clear that he likely will not play back-to-backs this season; if he ever did it would certainly not happen this soon upon returning to action.
MORE: Will Joel Embiid play on this road trip?
From: @joshesok: Odds on Jared McCain taking Rookie of the Year?
I hate to say zero percent, but the answer is basically zero percent. Of the last 15 recipients of the award, 14 averaged at least 15.0 points and 28.8 minutes per game (the only one who did not reach either threshold was 2016-17 ROY Malcolm Brogdon, who benefitted from a dominant rookie version of Embiid only playing 31 games and Ben Simmons missing the entire season).
McCain has done a lot of things well in his first six NBA games, but he is going to finish the season a far cry from either of those thresholds, and even in a rookie class that appears to be wide open in terms of contenders for the award, McCain’s opportunities will just not be frequent enough to make this a possibility.
Of course, this does not mean McCain is incapable of helping the Sixers and improving his stock around the league in 2024-25. He has already done both, showing improved chops as a driver against NBA speed and physicality, finding ways to impact games while he waited for his three-point shot to come along. Now it has, and while he may be on the outside looking in at the rotation for the time being now that George is back on the floor, there will certainly be another time down the line in which McCain’s name is called upon.
MORE: Breaking down McCain’s film
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