Can you speak on what you've seen from him in person, his growth on and off the court?

Yeah, I think he just improved very steadily throughout his rookie year.

He was pretty much game for anything that came his way, had to play a lot of different roles, I think was thrown into more responsibility offensively than initially expected.

The three-point shooting, it didn't take long for that to improve.

Really, last summer, heading into the year, it was obvious that he was a better shooter than he'd showed at Baylor.

I think he was quite hot and cold as a shooter, had that one game in Boston where I believe he hit five or six threes.

But then outside of that, he did struggle beyond the arc.

His ability to bring multiple all-star personalities together and connect them all in one unison.

Uh, have you ever seen anything like this?

Certainly not in Philadelphia.

I think up until this point, most people would tell you the Jimmy Butler era Sixers had the best starting five.

That was the team that lost in game seven on the quadruple bounce Kawhi Leonard shot.

But gosh, yeah, th- this team, uh, the starters should, should most definitely be a, a giant strength.

And I, I think for the most part, there's just really nice balance here.

I don't think there's any clunkiness in terms of who should play where.

Is, is Boston a team to look at to fade in the betting market going into this season, or do you think that Mazzulla and Tatum have something up their sleeve?

Like, what are the paths here? What's the pie chart say in your eyes in terms of success, not success? Like, how d- what are some different ways this could go off the r- rails here?

So I think the best case scenario in my eyes is they're just an elite, elite offensive team.

Tons of guys who can hit tough shots in the playoffs, score in isolation, and I think LeBron James' brilliance as a passer should make everyone else a little bit better.

None of the other Sixers stars are fantastic when it comes to dealing with double teams and manipulating defenses, and I think James should be a huge help in that regard.

But absolutely hard to envision a title season here if Joel Embiid has the same sort of injury luck that he's had in recent years.

It's been under 40 games in three straight seasons, and if he's not available, the track record year after year suggests this is a much worse team.

I think, of course, the hope is that having so many other stars will allow the Sixers to fare better when Embiid's out.

What's been going on behind the scenes in Philly in regards to Jaylen Brown and he's not efficient, the high usage? What have they been doing, and especially with Nick Nurse involved, like, what's been the sort of conversations behind the scenes?

So do you expect a lot of ball movement? What, what do you-- What type of offense do you think they're gonna run with those five?

I think by and large they're gonna push the pace.

I, I was actually just looking at the numbers.

They had the number two, three, and four players in transition points per game.

Obviously, Embiid, he's very much a half-court player.

His bread and butter is, is post-ups at the nail, mid-range.

That'll still be a heavy part of their offense.

And, uh, lastly, just overall, what about the bench strength of the, uh, 76ers? How good is their bench?

But the Sixers' starting lineup now is Maxey, Edgecomb, Jaylen Brown, Dean Wade, and Joel Embiid, which is an awesome starting five, maybe, maybe the best that Joel Embiid has had in his career.

Yeah, I mean, I think it wasn't hard to sell yourself on the idea of Dean Wade being a nice fit on this team.

Fairly, fairly low usage guy, can take star forwards, and then you're now in a situation where it's like, yeah, that lo- usage rate is gonna be awfully low because the Sixers now have, I think, three guys on this team who are gonna command a ton of te- touches, draw a ton of attention, and those are exactly the sort of role players you need alongside those, those guys.

Um, guys who are gonna do the dirty work, play defense, and, um, be happy to complement star talent.

So- I think on paper that fit is really appealing.

I do think, of course, Jaylen Brown, as Sixers fans know, is not a perfect player.

Uh, Ball can ...

Um, but LeBron had the Sixers on his shortlist all those years ago, and now it seems like the Sixers have something cooking with LeBr- [laughs] would LeBron ever sign that vet minimum here, Noah?

Why would they make this type of move then?

Yeah, it's, it's a fair question.

I think, uh, part of it is even if the core is the same, it's just so obvious that the supporting cast needs, needs to be much better.

I mean, Daryl Morey himself sounded pretty disappointed about the, uh, last deadline.

He was in charge here where they traded away Jared McCain and didn't add anyone because Morey feel- no- felt no move would, uh, move the needle for the Sixers.

So I think, uh, in terms of this ownership group's mindset, the, it's another bitter disappointment getting knocked out in round two.

And even if there is the understanding that certain stars are likely here to stay, it does appear viable that the, uh, group around those guys can be a lot better.

Now Noah, we've been talking a lot about can you trade Joel, can you trade Paul George, but some people are starting to speculate could Tyrese Maxey be on the trading block? Now what's your understanding knowing the franchise and, and covering them, is Tyrese Maxey untouchable for the 76ers?

[laughs]

... right off the bat with whoever else takes over but it was, it was just for me a reminder that even when situations seem kinda inflexible or unlikely to dramatically change, sometimes, uh, change can happen pretty rapidly in the NBA.

So not saying the Sixers necessarily need this dramatic overhaul.

I do think they should feel good about a lot of elements of their core, but I think it is at least viable that there could be, you know, big, uh, changes to what this team looks like and, um, we'll, we'll see whoever steps into this role e- exactly what they have in mind.

But I think no question, um, you've gotta buil- build around this dynamic, exciting young backcourt and regardless of who's in charge that that is a reason for real optimism a- about this roster's future.

Yep.

Of course, all of those tools are valuable on the Sixers, but clearly worth it, i- in my eyes at least, exploring, um, what you might be able to get in return for George and, and how you could perhaps reshape the roster in, in some sort of major trade involving him.

And then yeah, outside of that, I think, uh, you need, [laughs] you need more shooting and you need more rebounding and you need more depth, and you should have some avenues to add in those departments.

That guy is quick as a hiccup, can score from all over, and was making legendary shots last night.

Yeah, I hear where you're coming from.

He did get the all-star starter nod for the first time this year, so it does feel sort of like the NBA at large is catching on, but perhaps part of the reason that he's underappreciated in some corners is just this knack for rapidly improving year after year.

You almost have to be following the Sixers constantly to sort of be plugged into how quickly Tyrese Maxey gets better.

I think There's been a huge, huge leap defensively since Nick Nurse took over as head coach.

And in this series against Boston, Maxie's defensive rebounding was also super valuable, multiple double-digit rebounding games, which was something the Sixers very much needed in this series.

But it's a fun, young backcourt with Vijay Edgecombe.

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