Sixers mailbag: ‘Do you think we need another big?’

PORTLAND, Ore. —What’s up, peeps?

The 76ers traveled to Sacramento, Calif. following Thursday’s 105-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. They’ll cap their five-game West Coast road trip on Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center.

The Sixers (29-16) routed the Kings, 123-103, on Dec. 13 at the Wells Fargo Center. So a victory on Saturday would enable them to sweep the season series against the Kings just like they did to the first three opponents on this trip: the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.

» READ MORE: Making the early case for Sixers star Joel Embiid’s Hall of Fame candidacy

After Saturday’s game, the Sixers are off until they host Ben Simmons and Brooklyn Nets Wednesday. Then they entertain the Denver Nuggets Saturday in a game featuring the NBA’s top two centers in Joel Embiid and the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić.

We’ll learn more about the Sixers during the next three games against winning teams.

But in the meantime, I’ll answer a few of your questions.

Missed out on the party? No worries. Submit questions for next time by tweeting @PompeyOnSixers with the hashtag #PompeysMailbagFlow.

Q: Do you think we need another big? — @miamimook

KP: What’s up, Corey? Thanks for the question. I do think the Sixers need another big. That’s not meant to be a knock on reserve centers Montrezl Harrell and Paul Reed. Harrell can gets buckets and thrives playing alongside James Harden in the pick-and-roll. Reed is athletic rim protector. But Harrell (6-foot-7) and Reed (6-9) are undersized for the position. As a result, the Sixers are without a physical, big center to back up Joel Embiid like they had in the past with Andre Drummond and Dwight Howard. The Sixers current backup bigs’ lack of height was exploited on Jan. 6 against Chicago Bulls centers Nik Vučević and Drummond.

The Sixers also rank next to last in the league in rebounding at 40.5 per game. That’s something they will need to improve on in the postseason, and a towering backup big should help with that.

Q: How do you get Tobias Harris to be consistent? — @duckalert

KP: Happy Friday. I appreciate you asking a question. Ball movement is the best way to get Harris to be consistent. He thrives when the ball constantly moves. A lot of his past inconsistency was a result of standing in the corner and getting rare opportunities to not only shoot the ball, but even touch it. However, he has shown recently that he can excel as a catch-and-shoot role player. Harris was the most consistent Sixer when Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey were sidelined with injuries and ailments earlier in the season. Harris didn’t always lead the Sixers in scoring during that stretch, but was regularly among their leading scorers.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Joel Embiid still fourth in Eastern Conference in fan voting for NBA All-Star Game

Q: Jim DeLash and I have discussed this, but what are your thoughts on moving Tobias to the bench as your sixth man? Harris feels underutilized when on with Harden, Embiid and Maxey. He’d still be in for crunch time. — @ErcDeLash

KP: What’s up, Eric? I hope you and Jim are both doing well. Thanks for the great question. But I was always against sliding Harris to the sixth-man spot. As a power forward, he mostly has to depend on others to get him the ball. It’s not like Tyrese Maxey, who has the ball in his hands. Maxey was recently moved to the second unit and thrived in the first two games in that role. Considering how the Sixers stagger their rotation, Harris would still have to depend on Maxey, Harden or Shake Milton to get him the ball.

But Harris and the Sixers have benefited from Maxey’s new role. Harris is no longer the fourth option. Being more involved has led to his playing with better rhythm. It also elevated his play on both ends of the floor. That’s a bonus for the Sixers. So is having a solid scorer in Maxey off the bench.

Q: PJ, I feel like what I thought we were getting was overhyped. Am I wrong? — @WestPhillyGuy215

KP: I see you’re repping West Philly. My family’s from The Bottom. In regards to PJ being overhyped, I do think people thought they were getting the second-coming of Dennis Rodman or Draymond Green based on his success against the Sixers as a Miami Heat player in the second round of last season’s playoffs. He was never going to live up to that. Not as a blue-collar player with career averages of 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds. Tucker was acquired to add toughness and provide other things that don’t show up in the stat sheet.

» READ MORE: Blazers’ shooting fizzles as Sixers post 105-95 win

I get it. Tucker has struggled this season. He’s failed to score a point in 12 games and had 10 games with two or fewer rebounds. He also failed to grab a rebound in 24 minutes, 6 seconds of action against the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday. Tucker also didn’t score and grabbed just two rebounds in Thursday’s victory over the Blazers. And he been benched in several fourth quarters, including on Thursday.

But the Sixers signed Tucker for what he provides in the postseason, where the pace is slower and it is more of a half-court game. His intangibles are needed in the playoffs.

Also, Tucker is like a general out there. He doesn’t need the ball to be effective. Tucker is happy just doing his role. And he brings physicality.