The Sixers completed a late-night blockbuster trade adding Tobias Harris to their core of Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid. Are they better than the Boston Celtics?
The Sixers are going all in. After acquiring Jimmy Butler earlier this season for Dario Saric and Robert Covington, they struck a deal with the LA Clippers in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Tobias Harris will join Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler to give the Sixers one of the best five-man lineups in the NBA.
If Philadelphia had any hopes of making a push past the second round of the playoffs, they had to make a deal like this. Butler, Simmons and Embiid don’t mesh very well, but with a seamless fit like Harris, they can consider themselves level with the Celtics, Bucks and Raptors.
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But does it make them the clear-cut favorite for a trip to the NBA Finals? Not so fast.
It’s easy to overreact to big mid-season trades, but this move should not force the Celtics into a deadline trade or make them think they can’t beat anyone in front of them. If you think about it for maybe 10 minutes, you’ll see why the Celtics are still the better team.
From a matchup perspective, Harris will make the Sixers harder to defend. With Harris, Simmons, Butler and Embiid, Kyrie Irving will have to guard one of them if Brad Stevens doesn’t want his best offensive player chasing Redick around. Either way, the Celtics go to defend the Sixers’ best lineup with Irving on the court, it’s going to be a challenge.
On the other side of the floor, the Celtics still have an immense advantage. The Sixers don’t have anyone to guard Irving. In theory, Butler or Simmons could do it, but asking a wing to guard a ball handler like Irving all game is a tall order. Horford can stretch out Embiid to clear the lane, and the Celtics can target Redick in switches to challenge Brett Brown in keeping him on the floor.
Now let’s talk about the depth issues Philly will face. Behind their starting five, the Sixers have TJ McConnell, Furkan Korkmaz, Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, Markelle Fultz and Amir Johnson as their reserves. It’s likely they target a few buyout candidates, but unless they make five new additions, their bench is a severe weakness.
Coaches shorten their rotations in the playoffs, but if Stevens is sending Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier when the starters rest, Brown either has to overuse his starters or pray somebody on his bench gets hot.
At the end of the day, does this trade make the Sixers better? Absolutely. Does it make them better than Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee? Probably not.
Overreactions are bound to happen after big moves. Do people expect teams not to try and get better? The Celtics aren’t going to panic after this. They still have the best shot at Anthony Davis, and still have the highest ceiling of any team in the league not named the Warriors. So sit back, relax during the trade deadline and get ready for the playoffs, Celtics fans. This team is really, really good and they’re starting to figure out how to reach their potential.