The Philadelphia 76ers are entering a bit of a new era in the 2021-22 season as they look to move on from Ben Simmons. The embattled star is currently holding out as continues to wait for a trade from the organization and move on to the next chapter in his career.
As the team began training camp on Tuesday, the Sixers are now tasked with looking for another ball-handler. They have quite a few options they can turn to and they certainly used a lot of them at practice on Tuesday.
Coach Doc Rivers was able to turn to guys such as Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, and even Georges Niang with his second unit. There are a lot of options that can happen with those groups out on the floor.
“Shake more, Shake and Furk, and Georges at the 4, bringing the ball up was very effective for the second group,” Rivers told reporters on Tuesday. “That way, we don’t want that unit to feel like they have one guy as a pure point guard and it’s really the same with the first unit.”
In the first unit, he had Tyrese Maxey running with them. Along with Maxey, Rivers wants Tobias Harris and Seth Curry to also push the ball in a way that Simmons used to do.
“Tyrese will bring it up a lot, but if Tobias gets it, I want him to break out with it,” Rivers continued. “If Seth gets it, I don’t want him to wait. Last year, Ben would more get it every time, because of his ability to get to the paint and make plays. This year, we’ll probably do something different.”
Harris will be looked at as more of a leader with this unit as the season gets set to get underway. He averaged a career-high 3.5 assists in the 2020-21 season and that will continue to be a point of emphasis for him heading into this upcoming season. Especially with Simmons not with the team at the moment.
“That will be a key thing for me,” said Harris. “Whenever the ball flows around, it’s key for us and something we were progressing on today and we will continue to progress on just the ball movement and getting the ball side to side, making the game easier for everybody. I think you’re gonna see a continued effort from all the guys making that extra pass, the right play, and living with the results as well.”
#Sixers forward Tobias Harris on looking forward to initiating the offense more, which he did on the first day of camp: pic.twitter.com/E2AuftsGpK
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) September 28, 2021
“We used him a lot last year, quick decisions, that’s huge for him,” Rivers added. “When he does that, that makes us pretty good. Just passing in general to the open man is usually a good thing and Tobias did a hell of a job of that last year.”
For Philadelphia to have any type of offensive success after losing their point guard, they will need guys like Harris, Curry, and others to really step up and provide production in his place.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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