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All right, let's move on to this interview. Let's do it. Please, Welcome to the Heat Check our special guest, Rich Hoffman one F friend of the show, former writer at The Athletic and all Things Philly. He lives and breathes Philadelphia sports. He also has a daily newsletter, the pH l Y Philly Daily Newsletter. He also has a great podcast on the same site. Check out his Twitter, Rich Underscore Hoffman h O F M A N N one A F two ends very confusing, Keep on up with all of
his doings. Rich is great, he gets it. Conversation was awesome, really broke down the hardened situation to a t. So let's jump into it. All right, let's welcome to the show, Rich Hoffman. It has been a minute. The last time I talked to Rich, it was still We're still firmly embedded in the Simmons era. Rich Hoffman with one F go find him on his Twitter, Rich Underscore Hoffman one F. He also has a newsletter, pH l Y Daily newsletter. Also there's podcast, so go check it out to find him.
Philadelphia seventy six Ers, but also all Things Philadelphia will call that the team de joor is the Sixers. Thank you so much and welcome to the show.
Good to be with you, Trista.
Guess it was another crisis we were dealing with whenever.
That was a couple of years ago.
I'm curious. That was the first thing that I thought of when I knew you were going to come on, was how does that era, in terms of how the fan base felt, how the people around the team felt, compare, because it was obviously very toxic situation with Ben and the way that it ended, How does that compare to the way that things flamed out in the Harden era?
I think it was. It was pretty different, honestly, Like I think, like you said, toxic is a good word. I think there was a lot of emotion on both sides, you know. I think with the way Ben and Clutch were kind of handling themselves that year where he clearly didn't want to play, so that was obviously different with James James.
I don't think James wanted to.
Play either, but there was the actual threat of him playing like he could play. I'm not sure Ben in retrospect was even ready to play at that point. But yeah, like I think, you know, Philadelphia, very big sports city, very passionate, all those things. I think Ben elicited a lot of those passions because let's be real, like he was a fan favorite at times, like they drafted him number one overall, he was a flawed but very good player for a couple of years, played his butt off
every game. Obviously shooting thing, we can leave that to the side.
But I don't know.
James Harden, I think in retrospect was kind of a mercenary for these guys, right, And I think the more you look at James Harden's career, it's a little bit sad, Like what fan base is going in to bat for him after this is all over, you know what, Like what is the group of fans besides like his own personal fans, which I've encountered a bunch of them online over the years, but like, is it Houston? I guess it must be. But he kind of left them for you know, he left them for dead, and it wasn't
a great like spot to be in. That was not a great ending, how he handled himself there. So I guess my point is like there was a little bit of apathy in Philadelphia for this, Like, yes, people were sick of James Harden. Yes, people just wanted him to go, but it was different this time. It was like, you know, I don't think when James Harden comes back, he'll get booed, but I don't think the same level of vitriol will be there like we saw with Ben Simmons. And I
think that's almost a negative. Like I think the fact that that happened for Ben was more like, Okay, we used to love you, and I think in retrospect, James Harden felt like a hired gun and yeah, you know, obviously this is the third time he's done it in four years, and it was just kind of a you know, like a joyless like few months here where it was like, all right.
Can we just get home with this because we don't want to deal with this guy anymore.
It's funny too, because the worst thing you can be as a Philadelphia sports fan, I'm sure, right, is dispassionate, is like love him or hate him, but like to have no opinion and just be like mah, I'm kind of ready for this to be over. Feels like probably the worst place that a fan base can be that's as excitable, and we'll call it like deeply connected to the team as Sixers fans are.
Yeah, yeah, and that's what it was.
And you know, I think James is kind of he's a little bit of a dispassionate guy in general too, Like he clearly had his moments where he doesn't quite play as hard. I mean I thought, like, you know, it's funny, like there was some commentary in recent weeks months like this guy isn't even any good anymore. I'm like, well, okay, we can pump the brakes on that. He's pretty damn good last year. I get it, the end of the Boston series. Not great, that's the story of his career,
but like, pretty darn good player last year. But yeah, he just didn't quite connec with the fan base the same way. And I think you're absolutely right, Like in Philadelphia, like the worst thing to be is apathetic, and when people are just kind of you know, I've been around this my whole life, Like I've lived here my whole life. These are my friends, my family, all of these people.
