Even in the year Joel Embiid won the NBA MVP award, the Philadelphia 76ers left a lot to be desired in the playoffs. This time, the front office decided to take action by firing head coach Doc Rivers.
The Sixers did everything to keep him despite previous postseason failures, but this year they felt like they’ve seen enough. After all, they did bring help for Embiid by trading for James Harden in 2022.
Rivers may no longer be in Philly, but he still gave advice on how to improve this roster. In an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the former 76ers coach says Embiid cannot be the only playmaker on the team.
Doc Rivers suggests 76ers need another playmaker besides Embiid
“If I could pick the perfect guy without a name, it would be a big point guard who could score and the reason is we need a playmaker other than Joel and (Tyrese) Maxey right now is more of a scorer,” Rivers said, via Sixers Wire.
“He’s a downhill scorer with speed. The dude brings joy to every coach in the room every day like you would love Tyrese Maxey just every day being Tyrese Maxey, but when we can free him up to just go score and you can make a case like a (Manu) Ginobili who at times was their point with his passing, gave them toughness, was an attacker, was great off the ball, but that allowed Tony Parker to just go and be free. Like someone in that category would be the perfect fit.“
Rivers certainly knows a thing or two about this team, but now it’s Nick Nurse’s turn to tell the front office how to make this team better. Whether the Sixers are active in the trade market or free agency this summer, however, will probably depend on Harden’s future.
