Officially official.

We have been presented today with the Philadelphia 76ers 2020 preseason roster:

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

  • They added shooting, and plenty of it. Seth Curry, Danny Green, Ryan Broekhoff – all of these guys will help the Joel Embiid/Ben Simmons spacing problem we encountered last year.
  • Backup point guard is an interesting storyline. Shake Milton can certainly be the guy. Curry can handle the ball. For all of the shooting the Sixers now have, they still could have used a guy who can create his shot and/or get to the rim. You wonder how some of that organic shot-creation will materialize as we begin the season. There does not appear to be an iso/get bucket kind of guy on the roster at the moment.
  • They are thin at power forward. Tobias Harris should bump down to the four in the starting lineup, but beyond him you’ve got Mike Scott and not much else. Paul Reed is a rookie project who might develop into something but starts on a two-way contract. They might have to play some smaller lineups around Embiid and stagger the rotation appropriately.
  • It’s funny that we’ve come to know Embiid as a 7’2″ player, but in these measurements sans shoes, he’s listed at 6’11.75″
  • Excellent veteran presence on this team. Dwight Howard and Danny Green have won titles. Doc Rivers won a title. Dave Joerger was a head coach and Sam Cassell played 15 seasons and won three rings. Dan Burke spent 23 years on the Pacers’ staff.
  • Perimeter defense should be solid. Between Simmons, Thybulle, Curry (kind of a scrappy defender), Milton, Green, and Ferguson, they should have enough options to match Miami and Boston’s quality back court players.

That’s about it. First preseason game in less than a week, if you can believe it. There should be some excitement for the Sixers going into this campaign, as they successfully retooled, improved the roster, brought in a title-winning coach, and nabbed one of the league’s best general managers.