If they're just kind of very quickly calling you a loser and just saying get out of here, like I feel like we usually can do better, and that is a sign that maybe the good times were not quite as good as they were with Ben Simmons, because I think the other thing with Ben too is like when he was good here, like the Sixers had a lot of hope, right they had foults, they had all these draft picks, they had these assets, all of these things that they've completely blown by now, but there was like
a hope that they could be the team for the next five or six years. And he was a part of that. But James not exactly the same type of thing. So we get to the point where, you know, people are just happy that Daryl Morey has kind of moved on it. It kind of was like a great trade. Who'd we get kind of thing, I feel like from a lot of people. I didn't view it that way, but that's kind of how people felt here.
We'll table that for a second. I do want to get your opinion on the trade. You know, I heard this not long ago, was but last year and maybe March or April, and they said, Trista, you know that like whenever the Sixers aren't playing, Like when it's not game day, if James can be in Houston, he is
in Houston as we speak. Was that known? And that's insane, Like that's insane for a player to never be in the city that they played for, Like either they're either on the road, they're at practice, or they're back in the city that they you know, are connected to. Like that's crazy to me. Was that something that was public or like insider knowledge that oh, yeah, this guy's just because that to me was a telltale sign that this guy's just not connected to the city at all.
Yeah, and that's also part of it too. Yeah, I think his his off court habits have been made public and in some sorts, and yeah, that was part of the deal with the team, right like where he you know, Darryl moriy is kind of known what James hard is like now. I guess the difference is when he first had him, he was actually in Houston, So okay, yeah, he might be going to the club at night, but
at least he's still in the city. Yeah, if you and you know, when you're on the beat, there are kind of different tricks where you know, there are some different Instagram accounts you can follow and kind of see some of his friends and be like, oh, okay, that's where he is tonight, Like in general like that, those type of things. Yeah, that happened a lot, and uh yeah, I think that's the that's always going to be the case with James Harden. The Clippers are going to have
to deal with that to a degree as well. And I think for the most part, the Sixers were happy. They were like, look, like the Bensimon's thing was crazy. We needed a good player and we're going to deal with this guy like warts and all. And I think on the court it was it was pretty good. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good for a lot of the time. But yeah, it was knowledge. Yeah, within the team. I think even in the public it seeped
out a little bit. Yeah, Yeah, people knew that. You know, he would go back to Houston a lot, he would party a lot, those type of things, like but that's that's just who James Harden is.
You know.
Yeah, and that's that goes with the territory. I think for la there's probably a little bit of solace in knowing that that's the place that he's from, right and so he'll probably stick around in La more given that it's a homecoming for him. And it's insane to me.
I was thinking about this today. Insane that Kawhi, PG, Harden, and Russ all Los Angeles legends, all playing probably for the team that they didn't grow up rooting for, but still still fucking awesome when you think about it from like a human perspective.
Totally like complete hotbed of talent in southern California, Like just great high school hoops over there, and yeah, pretty much all those guys around the same age just getting to play together. Yeah, playing for the Clippers, which is funny. I'm sure they probably didn't think about that as kids. And yeah, maybe maybe James does stay around there. But I guess my thing with him is, again, I still
think he's very good. I think he's probably not like as good as he thinks he is to pull this whole thing, like I felt like he was kind of putting his foot down like it was twenty twenty, like he was MVP level Harden, I don't think he's at that level, but he clearly got his way here. I just wonder like if he does keep doing this, like is there a point where like he falls off a cliff, like, you know, is there is there?
I think it's now. I think it's now.
We'll see, you know, we'll see. I don't know it's you know. It's funny.
In the past couple of months, my favorite player of all time just just because of where I grew up, and you know, the team I rooted for growing up was Alan Iverson and obviously very flawed player in some respects, certainly like to get after it off the court a little bit. But there was a time when Alan Iverson was like, you know, almost leading the league in scoring in Denver and then like two years later out of
the league, like just just completely gone. And I do think, like James Harden, he's ahead of where Iverson is at that point, just because I think he's such a good passer and that has kind of aged a little bit
better than AI. But but I do hope he realizes, like, hey, man, like there was one team that was going to trade for you, just one Like I really if he did not accept that that player option this year and he just went out in a free agency, I would have been really curious to see, like somebody would have picked him up. Obviously, like he's too good not to get picked up by somebody, But like, I think that market is so much narrower for a million reasons, some of
them not his fault, but a lot of them. Yeah, his fault like that that he has not made himself kind of a more willing role player on and off the court, those type of things. So we'll see. This feels like his last chance, though, like to make something happen, to play on a team this good and potentially to get paid.
