The Philadelphia 76ers will likely be one of the more active teams leading up to the Feb. 10 trade deadline as they have a big situation to settle in terms of Ben Simmons.
While it seems unlikely that the Sixers will move Simmons at the deadline, the Sixers still have some needs they have to address. They want to be able to put Joel Embiid in the best position to win a title right now while he is playing at such an elite level and they want to make a splash at the deadline in order to get it done.
One of the areas the Sixers struggle in is rebounding where they are dead last in the league at 42.1 rebounds per game. That can be an issue in the playoffs and they are also just 23rd in assists at 22.7 per game, both numbers per basketball-reference.
Coach Doc Rivers wants the Sixers to focus on those aspects at the deadline.
“We haven’t rebounded consistently,” said Rivers. “That would be one. Playmaking would be something that I think we need. I’ve had a lot of success getting teams to the playoffs and never struggled with that, but you need playmakers in the playoffs. You just do.”
When it comes to the playoffs, it is, obviously, an entirely different game than the regular season. A team isn’t allowed to run their offense as smoothly as they have before and that is where playmaking comes in.
“They’re gonna take you out of your stuff,” Rivers added. “You need guys to be able to make plays for themselves and for others and the more you have, the better team you have, and the better chance you have.”
As far as the personnel in charge of making those moves–president Daryl Morey and GM Elton Brand–Rivers has the utmost trust in them to get the job done for this team.
“I trust what we’re doing,” the coach finished. “I have stayed out of it for the most part thus far and I think we’ll end up just fine.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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