There Is No Right Answer to Replacing Joel Embiid, But There Certainly Is a Wrong One
Philadelphia is still riding the high from the Eagles seemingly having an A+ draft. For the second straight year, the Eagles front office targeted key pieces on championship teams in the early rounds. Their draft strategy brought not only jubilation but relief to the fan base. Drafting the best players on the best teams. It was a common sense approach, and it’s time for the Sixers to do the same.
The Wrong Answer: There is no right answer to replacing Joel Embiid, the league leader in scoring at over 30PPG who gets to the free throw line 11.6 times per game. There is no team equipped to replace that level of production with the snap of a finger.
But, there is a wrong answer to replacing him. Under no conceivable form of logic should Deandre Jordan be starting and getting playoff minutes at this stage of his career. We just spent the season arguing advanced analytics (Jokic) versus eye test (Embiid) to decide NBA MVP. And the two formed a perfect alliance on Monday night to show that Jordan can’t survive playoff minutes without negatively impacting your team.
It was evident from the first four minutes of the game, the Heat were making a concerted effort to attack Jordan on defense. Watching live, it felt like borderline bullying. Somehow, the numbers afterwards posted an even worse picture.
He was on pace for 75 points per 100 possessions!! In theory, the logic behind wanting to play a veteran in the playoffs makes sense. Most young big men are, for the lack of a better word, dumb. And mistakes in playoff games cost you playoff series. But in this specific case, it is literally almost statistically impossible for the young centers to be worse.
Committing to “DJ” minutes after the game, without even having watched film is certifiably insane. If not for the basic reason, it gives away your strategy for Game 2 to the Heat.
There is a reason that both the Lakers and Nets deemed Jordan not talented enough to bolster the rosters of two teams that combined to not win a single playoff game this year.
The Common Sense Play:
It’s incredibly rare that the common sense is starting a center in Charles Bassey, who spent most of the season in the G-League and is coming off a shoulder injury. But that’s where we’re at. Paul Reed could start, but he’s going to use all six of his fouls and it’s hard for him to give you extended minutes without fouling out.
Reed is far and away the best option at the 5 spot in place of Embiid. He had nine rebounds on Monday night including five offensive ones. He had a steal that led to a fast break and a few nice finishes around the rim on feeds from James Harden.
It’s clear that he needs to do some bicep curls this off-season. His wiry frame prohibits him at times from finishing around the rim in traffic. He also has to battle incredibly hard on the defense glass to prevent big bodies from getting rebounds over him.
Even with his room for his improvement, his energy and activity on both sides of the floor is blatantly evident and much needed.
He and Bassey will certainly at the very least provide that energy for you while also being able to move their feet on defense.
The Strategy: Yes, this would be the point where we should acknowledge Reed and Bassey should have been playing the month and a half after the team traded Andre Drummond.
You would think that a team that will be pushing the luxury tax ceiling for years to come would be committed to developing cheap, young talent like these centers they drafted in the 2nd round. The Heat, who have committed $269 million to two players over 30 in Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, spent the year developing Gabe Vincent and Max Strus (both undrafted).
But it’s too late to dwell on that now and it’s still possible to atone for the mistake. Play both Reed and Bassey. Go small with Niang and Harris when the bigs use their fouls. Mix in zone to protect them from fouling.
You can steal a game without Embiid. But the strategy to do it seems increasingly obvious after Game 1.