We'll see what Bomber does in the off season.
Yeah, So when the trade came down, I was super surprised. It came down super late at night too. The reporting is that Darryl Moury was sort of circumvented by Josh Harris, owner of the Sixers, and Steve Baumer. I don't know if you have other insight into that, but just kind of wanted to get your thoughts on just that, your general tenor from Philadelphia's perspective on that.
Yeah, as far as the ownership, I mean, owners are involved in everything, so like there is a degree of that in pretty much any transaction you make. Now, how much were they involved here, I don't exactly know, like different people will tell you different things. I think some people would point to, okay, like where did that report come from? Like where are those places?
Maybe it's James.
Harden leaking that to try and make Daryl Morey.
Look a little bit worse.
I will tell you though, just looking at what that trade package is, and I don't think it's terrible by any means, Like I don't think it's awful. But I am a little surprised that Daryl Morey didn't hold out because I covered this team two years ago when Joel Embiid was, you know, playing at an MVP pace and literally everybody was screaming after every forty ball he would throw up, can you trade Ben Simmons?
Please?
Can you not waste a year of this guy's prime? So I was a little surprised that, you know, in week two of the season, like, okay, this is when the trade got made. And look, it makes sense from the Clippers standpoint, if they were gonna do it, you gotta do it early in the year. Like I saw James Harden get integrated into a team later in the year. That that doesn't work.
You need a full.
Year to like figure out how to play together or what rotations those type of things. So I get that, and I get it from the Sixers standpoint, because like they didn't want James Harden to play for them. Like they're actually playing okay at the beginning of the year.
They have this new coach, new system, Tyreese is playing great, all those things, and James Harden, like, was he gonna just do the end of the rockets and nets thing where he you know, he runs up and down the court and he plays like absolutely zero defense and he's basically just tanking on the court. I mean, that would have been it would have been interesting to watch for sure for me, But I guess if you're like in the Sixers organization, that's probably something you don't want to
see happen. So I was a little bit surprised though, that Maury kind of quote unquote settled for this. And you know what, maybe and I think he'd probably tell you this, Maybe he got to the point where he's like, look, man, we're dealing with one team. Like at some point, I think you do kind of just have to settle for the type of trade because as much leverage as we have on them that they want to make James a part of their team and figure out what works and
what doesn't. Like, we have one team we're dealing with, Like they if they leave, we are completely.
Stuck with this guy.
So that's ultimately what I think happened. I mean, obviously he didn't get Terrence Man, he didn't get that other second round pick or that second first round pick. He was looking for the twenty thirty one. You know, he got some decent stuff in there, and obviously they have this flexibility to make some moves, whether it's this season or in the offseason when when all of these contracts.
Expire or whatever.
But yeah, like I was a little surprised because it was not like when you looked at the trade package, it felt like something he might have been willing to hold out for more. But maybe it was just a different situation than the Ben Simmons thing, you know.
Yeah, and it's interesting it felt like there was less stubbornness, I guess on Darryl Moury's part, because you know, Ben Simmons and Daryl really aren't connected in any emotional way. There is no goodwill there. The way that Ben kind of sold it on the season and how aggressive he was felt like maybe that was gonna and probably worth more money, right, like just longer team control, younger, higher upside, more teams that could potentially take a swing on him.
I'm curious though, because it seemed like Daryl Mourray was in the same camp about Ben, which is, we need to get better. We need to get pieces that get us a high level star to pair with our young guys in Joel. Who is that now? Given what they got in this trade. And I like Nick Batuma a lot right, good point of attack, defender, can shoot, can play small ball, five, play the four, play the three.
You know, very underrated, little old But what do they have now outside of cap space to really make a move this year to add to this team being a legit threat to Milwaukee or Boston.
So I agree with you and that that's kind of I think the way you have to view this trade was like the way I looked at it initially, when you just look at the pieces they got, the players, the draft picks, I was like, that's a cold B B minus something like that, like that's not bad, like and maybe credit to Daryl for settling for that, because
maybe it wasn't gonna get better. But the way it's viewed, and Daryl said this yesterday at a press conference, is like, this is a two part trade, Like this is the first part of it, and you really can't judge what happens until you see what we do with all this stuff. That said, I am like a little bit skeptical just because I like it's publicly available information. You could just google it, like it'll be on hoops Hype or whatever, like twenty twenty four free agents, Like, look at that class.
