DES MOINES, Iowa — In a micro sense, Friday night’s 121-111 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves doesn’t mean much for the Philadelphia 76ers. If anything, the trip to Iowa and Wells Fargo Arena served as a nice respite for Sixers head coach Nick Nurse, who got the chance to return to his hometown and see some family. And it was the chance for Philadelphia to test themselves against NBA competition, seeing that its preseason opener against the New Zealand Breakers on Monday night didn’t provide much value beyond game conditioning.
But everything about a season that the Sixers hope extends into June is about the big picture. And on Friday night, Paul George donned a Philadelphia uniform for the first time and provided a true glimpse of why the Sixers were so excited about signing him in free agency.
He scored 23 points in 26 minutes, which is good enough on face value. But when you look at how George scored, and then close your eyes and imagine Joel Embiid in the mix, you can see the vision and the ceiling of a partnership around the two that includes star guard Tyrese Maxey.
“He’s a guy that can go out and get tough buckets,” is how Nurse put it on Friday night while trying to fight away a smile.
first of many Paul George Sixer buckets! pic.twitter.com/fxNyVKIYCM
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 11, 2024
A lot of respect has to be given to Tobias Harris. He’s a professional scorer, and there’s a reason that his career has included multiple monster contracts. He can get 17 to 20 points in his sleep, and he’ll no doubt do the same with the Detroit Pistons.
But, George is just … different. It’s the expert ballhandling and the ability to create space off the dribble. It’s the ability to make shots, even contested shots, above the 3-point line. It’s the ability to squeeze himself into the paint and find open people on the perimeter. It’s the ability to grab a rebound, get the team into transition and initiate offense.
The Sixers have long lacked that kind of wing creation, the kind of wing creation that wins you championships. Jimmy Butler represents the last time Philadelphia employed an all-star level wing, and that team came within a generational Kawhi Leonard performance of getting to the Eastern Conference Finals.
What the Sixers know is that the road will be long and windy, and often rocky. George and Embiid won’t always be healthy. But, if both are healthy at the same time, with Maxey, the ceiling of this newly formed big three can compete with the most talented teams in the NBA.
“He’s pretty good at basketball,” Maxey said. “I can see the vision. I really do. My goal coming into tonight is to see how comfortable he can get and to try and make him as comfortable as possible. It’s amazing to see what things he can do on the floor. I wanted to try and sit back and watch and see how he fits in and see how I can help him fit in. It was good to see him on the floor.”
If nothing else, the preseason, and even a portion of the regular season, is for working out the kinks of an offense that has multiple new and moving parts. But the canvas for the painting looks something like this. Embiid goes to work from three levels, something as a center that only he and Nikola Jokic are truly capable of. At his best, he’s one of the top five players in the league, and capable of being one of the best offensive engines on earth. Maxey does his thing in pick-and-roll, getting into the creases of a defense off the dribble and making plays for himself and others. George can fill in the blanks, offering a connector on the wing.
Embiid didn’t make the trip to Iowa, although as the Sixers continue a three-game swing, he is expected to rejoin the team in short order. Last season, the Sixers had two players who were capable of creating advantage basketball. This season, they have three, to go along with veterans such as Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry who are capable of making secondary plays off the dribble. Obviously, with the injury history, durability is a concern. But, if Embiid and George take some of the usage off each other, the hope is that everyone will be fresh and have enough in the tank to make a playoff run once the spring rolls around.
Maxey got the tough buckets last season in a playoff that ended in a first-round loss to the New York Knicks. What the Sixers hope is that a healthy triumvirate will be good enough to take pressure off each other.
Friday night gave a glimpse of what could be, especially in a third-quarter run that saw Philadelphia cut into a 17-point deficit. It was George attacking from one side of the floor and Maxey attacking from the other side. It included a flurry of made shots and solid offensive possessions that provided the groundwork to build on.
Does it mean anything in the short run? No. But, as the regular season rolls around, it offers a look at what could be, and it offers the reason there was so much optimism this summer when George pledged the next four years of his professional life to Philadelphia.
“It definitely felt good to get out there and play some minutes,” George said. “It felt good to get some conditioning, and get my wind up and to go out there and try to find a rhythm. I wanted to be aggressive, whether it was the preseason or not. I have to get used to the guys, the guys have to get used to me, so everyone has to be themselves.
“It was the first chance for me to play against another team outside of playing scrimmages against my teammates. … I wanted to go out and play my game and play off the other guys. I wanted to try and read Tyrese and see how I could be good for him.”
(Photo: Reese Strickland / Imagn Images)
