76ers aiming to pursue a familiar path this offseason: trying to add another All-Star to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey

The Indiana Pacers wanted a power forward. They’d long wanted a power forward. Splitting their frontcourt of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner netted a rising All-Star point guard in Tyrese Haliburton, yet Pacers personnel understood how a connective four man was still missing after identifying such a franchise face from Sacramento. In fact, Haliburton deserved that type of running mate.

“Tyrese is one of those transcendent players that with him on the court, anything’s possible,” head coach Rick Carlisle said in December, after Indiana’s victory during the in-season tournament semifinals. “Winning an NBA title is a dream that’s reachable.”

To help make that vision a reality, the Pacers sent three first-round picks to Toronto for All-NBA talent Pascal Siakam this winter. The Boston Celtics, after reaching the NBA Finals in 2022 and Game 7 of the conference finals in 2023, dealt mainstay Marcus Smart and multiple picks to bring in All-Stars Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday. Minnesota was once ridiculed for its blockbuster acquisition of four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, as were the Mavericks — by some detractors — as Dallas acquired All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. And yet, if there’s a shared trait among the four teams remaining in this postseason chase, each franchise, each front office, recognized the incumbent star talent on its roster and then spent aggressively to juice its lineup with more premium playmakers.

That is the same path the Philadelphia 76ers plan to pursue this summer, according to league sources. That has been the strategy of lead executive Daryl Morey dating back to his days piloting the Houston Rockets, and it was the same guiding principle Sam Hinkie — at first a Morey lieutenant with the Rockets — utilized when spearheading the Sixers’ process that produced Joel Embiid. Decades of data, so the thinking goes, is unequivocal: The history of NBA champions is littered with teams that rostered at least three All-Star-caliber players. The odds of winning a championship are not typically swung by role players or veteran minimum signings, but by the…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-23 14:37:20

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