Let’s call Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown an optimist.
Nerlens Noel is inching closer to making his 2016-17 debut, and that means Brown will have three top-tier center prospects on his hands. For his part, though, he believes he can make Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Noel coexist, per the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey:
ixers coach Brett Brown believes all three centers can coexist. In that scenario, Embiid would be the franchise player. Noel would be a reserve defensive specialist who runs rim-to-rim and excels in pick-and-rolls. Okafor would provide an offensive spark when needed.
It can work “if they buy in and let me coach them and put them in positions where they truly have a chance to succeed,” Brown said.
What Brown says makes sense in theory. But it’s a lot to ask.
Embiid isn’t the issue. His role is guaranteed. But can Brown sell Noel and Okafor on tempered roles long term? And while the thought of two bigs playing at a time sounds good, can any of these guys survive defending power forwards almost full-time?
This is the most fundamental issue of the Sixers’ setup: All three of these guys are best suited at center, and slotting any one of them at power forward forces Dario Saric, Ersan Ilyasova and, eventually, Ben Simmons to spend more time at the 3. Simmons can handle the switch, but it’s a stretch for the other two. And then there are the ripple effects throughout the rest of the roster, which will include certain wings not seeing as much spin.
At some point, then, the Sixers need to consolidate their bigs. Embiid is here to stay, but logic dictates Philly inevitably find a new home for at least one of Okafor and Noel.
