Sixers 2019-2020 Review

This season was a disappointment to say the least. I'll admit it, I was really excited during the offseason and by god did I not exactly have fun. I genuinely thought they should have pushed 60 wins this year. Losing Jimmy Butler meant more than I thought it was. Don't even get me started on Alfred fucking Horford. What a fucking disappointment. The Sixers had a record of 39-26 (49 win projection), good for 6th place in the East. We should have been pushing for the first seed. We can't win anywhere except home, going 29-2 at the Wells Fargo Center while going 10-24 on the road. Jesus Christ that's bad. If only we could play every single game at home. I'm not going to even think about what would happen if the league comes back sometime this year, especially if they can't play in front of a home crowd. Here's what I have to say about the Sixers this season, involving players who got consistent minutes throughout the year. I wanted to write about players like Pelle and Shayok, but there just isn't enough on them. I had too much hate for Neto to really warrant talking about him.

Ben Simmons

16.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 8.2 APG (5th), 2.1 STL (1st)

Sure Simmons was a pretty good defender prior to this year, but how many really thought he was going to be a DPOY candidate? Shit, he was touted as a pretty bad defender coming out of LSU. He really just didn't care in college. I'd argue that Simmons had his best year of his career. How can you argue with that when he finally made the first three ever? Highs in steals, assists, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage really show how Simmons can improve and be one of the best in the league. In his last ten games played, Simmons shot 73% from the line on 71 shots (a good enough sample size to take it into account) while being known as possibly one of the worst free throw shooters. That's a really good improvement and he really looked like he was becoming a decent enough free throw shooter to the point where he shouldn't shy away from contact. Being a 7 foot point guard, it was easier for him to score, racking up a field goal percentage of 58.5%.

I was really impressed with Simmons. Like I just said, I did not expect him to become a perennial Defensive Player of the Year. There were many games (especially when Embiid was out) where he stepped up and delivered. I don't really care about his 3 point shooting too much. The dude can do everything else at an elite level (except mid range and free throw shooting), so I really don't think it's too big of a knock on his game. It's something small enough to where he can develop it in the next couple years. Many players have developed a shot into their career. Just look at most centers who shoot threes now such as Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, and Serge Ibaka among others. I'm really excited to see Ben Simmons continue his career as a Sixer.

Josh Richardson

13.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.1 APG,

Looking at his stats, Richardson was pretty disappointing. Actually watching him, he's pretty inconsistent, but I still like him as a player. One game he can be on fire, the next couple he can literally disappear, at least on the offensive end. He's normally pretty consistent on defense. What really surprised me looking back at the stats was how low his 3 point percentage was. 32.7% (36% is league average) on 4.5 attempts per game is not good, especially for someone who is known as a 3 and D player. I guess I kind of should have expected this, he wasn't hitting a lot of his shots, but I didn't know it was this bad. He decreased his points per game by almost 3, but that doesn't alarm me too much. At best, he's the 4th option. On Miami, he was at least 3rd or even 2nd option.

Knowing this, I'm still ok with how he produced. As mentioned, he took more of a laid back role in Philly compared to how he played in Miami. I expect him to be a better shooter because he's shown that he is a good one, but it seems that all players who come here forget how to shoot. I don't know what the Sixers are going to do with him now that he'll be in a contract year next year. Do they keep him or trade him? Makes sense to unload him if they don't plan on re-signing him, but it really all depends on how the Sixers view him and how much money he'll command on the market. Hell, he may not even want to come back. This team is run so poorly so I wouldn't really fault him.

Tobias Harris

19.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 3.2 APG

Oh boy here we go. Over the offseason, dumbass Elton Brand decided to let Jimmy Butler walk and gave this man a 5 year $180 million deal (OMG GUYS WHAT A DEAL THAT'S $10 MILLION LESS THAN THE MAX!!!). I'll tell you this much; he's certainly overpaid. Now does that mean I hate him? Certainly not. I think Tobias is a pretty good player for this team, but jesus christ he can be so much better and he is so overpaid. With all other Sixers, his shooting stats have taken a dip as soon as he came to Philly. He used to shoot in the low 40s from three, but with us he shot 36.2%. Sure that's average, but he needs to be much more than average for his price tag. We got him because he can hit a deep shot at a good clip, not expecting mediocrity. Another thing that has changed is his free throw shooting. He was shooting close to 90% from the line at the end of his stay with the Clippers (average being 75%). Now he's hovering just over 80%. Once again, sure it is better than average, but he was so much better at it before he got here, why the fuck did he just lose the ability to hit these shots?

I don't mind Tobi; I like him. Brand wasn't the smartest to pay him that much. I think without us basically having to pay him this much, he should probably be worth around $25 million. Still a very good contract, but nowhere near where his max, eventually getting close to $40 million in his last year. I guess I wouldn't mind if he was traded, but who in their fucking right mind would take him with his insane contract. Thanks Elton Brand.

