Andre Drummond and Paul George headline Daryl Morey’s masterful reboot of Joel Embiid and the Sixers

When Joel Embiid hit the bench in the 2023-24 playoffs, the Sixers’ point differential was minus-39.2. That’s how the Sixers lost their first-round series to an undermanned, under-talented New York Knicks squad — in six games, no less.

The year before, with James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris trying to pick up the slack, the Sixers’ playoff differential without Embiid was minus-0.9. That’s how they lost in the second round to the Boston Celtics in seven games. The year before that — before Maxey had matured enough to consistently contribute — when they lost to Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, they were minus-7.0 without Big Jo.

We’ll skip the bizarre 2019-20 COVID-bubble playoffs (I mean, LeBron won), but not even the presence of Super Jimmy compensated for Embiid’s time on the bench in the 2018-19 playoffs, when the Sixers lost in the second round in seven games to the eventual champions, the Toronto Raptors; the Sixers were minus-17.5 with no Jo.

All of which points to the obvious: The Sixers have to find competent complements who, when Embiid rests, can generate points, gather rebounds, and play some semblance of defense.

Last season an eroded Harris, a defensively deficient Maxey, and Paul Reed, a lost cause for four seasons, failed in this miserably. Despite his legions of foolish supporters, Reed was, without contest, the worst playoff player in recent Sixers memory.

Sixers president Daryl Morey recognized all of this, and went to work.

His job might not be completely done, but so far it’s been well-done.

Morey let Harris walk via free agency and replaced him with Paul George. Harris is 31 and has been insanely healthy for most of his career, while George, 34, before last season, missed about 40% of his regular-season games the previous four years. Also, George’s once-elite defense has diminished to something just north of ordinary. Still, if healthy, George, a future Hall of Fame player fresh off his ninth All-Star Game, is a sizable upgrade over Harris.

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Morey also waived Reed, a frenetic foul machine, and replaced him with Andre Drummond, who will be 31 next season. However, Drummond is a four-time rebounding champion, a two-time All Star, and the best backup Embiid has ever had. Before he was traded in the deadline deal that sent Ben Simmons to Brooklyn for Harden in the middle of the 2021-22 season, the Sixers were only minus-0.5 when Embiid was off the court and Drummond was on. As a backup the last two seasons in Chicago, Drummond averaged 7.9 rebounds in just 15 minutes of play per night.

Luck plays a part every offseason, too.

Nobody else wanted to make a sizable gamble on the inconsistent game and eclectic world of Kelly Oubre Jr., so Morey got him back for two years and $16.3 million.

Morey regretfully watched Nico Batum, a 35-year-old Frenchman, leave the Sixers for George’s former team, the Clippers ... then watched Caleb Martin, a 28-year-old North Carolinian, become available. After a botched pre-free-agency negotiation with the Heat — due to byzantine NBA labor rules, Martin could have stayed with Miami and gotten more money — he gambled on free agency. Martin’s gamble lost him $33 million, but the Sixers spent $32 million, and they won big. He’s versatile, young, and he shot 42.6% in 28 games during the Heat’s last two playoff runs.

Eric Gordon is neither versatile (he’s a 6-foot-3 gunner) nor young (he’ll be 36 in December), but he has hit 38.5% of his three-pointers over the past three seasons, and that’s good enough for a bench guard playing on a one-year, minimum-salary deal.

In fact, Gordon is pretty similar to rookie Jared McCain, whom the Sixers drafted 16th overall out of Duke. He’s better known for his TikTok stardom (3.4 million followers! My kids know him!) than his three-point shooting (41.4%!). Still, spacing is spacing, and McCain might become a slightly different variety of Maxey — that is, a poor man’s point guard in the making.

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Do these additions this mean the Sixers will be formidable when Embiid sits?

No. The additions mean they’ll be viable.

Do these additions mean the Sixers can contend for the Eastern Conference championship?

No. The additions mean they’ll be able to take the Knicks to seven games, and they won’t be swept by the Celtics or the Bucks.

The additions certainly mean that the Sixers are much better than they were last season; good enough to earn a first-round playoff series at home. And, if other squads suffer the injury misfortunes that felled the Sixers this spring, they’re good enough to get past the second round for the first time in 24 years.

That’s about all you could have asked of Morey this offseason. He’s done his level best.