It's not the you know, it's not the Lebron Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh twenty ten class.
Like, it's not. You can look at the names.
It's like Pascal Siakam, it's the two Clippers guys who I think they're gonna resign. But that's like the players on the list, you know, it's like, yeah, it's like the Raptors guys. It's like og and and all of these kuys. So it's not a very inspiring crop. Unfortunately for the Sixers. Tobias Harris is like way higher on that list than he probably should be. Like, it's not a very strong class. So I think what the Sixers
would say is they can do two things here. They can go into the offseason and they can have like fifty five million dollars worth of cap space. They they did not extend Tyres Maxy this past offseason, keeping his cap hold low. He's gonna make a boatload of money next year. But they can at least like pay the other guys first and then pay him on top and be over the cap just because he was such a late pick four years ago.
They could do that.
Or they can go into this season and say, look, we have a bunch of these expiring contracts, and they're like you said, it's like baitoom, it's Roco, It's it's Marcus Morris. Let's say even two of the three of those guys are somewhat playable for a team. But the good news for the team that would trade for them is like, look, they're off your books after this year, like they're expiring, so they're not gonna be like an
anchor on your books for three four years down the road. Plus, the Sixers have three tradeable first round picks now, and I think the one thing Daryl can at least, I think take a little bit of a victory lap on like that twenty twenty eight Clippers pick that could be a pretty valuable trade ship. Now, I don't think the Sixers want to make that pick obviously, because they want
to trade it to get somebody for Embiid. But like you look, look at the ages of all those guys on the Clippers, like and so they're going to resign Kawhi pg Russ Harden.
Those guys are going to be forty years old.
At that point, and they don't have really any picks to trade. On top of that, I know Steve Bomber is a great owner in terms of just he's willing to spend anything. He's richest guy in the NBA, all those things. At some point, you don't have stuff that other teams want, though, So I think that pick does have some value, and then the Sixers have I think it's like a twenty thirty pick of theirs, which I think if you're another team, you big, oh yeah, I'd
love to short that team. Like, look, the Sixers, if we're patient, either use that pick when Embiid is super old, or you know, maybe we could trade that to another team. So I think they would use those expiring contracts and then their their picks to try and acquire a player this year. I think that is ideally what they'd like to do, because Joel Embiid, I think, is sitting there like, hey, can we at least try to win something this year?
Like you know this idea that we are, you know, the number four, the number three seed, but way below Boston, way below Milwaukee, with no shot, Like I'm thirty years old, I would like to actually have a puncher's chance to advance in the playoffs. So that is what they are saying they're going to do. But like, who is the player, right? You know, who's the player?
Does it?
Donovan Mitchell? Does he get you know, disgruntled in Cleveland. I don't know what the right answer is. It is not obvious to me, and I think, like what the the path that Daryl Morey took is probably the right one, but it's also an uncertain one, like I have no idea that the answers at the end of this cap space, at the end of this expiring contract, draft pick rainbow is going to be like a good thing.
I don't know.
Yeah, yeah, neither. And I guess the question that I have too for you is I think the thing and maybe I don't know the player it himself but I think what Philly needs is what Philly has already had, which is someone that you rely on in the postseason to be the clutch bucket getter, right the Jimmy Butler and obviously that's done, that's gone, like that just would never come back, as much as I think Joelle and Jimmy would like to reunite, but that's what I feel
is missing. Maybe Tyrese becomes that guy at some point, I don't know. I mean, Dame would have been an obvious clutch guy to get if, for example, Portland didn't make that move right now and he's still sitting on Portland's books, maybe you trade the three first round picks for him and maybe Tobias and maybe like Jaden Springer or something. I don't know if that's enough, but like a clutch down to the wire, dude is the guy that I feel like Philly has been missing since Jimmy Butler.
Is that what you think? And do you think Donovan Mitchell is that guy? Because I don't know.
I don't know either, And I think the like like Jimmy would be the perfect one because I think, ideally you have a great center of this ascending six to two scoring guard. You'd want somebody in the middle of those two, right, You'd want somebody on the wing, play a little defense. Those things Donovan Mitchell would not provide that. Obviously, there is a finite amount of star players available at any time in the NBA, so you're not always going to be able to check every single box.
