The Philadelphia 76ers were decimated by injuries before the NBA All-Star break, but they are starting to regain their full strength. This will eventually require head coach Nick Nurse to make some difficult lineup choices, especially in light of what the Sixers did prior to the NBA trade deadline on February 8.
Star center Joel Embiid is still out for the season due to a meniscus surgery, while backup forward Robert Covington has been out for the previous two months due to a knee issue. De’Anthony Melton, however, finally returned to action on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers following an 18-game absence due to a back ailment.
During Melton’s absence, the Sixers signed veteran point guard Kyle Lowry off the buyout market and added Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne before the NBA trade deadline. Their surprising abundance of playable guards begs the question of who, going forward, should start in the backcourt beside first-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey.
During his first seven games with the Sixers, Hield has started every game, and that is not likely to change anytime soon. To prevent any setbacks, the Sixers will probably proceed slowly with Melton for the next week or two. At this point in the season, their main goal should be to keep him healthy for the playoffs.
Having said that, the starting lineup of Tobias Harris, Maxey, Melton, Embiid, and Nicolas Batum destroyed opponents this season with a plus-33.3 net rating over 467 possessions. Of all the lineups with at least 200 possessions throughout the season, that is the best mark. Why attempt to mend what wasn’t damaged?
In that sense, Hield’s shooting might be the great equalizer.
Prior to Hield’s Sixers debut on February 9 against the Atlanta Hawks, the Sixers ranked 25th in three-point attempts per game (31.4) and 27th in made three-pointers per game (11.4). In his first seven games with the Sixers, Hield shot 43.8% from beyond the arc on 9.1 attempts per game. He is making every effort to fix that.
In the history of the Sixers club, Hield and JJ Redick currently share the record for the longest run of games in which three or more three-pointers were made. There are seven games on the record.
Hield has given a team that much needed offensive spark in Embiid’s absence with his supernova shooting talent and better-than-expected passing savvy. He started his Sixers career with four straight 20-point performances, but coming into Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics, who are now atop the East, he has cooled off over his last three.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ defeat on Sunday brought to light some of Hield’s shortcomings. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting (3-of-9 from three), but he wasn’t able to get much more from his shot. Melton, on the other hand, played just 18 minutes off the bench and finished with 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Melton is a far better defender than Hield, so it would be easy to argue for putting him back in the starting lineup once he’s fully recovered. In terms of Dunks and Threes’ defensive estimated plus/minus measure, Melton has finished in the 88th percentile or higher in each of the last five seasons, whereas Hield peaked at the 58th percentile during his final season with the Indiana Pacers.
However, Hield’s defense doesn’t appear to worry team president Daryl Morey too much. He may even see that as greater justification for playing him next to Embiid.
Joel is at the center of how we create the roster, Morey recently stated on the John Kincade Show. Therefore, it’s not only that our guys are absent. Joel functions best behind the other players, acting as a superior rim protector. We therefore frequently deploy player-optimized plays here because they either improve Joel’s spacing or increase the likelihood that Joel will cover their defense.”
Above all, Hield has to experience far more playing with the other starters than Melton does. Either way, the Sixers are going to have trouble getting by without Embiid, so they might as well try out some different lineups to see who gels best with Hield before the playoffs begin.
The Sixers can experiment with more three-guard lines than they have in the past now that Hield, Payne, and Lowry have joined Melton and Maxey. Furthermore, Maxey can occasionally work more off the ball because Lowry and Payne are both capable of operating off the ball. That might not provide results right now, but if Embiid comes back, it will give you another avenue to be unexpected.
Maxey recently told reporters, “Coach Nurse can come up with an endless number of combinations.”
Melton will also need to have experience playing with Lowry and Payne prior to the start of the playoffs, as he hasn’t done so previously. However, allowing him to sit out the rest of the season will help prevent his back problem from getting worse. With a coach like Nurse, who has long pushed the boundaries of his typical starters’ minutes, that’s especially important.
The Sixers won’t have much time until the playoffs to integrate Embiid with the newcomers, even if he returns. They’ll need as many repetitions as they can get with him and Hield in particular, as their two-man dynamic has the potential to quickly resemble Redick’s. In addition, before determining whether to re-sign Hield in free agency this summer, they must observe how that combination functions.
That is not to argue that when April arrives, Melton should be assigned to a reserve role. The Sixers may analyze each matchup individually to decide which guys would be better in the beginning if the stakes are raised. Melton, Hield, and Lowry are all expected to play significant roles in the rotation regardless of who starts and who comes off the bench, while Payne is a top-tier third-string player.
However, in terms of the team’s immediate requirements, Hield’s scoring prowess may surpass Melton’s defensive prowess because the Sixers are offensively deficient without Embiid.
