Philadelphia 76ers: Daryl Morey wants defense

In the NBA, teams win by scoring more points than their opponent (duh).

As obvious as it may sound, there are two ways to accomplish that feat, either by scoring more points than the opposing team can put up, or by preventing the other team from scoring as many points as you can put up.

Again, pretty obvious, right? That’s literally how every sport works save maybe Esports depending on the game, which are kind of debatable members of the category.

With that in mind, riddle me this: Which is more replicatable, good offense or defense? Is it better to win every game in a shootout, or is slowing down the other team more useful than scoring into the 120s every game?

While that question can be debated, what can’t is the fact that defense is a whole lot easier to transfer from game to game, and is the far more replicatable proposition.

In the NBA, teams and their players get hot; when shots are falling, the world is good, but the second that well starts to dry up, folks call folly and question the very makeup of a team to its molecular level.

Defense, however, translates pretty easily if players buy in and there aren’t any incredibly exploitable mismatches.

This strategy of fielding a premier defense is a big reason why both the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics ended up in the NBA Finals and why the Philadelphia 76ers were the top seed in the Eastern Conference in the season prior, too.

So, with a full offseason to recompose his team, it’s no wonder Daryl Morey is looking to shore up the defense this fall, as he pointed out himself while talking about De’Anthony Melton, the first domino to fall who fits that philosophy to a T.

Keep an eye on defensive-minded players heading into free agency, Philadelphia 76ers fans.

In 2021-22, the Philadelphia 76ers ranked 12th in defensive rating.

All things considered, that’s pretty good; the team allowed the ninth fewest points per game of any team in the association and exclusively won games where they scored more points than their opponent (duh). While those numbers are pretty good, they aren’t as good as the season prior, where Philly ranked second in defensive rating and sixth in points allowed.

Now granted, some of that certainly has to do with losing Ben Simmons, who is still one of the best defensive players in the NBA. But still, of the 17 players who played meaningful minutes for the team last season, only three had positive Defensive Raptor scores according to FiveThirtyEight, a statistic that was largely backed up by the eye test. When those players: Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, and Danny Green were on the court together, the Sixers were generally pretty good, as their combined three-man lineup’s net rating of 8.8 clearly shows. But when they were split up or their ranks were diluted with poor defensive players, the team struggled to stay on the positive side of the +/-. Fortunately, there’s a solution to the problem, one as obvious as it is simple: Add players like De’Anthony Melton who are good on both offense and defense.

I know, crazy, right? Who knew targeting two-way performers was a sound strategy, especially in an association where players have to be on the court for both offense and defense?

Well, my friends, I’m here to tell you that that’s very much the case and appears to be Daryl Morey’s main strategy this summer.

Of the 250 players who logged at least 1,174 minutes in the regular season last year, only 120 had a positive Defensive Raptor rating. While all 120 of those players aren’t eligible for free agency and three of them: Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, and De’Anthony Melton are already on the team, the Philadelphia 76ers would be wise to look into adding a few more players specifically when free agency opens up later this month, as it’s a whole lot easier to maintain a lead with strong defense than out-duel every opponent on a race to 120.