The Sixers’ chances of winning a championship depend on finding the ideal Joel Embiid backup, and they may have finally found him in Mo Bamaba.
For the past five years, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers has been among the best players in the league. Regretfully, the Sixers have been eliminated from the playoffs on multiple occasions during the Joel Embiid era, and they seem to be stuck in the dreaded no-man’s land of second-round exits and sporadic, non-competitive conference finals appearances.
Embiid’s health is the main thing keeping the Sixers behind.
The 76ers have thus expended a great deal of time and money to locate a suitable backup center who can provide Embiid with a break without jeopardizing the team’s chances of winning. Mo Bamba was acquired by the team in the 2023 summer. Bamba, a former top-10 pick, has the potential to be the Sixers’ best backup center since Embiid moved here.
Bamba has proven successful this year in brief minutes. In order to keep Embiid rested and healthy for the postseason, the Sixers may benefit if Bamba can maintain his current level of play while playing more minutes.
The key player for Philadelphia is Joel Embiid, but his availability has been an issue.
The most valuable player on the 76ers roster is without a doubt Joel Embiid, but the big man has played in almost every season since his debut, which was postponed for two years because of foot problems.
A few of these wounds resulted from freak incidents. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that Embiid is more vulnerable to injuries due to his body type and style of play.
At seven feet two inches and over 270 pounds, Embiid is not afraid to bully players who are smaller than him on the court. Plus, Embiid weighs so much more than a smaller guard or forward, so every time he crashes to the floor, he puts extra strain on his body. You can call this flopping, but sometimes when you are bigger and stronger than your opponent, you have to make up a little something to get the refs to whistle you).
The 76ers have seen a much steeper decline in play over the years than most teams, especially most contenders, even though it is normal for a team to experience a drop in play when their best player is benched. The eye test and sophisticated statistics both show this decline.
When Embiid is sidelined, the Sixers don’t need a superstar; instead, they need a player who can rebound both ends of the court, score frequently in the paint, and help other defenders defend the rim.
It’s not possible for Embiid to play for as long.
The Sixers have faced a conundrum in recent seasons: they need to play Embiid in enough games to have a strong enough record to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs, but they also need to restrict the amount of minutes and games he plays to give him the best chance of being healthy for the postseason.
Yes, Philadelphia has been looking for a speller who can consistently and reliably spell Embiid for years. Regretfully, the Sixers seem to encounter the same issue repeatedly. The play on the team drastically declines whenever Embiid comes off the bench, making the team look completely different.
Without Embiid, the Sixers have continuously struggled to get players to perform well on both ends of the court, from Jahlil Okafor and Richaun Holmes to well-known players like Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan. Al Horford, who played beside Embiid and also saw time as a backup center when Embiid needed a break, was another failed experiment.
A story about two groups
Even with different lineup iterations, the Sixers’ story has remained largely unchanged during the Joel Embiid era. When Embiid is playing for the Sixers, they appear to be the most dominant team in the league and nearly unstoppable. However, when Embiid is not playing for the Sixers, they appear to be completely incompetent, go for extended periods of time without scoring, give up buckets and buckets of fouls on defense, and generally look like they would struggle to defeat one of the better college teams.