It was clear that the 2019-20 version of the Philadelphia 76ers never got it right. The team made some major changes in the 2019 offseason bringing in Al Horford and Josh Richardson in an attempt to get bigger and try to build a dominant team that way.
Unfortunately, the fit was disastrous as stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid did not have the same amount of space to be able to operate on the offensive end of the floor. Also, the team was asking Tobias Harris to replace the production of both JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler as the team was in desperate need of their lost services.
It all resulted in Philadelphia tumbling to the 6 seed in the East and they were swept in Round 1 of the playoffs by their rival, the Boston Celtics. The team fell well short of expectations and the team was really just a failure all around.
In an interview with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, both Simmons and Embiid described the season as a lost one. The two stars told MacMullan:
“I’m not gonna lie,” Embiid says. “Last year was very, very difficult.”
“Kind of a lost season,” Simmons says. “It just never felt like we were together as a team.”
That was pretty obvious as the season went on that the team was just on the same page at all and when the season ended, fingers were pointed at Brett Brown. Both Richardson and Simmons pointed out that the team did not have too much accountability all season.
Under Rivers, things have been much different thus far as Simmons told MacMullan:
“The vibe is so much better,” Simmons says. “Everybody wants to come to practice. Everybody shows up early. When I see Joel in there working on his game, it makes me want to work that much harder.
“We didn’t have that last year. Everybody was going their own way.”
The hope now is that the Sixers have the right fit and the right pieces around Simmons and Embiid in order to have a big season. Under Rivers, the team plans to go deep into the playoffs and ultimately win a title that the franchise so desperately craves.
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