And some star players aren't clutch guys. Yeah, I mean, Zack Lavine is not that dude, I know.
And he's another name that has been mentioned a lot. I would not be for that, just because I think Tyres already gives you a lot of what he does and you know the cost. And I think the defense wouldn't be that great either, And I think that's part of the issue is that. Look, I love Joel Embiid, like I think everything that this franchise has done around him has been like malpractice for the most part. Like he's just seen so many failed draft picks, so many
terrible trades, just poor free agents signs. They stuck him with Al Horford one year, which was horrible. So many things that just have not been his fault. That said, the one thing that is on his resume is he has not been as good of a playoff player as he's been in the regular season, and it's like you said, like he has not been the clutch bucket getter.
He has not been. He just struggles with double teams.
Like I thought that the Boston series last year was so frustrating because he had kind of lessened his turnovers pretty much every single season of his career. I mean, when he first started, he was throwing the ball into the eighth row every second play, and he just gradually got better and better and better and better. And I'm not saying he was Yokich in terms of passing. He wasn't, but he certainly made what was like a glaring weakness
not quite as bad. And then they get in the playoff against Boston last year and it's like twenty seventeen twenty eighteen all over again, Like he just completely regrets. So look, I think some of that is is going to have to come from him, and I think Nick Nurse is trying to install kind of a different offensive system where there's a little more movement around him, empowering MAXI. They're doing a little bit more dribble handoff type stuff.
Maybe that is a little bit of the the solution there, but I agree with you, like they need somebody else who can get buckets Layton games, and I think Tyreese can probably do that a little bit, but yeah, somebody in between. And it's funny, you know we mentioned the
people who are available. One of the main targets that people say is Ognunobi, who I think, like, wow, I mean that would be great defensively, like, man, he could guard the other team's best guy, but that's not him offensively, And if you push all your chips in for og, it's like, man, that's a lot of pressure on Tyrese Maxi to score and get buckets Layton games. So that's kind of it's like, like we said, that's kind of
the issues that these teams that the Sixers are dealing with. Yes, they have a lot of flexibility, Yes they have some picks now to deal with, and they have some things to trade, but like, what are the right answers here? I don't exactly see who it is, you.
Know what it could be before we switch topics, because I do want to get your thoughts on Nick Nurse. It might be and you could probably get them for the cheap. Demarta Rosen to Mario Rosen at one point fourth quarter clutch gene. I think two years ago he was the clutchest player in the NBA. He he's a bit older, so you're not gonna have to give up a ton for him. Yes, maybe Chicago wants to extend him, but why Chicago's a dumpster fire. Feels like Damar would
be open to it. Feels like Embiide would be open to it. Awesome culture guy.
I've look, I've seen it live. Like I think I went to Chicago both times the Sixers played them two years ago when Sixers won those games. But Tomorrow was spectacular in those games. And obviously when he's got it's a little bit of a clunky fit, like he doesn't shoot a lot of threes, has the ball in his
hands a lot. But yeah, maybe, and I think maybe that might be the answer moving forward to maybe it's somebody like Damar, And then if you get Tomorrow, maybe you have a little bit of cap space left over, so you don't go, you know, huge for one star, but you're you're able to get kind of deeper around those guys, and maybe you know you can wield a little bit more than the mid level exception, so you can get kind of the best role players on the market,
and maybe that's answer. And I think the one thing for six Ers fans, Daryl Morey has had a little bit of a tough year. I would say, getting called a liar by James Harden pretty rough. All of those things not not Daryl's best thing here, even if the hardened thing kind of blew up in his face. I'm still I'm still a believer in him. Like, I still
think he's pretty damn good at his job. And I think whatever the right path is here, like whatever the most creative thing, and you know, I'm sure Joel will be kind of voicing his you know, his wishes and all those things. Like I'm pretty confident that he'll figure out whatever the best path is. I don't know exactly what that is, but I have confidence in the guy kind of right running the ship here.
