I got a bunch of unexpected feedback to a throwaway post from earlier this week titled “Please No Maximum Extension for Jimmy Butler.” The writeup was maybe 400 words but presented five options for a Sixers offseason plan, which were:

  1. sign Paul George in free agency and build a big three of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and PG
  2. trade for and extend Jimmy Butler, creating a Jimmy/Joel/Tyrese core
  3. draft Bronny James in an effort to lure LeBron and totally go for it
  4. don’t sign a third star at all and instead surround Embiid and Maxey with the best role players possible
  5. trade Embiid and build around Tyrese (essentially a reset or rebuild)

The bulk of the feedback centered around #4, which is where I’m leaning as the calendar turns to June. It’s an idea admittedly bolstered by recency bias, since we’re about to watch an NBA Finals that features two teams with two superstars each, all of whom operate from the perimeter. The starting bigs in this series are Daniel Gafford and Al Horford, while the superstars – Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, and Kyrie Irving – are all legitimate shot creators and offensive initiators who can fill it up on a nightly basis. The rest of these rosters are rife with quality role players or 3rd/4th options, guys like Dereck Lively and P.J. Washington and Jrue Holiday.

If Daryl Morey ignored Paul George and Jimmy and LeBron entirely and just signed a glut of Malik Beasleys and Malik Monks and Gary Trent Jrs, would anyone have a problem with that? Do the superstar pair routine and build a deeper roster around them.

The thing about Joel Embiid is that even if he does remain healthy, does his skill set provide the best fit for playoff basketball? This remains, largely, a guard league. Playoff offense comes from the perimeter. It comes from spread iso and the high pick and roll. When you go through the last 15-20 years of NBA champions, how many times did a center lead the way? Jokic and Giannis are unicorns. Tim Duncan had Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker. The Warriors bombed everyone to death from deep. Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka weren’t option 1, 2, or 3 with the Raptors. And LeBron’s Cavs won it with Tristan Thompson and a stretch four in Kevin Love.

That’s why option number five, as ridiculous as it sounds, remains intriguing. If you believe in Embiid as a three-level scorer, then you ride or die with him. You ride it until the wheels, or the other meniscus, falls off. But if you worry about late stage shot creation in Marc Zumoff’s “guts of the game,” then you want Tyrese Maxey and a star guard instead. You want Luka and Kyrie, and so you hit the reset button and use this opportunity to start over with a fresh salary cap.


Remember, when the Sixers beat the Knicks in MSG this postseason, Maxey went nuclear while Embiid became a glorified screener. He protected the rim and set picks for Tyrese. Valuable, yes, but not what the reigning MVP should be relegated to in the postseason, injury notwithstanding.

If we’ve learned anything watching these playoffs, it’s that ball handling and shot creation in the half court remain king. Those are the two most important things a team can have. Do you need a third superstar or just stellar guard play with a serviceable big?

You tell me.