Much has been made of the Philadelphia 76ers jumbo-sized lineup led by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. There have been questions about spacing and criticisms about how it will all work and those questions still remain, but the early returns have been nice to see.
As ESPN released their first real plus-minus rankings for the 2019-20 season, the entirety of that Sixers starting lineup ranked in the top 50 in the rankings. Real plus-minus is a stat that estimates a player’s on-court impact in team performance measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions.
Simmons was ranked 12th at 3.90, Tobias Harris 16th at 3.61, Josh Richardson 37th at 2.73, Al Horford 43rd at 2.62, and Embiid rounded out the rankings at 44 at 2.60.
Philly has 5 guys in the top 50 in ESPN’s real plus-minus:
12.) Ben Simmons 3.90
16.) Tobias Harris 3.61
37.) Josh Richardson 2.73
43.) Al Horford 2.62
44.) Joel Embiid 2.60Is that good? I think that’s good. #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) December 12, 2019
The only other team in the NBA with five guys ranked in the top 50 are the Milwaukee Bucks who are on a 15 game winning streak entering Wednesday night’s play. The Sixers and the Bucks will be fighting for Eastern Conference supremacy all season as they fight for a spot in the NBA Finals in June. [lawrence-related id=21109,21092,21085]