Al Horford

12.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.1 APG

His sister was wylin on Twitter the other day (NSFW). This is just about the most interesting thing about a Horford for this year. This dude has been probably the exact definition of disappointing, especially for such a shitty contract (4 years $109 million taking him to the age of 36 in the last year). He can't play next to Embiid and Brett refuses to bench him consistently to make him Joel's permanent backup. This dude can't make a fucking layup and I hate his stupid little clap he does after because he realizes he fucked up. We're probably not using him correctly but jesus fuck. We're making him shoot 4.4 threes per game, which he should not be doing, and is hitting them at an abysmal 33.7% clip. Compare that to last year when he shot 36% on 3 per game and even take into account the year before when he shot 42.9% (!) on 3.1 per game.
It's a pipe dream, but Horford for Buddy Hield has been brought up and would really be magical. We could finally get a reliable shooter and get off this damn contract. The question remains what would happen when Embiid doesn't play, who would start at center? Horford sucks, but he is at least capable of starting in place for Embiid. Shit, we're stuck with him.

Joel Embiid

23.4 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.3 BLK

Embiid is arguably the best center in the league. Did he show that this year? I'm not really sure. A lot of the times it didn't look like he was trying that hard out on the court. He even got booed in the Center. I love Embiid so much, but I really expected more out of him this year. His points decreased by 4 per game, rebounds by almost 2, and blocks by 0.6. That 0 point game against the Raptors was killer for him. Sure he came back the next game against the Kings, even dunking on former teammate Richaun Holmes, but he will never live it down. He said he would come back better than ever after the heart-breaking loss to the Raptors, but he really hasn't shown that he can back up what he said.

That being said, fuck everyone who has ever said Embiid should be traded. Not only is he a generational talent, but he represents Philly. He's a lovable asshole who really embodies all that this city stands for. The Process can't leave Philly and Philly can't leave The Process. This man has become too much of an icon here that I can't imagine what life would be like without him here. Sure I wasn't exactly happy with how his season went, but I will never turn my back on The Process. Don't you fucking dare Elton.

Furkan Korkmaz

9.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, 39.7 3PT%

Furkan was a very pleasant surprise. This dude fucking sucked the past two years and was basically good for nothinng. He was supposed to be a sharpshooter, but he coudn't even hit a three all that well. Then came the game winner against the Trail Blazers. After that, he was a whole new player. The man was actually playable. As Brett Brown said, he was growing a bomber. His two best games were against the Grizzlies and Bulls, of which I was at both. In the game against Chicago, he scored 24 points while going 6 of 9 from three (another three was called off because the Sixers had 6 players on the court). Against the Grizzlies, he scored 34 (a career high) shooting 7 of 9 from three. Before the season, the Sixers didn't even pick up his team option. He wasn't even supposed to return to the team, he was initially going to go back overseas. We brought him back for a steal of a deal for what he's putting up, giving him a 2 year deal for the minimum with the 2020-2021 season being unguaranteed. We might not be able to keep him for much longer because he may be good enough to command a decent amount of money by the time he becomes a free agent.

Shake Milton

9.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 45.3 3PT%

Shake Milton was the 54th pick in the 2018 draft; he shouldn't really be anything. For his first year and the majority of this year, he was rotting away in the G-League. He was putting up big numbers, but that doesn't necessarily mean he is ready for the big league. With his play towards the end of the season, he showed that he is ready. Just look at that 45.3% from three it's a thing of wonders, especially for someone on the Sixers. He tied the NBA record for most 3s in a row with 13 and even shot 59% from deep in the last 10 games. The Sixers might have found their backup point guard for the future after they signed him to a very team friendly contract at 3 years for just under $5 million. Shake has the potential to become a very good player and could really help the team. Please Mr. Brand don't dump him in a dumbass trade. I might be asking for too much though.

Matisse Thybulle

4.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.4 STL, 0.7 BLK

HAHAHA FUCK YOU BOSTON TAKE YOUR CARSEN EDWARDS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS I NEVER WANTED HIM (please don't take a look at one of my older articles). I fucking love Tisse. You may look at his offensive stats and say "man this dude fucking sucks", but by god is he one of the best defenders I have ever watched. Just his first year in the league, and I can honestly say that he is one of the best defenders already. He shot 35.2% from three this year, right under league average. If he can learn to shoot the three at a pretty consistent rate, he could be Covington-lite, hell I think he can be better. I personally think Thybulle is already a better defender, and that's comparing him to a former 1st Team All-Defense player in RoCo. If I had to sum up Matisse in just one meme, I would say...

Mike Scott

5.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.8 APG, 35.8% 3PT%

I like Mike Scott. I understand why he has a dedicated fanbase here in Philly. When he first came here from the Clippers in the Tobias trade, he played pretty well for us. He even won us a playoff game. I met the dude, he was really cool, and I enjoyed my time.

I can't ignore how fucking shitty he's been this year. Once again another 3-point shooter who averages around 40% reverts to being an average shooter as soon as he comes over here, and there literally isn't another single thing he can do. One of the worst dribblers I have ever witnessed. There were unbearable stretches where he couldn't buy a bucket, but yet he still kept on shooting. Shooters shoot but come on man. We gave this man a two year contract for the MLE ($4.9 million per year), and he still isn't even worth that. I would honestly be hesitant to give him a minimum contract. The love for the man needs to be distinguished from the dislike of the player. I'd be fine if he was shipped off at some point. I will always love the man, but he just isn't it right now.