In terms of this season, I am super impressed with how things are operating, just much better flow than I imagine. Like the off season wasn't really that great. I didn't add a lot of pieces, there wasn't a lot of fanfare, nothing, I guess fundamentally changed. And yet you guys are starting off hotter than you know expected, right, Your third in offensive rating and net rating fifth, and effective field goal percentage second, true field goal percentage, twelfth in defensive rating,
so that's not falling off. You're leading the league in blocks your top ten, and turnovers top ten, and steals top five in three point percentage, which I think is pretty impressive. Tobias looks rejuvenated. He looks like a whole new dude. His confidence looks like it was when he played for the Clippers. Like to you, what is the
biggest difference? And I love Kelly, you brow in this team, like culturally he's I thought maybe it would be a chucklehead, but he's been awesome now in the starting lot, Like awesome, But it feels like a lot has changed with very little player change. In Layman's terms, kind of compare and contrast it.
Yeah, I think you're right.
And I was a little bit skeptical just heading into the season. I was like, man, this they go this cap space route and they trade hard, and it's like, all right, they're gonna have like a take their medicine type of year. I was not feeling too great about that. Like I was just like, and look that they made signings like they let like George Niango, they let Shake Milton go, and these guys are obviously not world beaters,
but they wont fifty four games last year. Part of the reason is when one of like Joel or Tyreese or James was hurt, those guys could actually scale up and like help you a little bit. But the reason they let them go is because they signed multi year deals in other places and they wanted to keep this cap space dry, so that limits who you're gonna get. You know, pep Bev accepts the one year deal.
Okay, that's cool.
You get Kelly Ubray late, and I think a lot of people were like, oh, man, Like, you know, he's clearly kind of a knucklehead all those type of things. You know, how could a twenty point score get signed. I think it was in like early September he got signed. But I was like, look, that's worth the swing. Like, I you know, I completely understand the words that Kelly Ubra brings, but you know, get him in with Nick Nurse and Joel and you know, the guy clearly has
some talent in terms of scoring. Now his first three games is I was like a little bit optimistic I was like, Okay, let's see, Les, lets see if you can hold that down. And he's been spectacular in his first three games, and I think that's kind of the first point here is like, yeah, they're probably gonna regress a little bit. I'm not sure they're quite this good. But the one thing that I've seen from all of these guys is that the ball is just like moving.
Like the ball, the player movement, all those things. It's very different from what James Harden and Doc Rivers did last year. It was, by the way, the Sixers offense last year when James Harden came back in December, We're going four months until the end of the season's best offense in the week, better than Sacramento, better, better than everybody. But look, it was pretty simple.
It was like, but wasn't it. It wasn't it like kind of like Mortal Kombat. Have you ever played Mortal Kombat when you have like the leg sweep uppercut, leg sweep uppercut and then like, yeah, that's the that's the James Harden Joel embiid pick and roll, and it's like, we're gonna do this every time, and you're not going to stop us, but it's like unwatchable basketball.
Yeah, it wasn't that much fun to watch for sure. And I think the the bigger point and something the reason they've installed all this movement and kind of trying to be more unpredictable is in the playoffs it doesn't work. It doesn't work against topped events. Now, I don't think that's just the Sixers problem, Like offense has not really worked in the playoffs. They're just slightly more talented than
the Sixers. Like, I think what they saw from Denver is like, Okay, they throw the ball into Yokich, they do all this crazy cutting. It's like it's a little more sustainable from the regular season to the playoffs. It's a little harder to just game plan and hone in on. So you're right, you have two things here. You're trying to play, You're trying to prepare for the playoffs and kind of be a little bit more unpredictable hopefully help Joelle get over some of those turnover issues those things.
And the other thing is, yeah, you're right, it's more fun to watch, Like, yeah, they're not running the same play every time. Doc Rivers always had this thing where it was like I'm going to give you a very specific role and you got to stay in it. And basically that role was Joel and James are gonna run pick and roll, and the other three guys you're gonna stand around and you're probably gonna shoot a bunch of threes. You're probably in Tyreese Maxi's case, you're probably gonna get
a bunch of wide open threes. But he's clearly doing more this year. Like I think my friend Derek had a stat where Tyrese Maxi through three games has twenty five points off dribble handoffs so far, and he had I think sixty five all of last year. This is three games three, three freaking games, so and you're seeing it right Like Joelle back in twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen, he had a great two man partnership with JJ Reddick.
That was kind of the play they would run because Ben Simmons obviously wasn't doing a lot in the half court, so they would throw the ball to Joe out the elbow, and they would let Joel and JJ like like dance on.
The left side of the floor.
This is a better version like Tyrese Maxey obviously, I love JJ. He's awesome on TV. Was a really good player for the Sixers.
