Sixers are flawed but have plenty of time to make changes in 2019

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With the arrival of 2019 comes new hope for the Sixers.

There’s frustration because of the Christmas day overtime loss in Boston. A bit of an overreaction as people gloss over the fact that they nearly beat the team that knocked them out of the playoffs on the road on national television.

Sunday night’s loss in Portland was way more brutal. The Sixers got their doors blown off without Joel Embiid by a team that’s significantly deeper than they are.

But don’t give up on this team. Everything is still well within their grasp. At this point last season, they were just 17-19. Jimmy Butler was still in Minnesota and Jerryd Bayless, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Trevor Booker were still in the Sixers’ rotation.

Of course this team isn’t going to “click its heels,” as Brett Brown likes to say, and start winning games. There are obvious flaws, with the biggest being the bench. The Sixers are likely two legitimate NBA players away from being a serious threat in the East.

Perhaps one of those solutions is an internal option. 

Say what you will about Markelle Fultz, but he did provide a spark at times this season. A healthy Fultz — with a jumper or not — could help. So, too, could a healthy Zhaire Smith. The 2018 first-round pick could realistically become the Sixers’ best perimeter defender off the bench once he’s back in game shape. And don’t forget about Justin Patton. He’s an athletic five, something Amir Johnson and Mike Muscala are not.

But none of those players are a certainty, and Elton Brand certainly won’t stand pat. You can bet he’s already made plenty of calls to try to improve his team’s bench, but the trade deadline is still a month away. The Sixers will surely pursue opportunities, but could be more aggressive in the buyout market. 

Look at the impact Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova had last season when they turned the Sixers’ bench completely around. It would be a lot of pressure to put on two newcomers, but they won’t be asked to carry the same load with the Sixers’ added star power.

Of course there’s concern over the fit of the team’s top three players. Embiid is an MVP candidate and Butler has flashed how special he can be. The biggest elephant in the room is Ben Simmons’ lack of a jumper and how elite teams defend the Sixers’ point guard.

To Simmons’ credit, he’s at least attempted jump shots over his last three games. He’s got a long ways to go but his willingness to shoot more is actually a pretty major development. The only chance he has to make them is to take them.

The important thing is to keep things in perspective. The Sixers improved and closed the regular season on a 16-game winning streak last year. Granted, they played their fair share of tanking teams, but they were also missing Embiid for a good chunk of that streak, and didn’t have Butler.

There will be plenty of struggles ahead with the team’s current roster, but here’s hoping the new year brings a new Sixers team … with a new player or two.

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