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Tim BontempsESPN
CAMDEN, NJ – Josh Harris, owner of the 76ers, and general manager Elton Brand, on a podium inside the team's training grounds, held a press conference Friday morning to celebrate his intense summer.
There was an impressive array of talents, including Al Horford, five-star, one of the best young players in the league, Josh Richardson, and Tobias Harris, whom the team re-signed earlier this month -this. But what was missing was Jimmy Butler – the Philadelphia player last season to play the role the franchise has identified has not been filled yet: a tighter playoff game. And, for all the movements of the Sixers, we do not know who will replace him.
But by giving Harris a $ 180 million deal five years earlier this month and a franchise that could accept a maximum extension of the contract with Ben Simmons at a time of this season, up to a maximum of 170 millions of dollars, the Sixers are clearly hoping that they will do it.
"We are making these bets on these perimeter players," Brand told ESPN on Friday afternoon. "Of course, we're going to bet on Joel [Embiid] when it's time to bet on him.
"But I imagine they'll do it, I'm thinking of surpassing them, and being up to it when the moment is critical, of course."
The Sixers won in the Eastern Conference virtually overnight one night two years ago, passing from a team that had been at the bottom of the standings for four consecutive seasons to a team that crossed the threshold of 50 wins and is qualified for the second round of the playoffs. This sudden transformation, coupled with a Boston Celtics playoff loss, led Brand to trade against Butler and Harris last season with two full maneuvers.
Butler, in particular, was a crucial part of Philadelphia's playoff race – a race that nearly bounced (or four of them, to be precise, from Kawhi Leonard's hand) of the 76ers heading maybe to the NBA. Finals this season.
Now, however, Philadelphia believes this new group – a group with Richardson and Horford replacing Butler and JJ Redick in team formation – is the right mix to finally bring the Sixers to their first appearance in the NBA Finals since that Allen Iverson got them. there in 2001.
"Last year, when we addressed this issue, we were hoping Jimmy had found a good fit, and so did we," Brand said. "I would do this job again, he gave us a great playoff performance last year, but having a player like Josh Richardson allowed us to bring in a player like Al Horford this year, [I’m] not at all upset by this trade ".
The Sixers will also be betting on Harris, taking a step forward this season as he moves up the team's list after serving as his fourth or fifth option last season. While Redick left the club on behalf of the New Orleans pelicans and Butler went to the Miami Heat in a stalemate for Richardson, Philadelphia now has three pillars on which to base his attack: Embiid, Simmons and Harris.
Before being traded to Philadelphia last season, Harris had a career record of 20.9 points, or 49.6% overall and 43.4% behind the three points in 55 games. THE Clippers. It is this production that Harris thinks he can reproduce in Philadelphia now that he enters the season with a newfound stability thanks to his new contract.
"I'm looking forward to seeing that a lot," Harris said of his increased role. "I know that last year, when you come from a trade and that the level of talent of the group is different, you obviously have to make sacrifices for the unit. But I know my game and I know how I continue to improve year after year.
"I can go into next year with this kind of energy, this kind of fire to improve my game and show different parts of my game too.I obviously have the ball in my hands in more different situations and I'm ready for that, I've been working all summer to prepare myself. "
Part of these training situations includes training with Simmons in Los Angeles, where Harris said the two of them had played one-on-one. And, he said, Simmons even took – and created – a 3-point, something that Sixers fans are eager to see if the talented playmaker will add to his arsenal after missing the 17 goals to 3 that he attempted during his match. first two seasons of the NBA.
"When I challenged him to shoot two [3-pointers]he hit twice in a row, "said Harris with a smile. But he has made great improvements to his game. His jump shot looks really good. He has the confidence to pull him. And I kept telling him, even during this training session, that you had the confidence to shoot and that you would not be discouraged if you missed it. That's where you develop this type of trust.
"It was good to see how hard he worked and he looked really good for a good year, we were just talking about this team and the fun it was going to have this year. He chemistry is now starting for us as a group, with communication and just being able to match each other, so that's just huge. "
Although there may be doubts as to who will lead the Philadelphia attack late in the game, the other big flaw of last season – the Sixers during the passing of Embiid on the bench – has been largely corrected thanks to the movements of the team. did this offseason. The acquisition of Horford will allow Philadelphia to have an elite field center 48 minutes per game if it wishes – just as, say, the Houston Rockets have had an elite ball coach on the field for 48 minutes in the last two years with Chris Paul and James Harden, and will be next year with Harden and Russell Westbrook.
This, coupled with Kyle O 'Quinn's signature to replace them, should allow the Sixers to reduce Embiid's workload throughout the season – in the hope of preparing him as best he can for the playoffs.
"When I spoke to Joel and the group with his late interviews, he understood that our goal was to deliver the best Joel Embiid in the post-season," Brand said. "So whatever it takes, he's on board for that.
"With these options, we have fallen off a cliff once Joel has been eliminated, especially on the defensive side, so having these great options bodes well for the success of our team. the part."
And the Sixers fully subscribe to the high expectations that surround the franchise. Caesars Sportsbook offers the team the fifth best chance of winning the title next season at 8-1. After being so close to last season and having seen the rest of the contenders at the East take a step back or step back, Philadelphia is firmly convinced that its time is now to return to the top of the conference – and to potentially win the first title of the franchise. title since 1983.
"Look, I think this group, it's going – and it will be too – is able to bring a championship to Philly," said Josh Harris. "That's what we try to do."
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