In what ways can Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey improve for 2024-25 Sixers?

In what ways can Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey improve for 2024-25 Sixers? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The 2024-25 Sixers will begin training camp on Oct. 1 in the Bahamas.

As that date approaches, we’ll dive into several significant topics for the team in Nick Nurse’s second season as head coach.

We’ve looked so far at:

Next up: In what ways can Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey improve? 

Any critiques of Embiid’s play last regular season are essentially nitpicking.

Before being sidelined for a little over two months with a left lateral meniscus injury, Embiid made 34 appearances and the Sixers went 26-8 in those games. He averaged 34.0 minutes and posted 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest.

Fresh off signing another contract extension, Embiid doesn’t view himself as a finished product. As always, he’ll aim to become a better passer. He showed progress in his first season with Nurse — cannily anticipating where and when double teams would arrive; spotting open teammates on his drives; making the occasional highlight dish in transition. Embiid’s 0.81 assist-to-usage ratio was the highest of his career, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Embiid had important decision-making lapses, though. He committed nine turnovers in Game 5 of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series last year vs. the Knicks and five in Game 6. Some of those giveaways were fine for a high-usage player facing constant pressure — borderline offensive foul calls, marginally off-target feeds out of double teams, etc.

However, other Embiid turnovers were too sloppy for the circumstances. He’s capable of cutting down a bit on skip passes into the stands and ambitious flings up the floor.

It sounds silly for such a tremendous scorer, but we also think Embiid should be able to generate slightly “easier” points.

Of course, he’s elite at sinking mid-range jumpers and feasts at the foul line. Embiid led the NBA last year with 4.2 attempts per game between 15 and 19 feet, and he drilled a stellar 53.9 percent of those shots. More points around the hoop and early in the shot clock…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ways-joel-embiid-tyrese-maxey-130133978.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-09-25 13:01:33

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