National Basketball Association

How Can the Philadelphia 76ers Optimize All Three Big Men?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Philadelphia 76ers have a logjam of big men on their roster, and working them all in and giving them playing time will be difficult. How can they optimize them?

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The Philadelphia 76ers have a big man problem. That is no secret, and it has been well documented over the last several months.

Sam Hinkie, the team’s general manager over the last few drafts (aside from the most recent draft) drafted for best available, and not for fit, which just so happened to result in the Sixers drafting three natural centers over a few different drafts.

This, at first, didn’t seem bad. Joel Embiid was missing two straight seasons due to injury, and it always seemed to become a problem that the Sixers would push off until later, and deal with at another time. After all, the Sixers could always just trade one of their bigs, right?

Well, later is now, and the Sixers have that issue. Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor are all finally healthy. But with them, as well as the Sixers rolling Ben Simmons and Dario Saric (both rookies) out as power forwards this year, it’s got to be impossible to get them all minutes.

Still, head coach Brett Brown has to try and figure things out. He has to try to get them all minutes, because one of them will have to be traded, and likely this season. In order for them to find a team that wants one of them, though, they need to show off their skills.

So how does Brett Brown optimize them? He needs to find all of their skills, all of their best partners (aside from each other) and put them with those players as much as possible. He also needs to pick out weaknesses and find players that fill in the gaps where the big men leave off.

It all seems very basic, but with so many moving parts, oh, and four other players on the court at all times, it’s going to be hard. Let’s break things down individually, and then bring it together at the end to see what the gameplan should be going into the season.

Jan 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid practices before a game against the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center. The Golden State Warriors won 108-105. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid is one of the easiest players for head coach Brett Brown to figure out how to use. Luckily, he already comes with several restrictions, which means that he’s only going to be able to play in certain situations, making it easier to figure out when the team can and can not play him.

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Embiid will be on a minutes restriction for almost (if not the whole) all of the season, and will also not be playing games in which the Sixers have back to backs. That being said, there’s only going to be so many games he can play. He will probably only appear in 50-60 games this season, and that guess might even be optimistic.

Embiid can fit into most lineups as a traditional center, and can even space the floor a bit for a player that’s mostly considered a traditional center. Although the best thing about him is his key presence and his ability to post up on any player, you can’t deny that he has shown a decent form over the last few seasons.

Since Embiid hasn’t been able to work too much on things that put weight on his foot, the Sixers focused a ton on improving his shooting mechanics over the last few seasons while he was rehabilitating. He’s likely not going to be a sharpshooter by any means, but he might be good for a 3-pointer or two on occasion.

Embiid can go alongside Simmons or Saric in the frontcourt, but I would avoid putting him alongside Noel at all costs. If Brown does want Okafor to transition to be a power forward at any point, having him and Embiid on the floor at the same time wouldn’t be awful, especially since Okafor lacks the defensive capabilities. Embiid can pick up right where Okafor leaves off.

Jan 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) drives against Portland Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee (24) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 114-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Jahlil Okafor

Okafor is not as easy to figure out how to use as Embiid, but he’s probably a bit easier than Noel. Okafor had an interesting rookie season. Although many want to ship Okafor out after just over 60 games in the NBA, there’s reason to believe he will be a solid NBA player.

Okafor scored nearly 20 points per game in his rookie season, and showed improvement in areas that he was lacking in while he was in college. He wasn’t a lock-down defender once he got to the NBA by any means, but he showed much more effort than at Duke. He also improved his free-throw shooting immensely, which is important to note because that’s arguably the only thing that stays exactly the same when transitioning from college to the pros.

As far as how to use Okafor, Brown really could use him as a power forward or center. Although he’s much more effective in the five, Brown did try to play him as a four late in the season, and he didn’t do awfully. He was able to nail some elbow shots, and did much better as the forward than Noel had done throughout the year.

I think Brown will certainly ask Okafor to take more shots than Noel, but he still shouldn’t be primarily used as a power forward. It’s going to happen, however, since the Sixers have so many big men.

So, what’s the optimal use for Okafor? Run him as a center with Simmons or Saric at the fours. He can get great passes from them and score a bunch. When he’s a four, the Sixers need to have a solid defender such as Noel or Embiid at the center. They also need to put some shooters, such as Robert Covington in with that lineup, and those lineups are when the Sixers will actually use their guards (rather than Saric or Simmons) as the passers.

Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Nerlens Noel

Nerlens Noel is probably the trickiest player to figure out out of the three of the big men. Since his offensive skills are so limited, and his defensive skills are so rigid, it’s tough to put him anywhere but the traditional center role.

Noel was put in as a power forward early last year, and that did not work well for him and the Sixers at all. Although Noel had reportedly worked on his jump shot over the summer, he proved to not have made very many advancements in that realm. He struggled to make shots beyond ten feet.

Things changed for him suddenly when his good old friend, Ish Smith, was traded for partway through the season. Smith was a great passer and a great scorer, and always did a decent job of setting Noel up with lob passes that got him points.

This season, Brett Brown knows that playing Noel as a power forward would be bad news. Brown has already indicated that Noel will play more as a Bismack Biyombo-type player, meaning that Noel will be a rim protector and a close to the rim player on offense.

That’s what’s best for the team. But that means Noel can basically only be used as a center, and that limits the amount of time you can play him, and with which lineups you play him in.

Noel also does best with a traditional point guard doing the bulk of the passing, and may do a bit worse offensively if he’s placed alongside Ben Simmons or Dario Saric, pass-heavy point guards.

Jan 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown in a game against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 113-103. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Based on the individual strong suits of each player, the Sixers have a couple of options on how to optimize their big men. Unfortunately, they do need to optimize them to the max, especially since the Sixers will have to trade one to make themselves most effective later on.

That being said, the players do offer specific skills that shows us how they can be used.

Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor can be used as fours, but they should not often be utilized in that. When they are, the Sixers need to have a pass-heavy point guard on the floor such as Sergio Rodriguez or Jerryd Bayless.

While they are being used as fours, Nerlens Noel can be used as a center, which is the only position we should see him used this season. This lineup makes the most sense for Noel to appear in as a center as well, since he will do better with the pass-heavy point guard.

Okafor and Embiid will be most effective as centers, but when they are on the floor, the Sixers should have Ben Simmons or Dario Saric, guard-like forwards, on the floor and less pass-heavy point guards on the lineup.

Doing these things will hopefully bring out the best in each player, which will help the Sixers show off their big men as best as possible. When they do that, they will get the maximum trade as well.

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