Tyres Max.
He's a better player than him. He could do a lot more stuff. He's quicker, he's you know, he has the ball in his hands. So I think that is kind of the big difference between the two teams. It's been an awesome start. I would caution a little bit like I'm expecting a little bit of regression here, but as far as like an early start in somebody who was a little skeptical that Nick Nurse, who had some really bad offenses in Toronto could like completely change the
culture here and establish this cool motion offense. It's been a terrific start, Like hand up like he's been been great.
And you mentioned a guy standing on the corner. I think that's what made Tobias Harris absolutely probably the most overrated player in the league was his role. He was just frozen. It looked like his confidence was just shot because he was told do not do anything if you get the ball and you're not open. He was almost like short circuit. I don't know if I'm supposed to drive.
I don't know if I'm supposed to shoot these He would almost drive and then realize, oh man, I'm supposed to shoot, and then he would shoot these very inefficient mid range shots and it just wasn't working. It feels like Tobias Harris might be one of the biggest beneficiaries for the Nick Nurse offense as well.
Which is funny because people thought he would be the beneficiary under Doc right, like people thought Doc was the Clippers coach when he was really good, right, and that would be the thing. Yeah, I think especially when Hardin got to hear Tobias's role for this team because Max he had ascended past him, Like that's just the truth. He was going to get more kind of pick and roll calls, he was going to get any scraps left
over from Joel and James that's going to Tyree's. But so that meant Tobias, who's making, you know, close to forty million dollars, his role was just stand there and shoot open threes, and frankly, it's kind of bothered me a little bit, like he just wasn't good at that, Like he just wouldn't like he'd missed like two or three in a row, and then he'd go into a funk.
It's like those plays like you said, and I was like, well, the team actually needs you to just keep firing those And look, I agree with you, like Tobias was miscast in that role, and it was you know, you look at this year, they're running plays for him, they're you know, they're they're having Tyree's backscreen for him so we can get some of those mid post touches. He's getting some easy looks. So Tobias always talks about like he needs to play in the flow, and that's kind of how
it works. It's I think it's a little bit of an excuse making like when he doesn't play quite as well, but he's clearly in a nice flow to start this year, and the way they're using him, just because James isn't here, and even before Nick Nurse and all these cool plays, you remove just James and all of the usage that he brings, Tobias is the big beneficiar there for sure.
Yeah, I think that's right now. I guess it's like winning solves all problems. That's what Klay Thompson is telling us, right, Like, there's not a chemistry problem. Last year with the Warriors, it was just that they didn't win, not the other way around. Nick Nurse seems like he was hated in Toronto, and I don't, frankly don't get it. How are the guys,
from what you can understand, feeling about him? And do you think it's like one of those Thibodeau things where it's got an expiration date or guys play hard the first year because it's just a new voice and then eventually maybe that starts becoming less and less effective over time.
Totally, And I am the first person that pushes back because people in Philadelphia, I've never I know, this is every NBA fan base man, they just hate the coach. They just hate It's always the coach's fault. Went on like, no, man, it's a player's league. So I found myself over the past couple of years, despite the fact that he would scream at me and say, you know, say some not nice things in press conferences sometimes at me, I was defending Doc Rivers a lot, like I didn't think he
did a terrible job here. I think in the regular season in particular, I thought it was okay. And I think you know, when people were like, oh, okay, Nick Nurses here, I was like, did you watch Toronto the last couple of years, like they weren't a great team. It's it's been really good to start.
Now.
Do I wonder if there's an expiration date? Yeah, I do. I do.
And you know, he has the guy's playing really hard. One of the things that's also different is their defense. They're flying around like they're they're rotating a lot. It's it's a far different system than they played under Doc.
That's cool, but they.
Play eighty two games and it's like a lot of effort to play that system. So if that effort goes away and then that completely goes to shit, like it's it's really kind of a tough thing there. Yeah, so I think it's been really good to start. I think they really like the ball movement. I think they're digging kind of how Nick has handled the whole heartened situation and just kind of put it to the side. Right now,
everything is great. I'm just a little curious, like what happens if you know, they start turning the ball over, they start not playing quite as hard on the defensive end.
How do they handle that?
But like look overall, like when the Sixers signed Nick Nurse, I was for it, Like I'm like, okay, yeah, this has gone poorly in Toronto the last couple of years. The guy won a championship and the year after that, I think it was nineteen twenty. That's one of the best single season coaching jobs I've ever seen. Like, they were the number two seed in the East, they had just lost Kawhi.
