Matthes Manifesto II: Where do the Indiana Pacers stack up in the East?

The Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia looks very promising. When Joel Embiid plays there are few Centers that are as good let alone better. J.J. Redick is one of the best three-point shooters in the league. Brett Brown has the confidence of this players. Ben Simmons looked like a young Magic Johnson last season. They have already been anointed a contender by most of the media.

But hasn’t the rest of the top of the East passed them by? Boston returns all its key pieces, plus Gordon Hayward. Toronto traded for Kawhi Leonard. Indiana resupplied and is as deep as the franchise has ever been.

What did Philadelphia do this offseason? They executed some trade-shenanigans to be able to draft Zhaire Smith who, fitting, will begin the year hurt. They lost key bench players Marco Belinelli (Spurs) and Ersan Ilyasova (Bucks), and replaced them with Wilson Chandler (a versatile Thad Young-like player) and Mike Muscala ( a lesser-version of Ilyasova). The second team lacks the offensive firepower their 2017-18 team did last year.

Whether the Sixers are actual gold or an imitation, is up for them to prove.

Losing shooting is a major problem for the Sixers because they need as much three-point shooters as possible since neither Simmons nor Markelle Fultz are going to do it. Simmons and Fultz are a combined 0-12 from three. Having two leading players (and two guards at that) not being able to shoot is fatal to championship hopes.

This is especially true in Simmons’ case, he’ll need to develop at least a mediocre jump shot, anything more than his nonexistent one. His drives are excellent, but like any great pitcher, you can only get by on a good fastball for so long. MLB batters will eventually know it’s coming, the time it up and blast it into the seats. Simmons needs a curve, a change-up, anything, otherwise, NBA teams will sell-out and pack his driving and passing lanes forcing him to linger on the perimeter.

If they’re healthy, and if Simmons learns to shoot, Philly can beat anyone. Otherwise, it will be a challenge for Philadelphia to replicate their hot 16-game win streak to close out last season. That win streak left a strong positive feeling lingering in the minds of NBA observers. It can be argued that the streak was fool’s gold. They played 13 teams with either losing records or in active tank mode.

Whether the Sixers are actual gold or an imitation, is up for them to prove.