Sixers Satisfied Stars Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons With Offseason Moves
Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers had a goal to become the league's best defensive teams. As the front office put together a strange-fitting tall lineup, Philly failed to address the loss of the team's most reliable sharpshooter, JJ Redick.
The emergence of young shooters such as Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton was fun to watch -- but they couldn't help the Sixers out when the team needed shooters the most.
Sixers center Joel Embiid begged for better spacing throughout last season. While he made it painfully obvious he wanted Ben Simmons to begin shooting so defenses would respect his shot, Embiid really made it known that the loss of Redick was an even bigger issue.
"[The transition of lineups affected me] a lot," Embiid said back in August. "You can see with the numbers. The offense we've been using the past four or five years, that wasn't the offense for this team. It was completely different. You don't have a JJ Redick, and you don't have a Jimmy Butler who is going to go through pick and rolls. It was different."
This offseason, the 76ers switched coaches and found new front office personnel. As the team's new President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, recognizes the upside of having shooters surround Embiid and Ben Simmons, the former Houston Rockets general manager went out and acquired shooters to satisfy the stars' needs.
"We didn’t have what we needed, especially when it came to shooting," Embiid said this week, in regards to last season. "Nowadays, you got to be able to shoot the ball; you got to be able to space the floor. It’s hard to play just inside out all the time.”
Al Horford and Josh Richardson joined the 76ers last season as the team worked on building a better defensive lineup. While both players can shoot threes, they weren't enough of a threat to help solve the Sixers' spacing issues.
So, Morey sent Horford packing to Oklahoma City to acquire Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson. Richardson, on the other hand, went to Dallas in exchange for Seth Curry. Around the league, the 76ers were praised for turning Horford and Richardson into Green, Ferguson, and Curry -- but how did the moves go over with the Sixers' two stars? "I thought they did a good job," Embiid said. "I feel bad for the guys that we lost, those were my guys, but I thought them adding shooting was great.”
As for Simmons, he's in the same boat as his fellow All-Star. “I’m super excited to play with [Seth Curry],” Simmons said. "He can pass the ball, his IQ’s very high, he moves with pace, he cuts with intention. I think it’s going to be very similar to my first couple of years having JJ around, guys like that, and Marco [Belinelli]. I think that experience I had with JJ is going to help this team a lot just by having a guy like Seth and Danny Green. I’m excited to get on the floor with them."
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_