They were awesome. He does a lot.
Of cool stuff, like it's fun to watch, you know, he runs his box and one stuff like that. So far, so good for him. But I think, like you said, is there an exploration piration date? I at least have my eye off for that.
All right, So before we let you go, let's get your Sixers prediction. Where are they ranked or where are they at in the standings by the time the regular season is over, does anyone on this team win any awards? And where do they exit in the playoffs?
So what happens? Did they make a trade in the middle the year? No? No, okay no.
So I think my answer is pretty similar on that. I have seen enough from them where I think they are going to be probably the third or the fourth seed and they're gonna lose in the second round. That's the whole irony of this Harden thing. It's like, yeah, they're yeah, their ceiling is probably not quite as high.
But these guys, their floor is higher than you think.
If Joelle is like relatively healthy, if he plays fifty games, I know, people always wonder about that he plays more than fifty games a lot, though he's it's been a long time since his last catastrophic injury. Their floor is really high. These guys seem to have the regular season figured out, so ultimately I kind of think they're gonna end up in the same spot again, where you know, they run into a Boston or Milwaukee.
We'll see. I mean, you know.
One of the things is like early in the year, like I kind of just throw these results to the side.
You know. It's like early last.
Year people were like, oh, man, the Sixers have no chance against Boston. They're like, you know, they got killed by them in a couple of games early in the year. Yeah, they lost to Boston, but they had a chance. I think we're all talking about how they screwed up that chance yet again, like they clearly had a chance to beat them. They're up five with like three minutes left, and.
To be fair and not to cut you off, ant to be fair I would take Nick Nurse over Joe Mizula in the playoffs any.
Day, totally.
You have a better coach and all those things, and like we'll see, like Milwaukee's like not guarding anybody right now. But I would also say, like I expect them to be better at some point, Like Gnison Dan feels like a pretty solid pairing there.
But yeah, if you if you made.
Me pick, i'd say probably like the third of the fourth seed, they win that first round series. Again, maybe it's a little closer than past years because the talent levels a little closer than past years. And then they bow out again and you know, we'll see, we'll see what they get from all these guys who were wings like Batom, like you said, I think could be a
pretty good piece. And then as far as awards, I'll say it like I think Maxi gets most improved, and I think, you know, if he continues to score at quite this level, that's kind of a ridiculous reward because like what is improvement, Like we sometimes guys get that award in their second year when really they're just not rookies anymore and they get a little more opportunity. But he's been fantastic, And I think the thing is I've always kind of been not not pessimistic, but at least
a little more skeptical of Tyrese Maxie's improvement. He's like, proved me wrong every year. The guy just keeps literally getting better every single year. The way he shoots it is absolutely insane, Like the fact that I think he's going to take like eight threes per game this year and I don't know what the percentage is gonna be at the end of the year, but it's probably gonna start with the four. And he's like, it's it's really
wild to see. So like, yeah, he's probably not good enough to be a number two option on a championship team, but like, I think he's good enough to be a number three, which is kind of wild considering he was the number twenty one pick in the Drift. So that that's kind of how I see the season going.
Rich Thanks so much for joining us. I am super excited to see how this whole thing plays out. I'm very excited for MAXI very excited for Tsunami, Poppy and Pat Bev. That whole thing could be a reality show in its own right, but we'll have to check in with you later on this season as we finally figure out what this team is, because, like you're you're right, like three games in the season, we have no idea.
Yeah, it's gonna be fun.
And I think as far as like a somebody who's a little more dispassionate than most people, I'm just excited.
Than not have to talk about James Harden anymore.
I can just I can just watch the basketball team three or four times a week and then we could just get on.
With our list.
I always say that, I said this on Twitter, James Harden owning, like having James Harden on your team or being a fan of James Harden, Like the best days of that are like owning a boat. The day you buy the boat and the day you sell the boat.
Yeah, definitely, absolutely, Yeah, And it's like the first two games where he looks awesome for you and then after that.
All right, man, we'll have to catch up with you soon. Thanks so much. Okay, thanks Tom, that's all the time that we have for this episode of the Heat Check. We'll be back Monday. Yes, we will him me Award of the Week. Who's it gonna be? Will it be shading chart?
Maybe?
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