CAMDEN, N.J. — For just about as long as Joel Embiid has been a unicorn centerpiece in the 76ers offense, the team has struggled to figure out how to fill the position next to him.
This season offers the latest take on that conundrum.
Embiid started at the center spot in Friday’s postseason finale, next to fellow big Adem Bona.
The 6-10 second-year pro out of UCLA is the ostensible backup center. But his promotion offers a hint that the 76ers might be rethinking the same old issue.
No one is more cognizant of the quandary than Embiid.
“Over my career, that’s something that I’ve always felt like was kind of needed,” Embiid said Friday after 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 19 minutes. “Everybody has always been focused on shooting, stretch-four, things like that. And I think just having a bunch of guys around that are going to go after every loose ball, play defense, rebound the ball, and fly up and down the court, I think that goes a long way.”
The conventional wisdom around the league over the last decade has been in the direction of wings.
When a transcendent player whose height and skills don’t align with traditional views — think Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama — is who you build a team around, the center position becomes a spot for no-fuss rim protectors.
Guys that don’t have to do much more than rebound, collect incidental offense on second-chances and dump-offs, run the pick-and-roll to screen for an offense-triggering guard. Nikola Jokic, as a point-center, is the outlier of outliers.
But that’s not the lot the Sixers chose in building around a stretch center.
Instead, for years they’ve looked to maximize Embiid, a talent with no real analogue, with how they’ve deployed the power forward spot.
Mainly that’s meant shooters and spacers, think of the ill-fated Al Horford experiment, the on-paper tantalization of Paul George’s signing, the acquisition of Guerschon Yabusele last year. Even this year’s dip into the market for Trendon Watford and Jabari Walker brought nominal court spreaders, with defense and rebounding first but also the ability to knock down open shots enough to entice defenders to pay attention to them instead of doubling Embiid.
But starting Bona, who attempted one 3-pointer — no, he did not make it — as a rookie, is the antithesis, which might be the different approach that this team needs.
“We’ve been playing Joel and Bona together in practice a little bit. Kind of liked what we see there,” coach Nick Nurse said Friday. “I think again at both ends, it was fine. Offensively, it’s Bona keeping some offensive rebounds alive. But defensively, I thought it showed up even more. It seemed like we had really good rim protection to start the game. Just wanted to look at it in real time since we’ve been practicing it.”
Adding mettle to the post is something the 76ers need, even when Embiid is healthy. The 76ers were dead last in the NBA last year in total rebounding and rebounding percentage (47.1). That’s after making a stated effort to improve from being 20th in 2023-24. They also allowed the league’s third-highest shooting percentage for opponents within 5 feet of the basket (65.8).
Embiid’s ability as a rim protector remains stout. But the paint is where so many of his litany of injuries have occurred. While he still professes the desire to be the end-to-end force he’s been for much of his career, reality dictates that the dirty work of the 82-game marathon can be done by someone else on occasion, perhaps someone with a less fragile and evanescent constitution.
That’s where players like Walker and Dominick Barlow, both on two-way deals, come in.
“I feel like defense, just being active and being a great communicator on defense, bringing that energy, I feel like it’s helpful,” Walker said. “And rebounding. The big fellas, they do a great job at rebounding, but the four-man can help with that a lot.”
It’s also the spot for Bona. His ability to stay in the NBA will be predicated on his effort on defense and the glass. He knew that as a second-round pick last year, and it remains true.
If last year’s lost season imparted any lessons, it should be the need to produce competent lineups that can play different ways, knowing the differing availability of the central star.
Last year, the talk of pace was mainly hand-waving, a contingency if Embiid wasn’t on the court.
He played 19 games, and the 76ers looked lost when he was out or present and ineffective. This year, it’s a core principle with or without him. If Embiid can create offense with long outlet passes that don’t require him to cross half-court, that’s still the center impacting play.
The same lens applies to the four-spot. Sometimes, it will be George at the four and Kelly Oubre at the three next to Embiid. Sometimes, it may be Oubre or George at the four and three guards. Sometimes, Nurse has allowed this postseason, it might be the flock of athletic guards that has added VJ Edgecombe this year.
For long stretches, it will be the more conventional choice like Watford, who has missed most of preseason with a hamstring strain but is back to participating fully. Having options a year after all their best-laid plans cratered is a good starting point.
“Having another big body, that’s going to help rebounding,” Embiid said, of Bona especially. “He plays hard, loose balls, setting good screens. And I’ve got the rim. I’ve always had the rim. So I’ve always tried to be a presence down there, and then just him doing the dirty work, I think he’s fine with that. He knows what his role is. He knows what we need from him.”