Tag: 76ers

2022 NBA offseason grades for all 30 teams: Celtics put on masterclass; Lakers underwhelm; 76ers earn ‘A’

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The 2022 NBA offseason has been like a furious game of “Red Light, Green Light,” with only slightly less dire consequences than “Squid Game” (hey, remember Squid Game?). It began with a flurry of moves in the first couple days of free agency, then a long cool-off period during which we were promised a holding pattern while the Brooklyn Nets contemplated what to do about Kevin Durant’s trade request.

Then, boom, suddenly the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks are reportedly discussing a Donovan Mitchell trade. After that, Deandre Ayton signs a max offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers only to have it matched within minutes by the Phoenix Suns. Man, time for a deep breath.

A good way to take a step back is to look at every team’s offseason in its entirety. Including the draft, trades and free agency, who’s in and who’s out on all 30 NBA teams? It’s not easy to keep straight, but thanks to the folks over at NBA.com for their handy list. It also took some extra research to add all the deals that have reportedly been agreed upon but aren’t yet official.

And just because we can, we decided to throw in some offseason grades — with the obvious caveat that no evaluation is set in stone with so many free agent signings and potentially gargantuan trades still on the horizon. Hopefully this gets published before the light turns green again.

Who’s in:

Who’s out:

Just a year after a surprising run to the conference finals that catapulted the Hawks into young contender status, they mortgaged their future by

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76ers vs. Heat: James Harden must find vintage form for Philadelphia to survive until Joel Embiid returns

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The Philadelphia 76ers came into their second-round opener against the Miami Heat on Monday with one realistic avenue to victory: James Harden had to be the best player on the floor. Perhaps he didn’t need to score 30 or 40 points, but he needed to be the best player on the floor, creating offense for himself and teammates at a dominant clip. 

That didn’t come close to happening. Harden finished with 16 points on 13 shots in Philadelphia’s 106-92 defeat in Game 1. He tallied as many turnovers (five) as assists. Two possessions, which actually accounted for 40 percent of Harden made buckets, tell a pretty accurate tale of the uphill battle scoring has become for Harden, particularly against an elite defense. 

With just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Harden found himself isolated on Tyler Herro at the top. As Mark Jones like to say, he played with his food for a few dribbles before hitting a step-back 3 to cut Miami’s lead to seven. 

With Duncan Robinson out of the rotation for Game 1, Miami offered just two defenders to possibly target: Herro and Max Strus, and Herro is by far the weakest link. If Harden was ever going to get a favorable one-on-one matchup, it was here, against Herro, and he didn’t even try to beat him off the dribble. He went to the step-back 3. He made it. Good for him. He’s not going to make enough of those to beat, or even moderately threaten, a team as good as the Heat. 

Understand, there’s nuance to consider here. Take a look at Victor Oladipo showing himself near the elbow to Harden’s left while his man, Matisse Thybulle, stands uncovered in the corner. This is the problem non-shooters pose. Oladipo is ready to pounce if

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