76ers' Updated Rotation After Early Free-Agent Contracts

There are two reasons why the 2021 NBA offseason became As The Ben Simmons Saga Turns for the Philadelphia 76ers.

For starters, he's an available All-Star, which puts him in a class of his own. Sure, speculation abounds about other stars to the rumor mill, but it's just that: speculation. Bradley Beal won't see a path to winning with the Washington Wizards; Damian Lillard will get restless with the Portland Trail Blazers; the Kyle Lowry-less Toronto Raptors might be ready to rebuild without Pascal Siakam.

But those are educated guesses at best. With Simmons, there are trade talks happening. There have been since mid-July, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. If Simmons goes anywhere, it would be a big deal—both for the franchise that adds him and in terms of what the Sixers get in return.

Beyond that, though, there just isn't much else to talk about with Philadelphia's summer. The Sixers made a few additions at the margins, but unless (until?) a Simmons deal goes down, this is largely the same roster as last season.

That should make depth chart predictions pretty straightforward, then.

Point Guard: Ben Simmons

Shooting Guard: Seth Curry

Small Forward: Danny Green

Power Forward: Tobias Harris

Center: Joel Embiid

Nothing to see here, folks.

When this quintet was healthy last season, it started. These five opened 32 games together in the regular season and seven more in the playoffs. It was the second-most used lineup leaguewide, per the league's official site.

They held these posts for a reason too. They were absurdly dominant in their floor time together, outscoring opponents by a whopping 14.0 points per 100 possessions.

It makes a ton of sense on paper, or at least as much as any lineup that features Simmons and Embiid together can. Philadelphia's prioritizing shooters paid big dividends, as Curry and Green combined to splash 301 threes at a 42.3 percent clip. The Sixers also coaxed the most efficient shooting campaign to date out of Harris, who finished within arm's reach of the vaunted 50/40/90 club with a stellar 51.2/39.4/89.2 slash.

Point Guard: Shake Milton, Jaden Springer

Shooting Guard: Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, Isaiah Joe

Small Forward: Furkan Korkmaz

Power Forward: Georges Niang, Paul Reed, Anthony Tolliver

Center: Andre Drummond

This past season, Maxey ranked 10th on the Sixers and fifth among their reserves in total minutes. He might rocket to the top of that list if he finds more consistency with his outside shot. Otherwise, his skills are razor-sharp, and his ceiling rivals a skyscraper's. Bottom line is he should see a sizable minutes boost and settle in near where Milton and Korkmaz reside.

Niang was brought in to let it fly after hitting at least 40 percent of his threes in each of his past three seasons. He will make smart reads with the basketball too, and his IQ at least provides some type of counter-punch for his athletic limitations.

If Drummond, who has started all but one of his regular-season outings since his rookie season, buys into his bench role, he could be an interior asset. He's a tremendous rebounder who can clog the middle in a good way with size, length and decent lift.

It would be fun to project some rotation minutes for Springer, Joe or Reed, but each player probably needs an injury in front of him to see the floor with any regularity.

Want to talk about the old beef between Embiid and Drummond? I don't.

The hoops world should be much, much more interested in the Simmons saga. It often feels like this relationship has torpedoed past the point of no return.

"The relationship between Simmons and Doc Rivers, it's worth noting, suffered significant damage that some believe is irreparable," Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice wrote Wednesday. "Though the Sixers would tell you when pressed on this they believe things can be worked out and fences can be mended."

Is this salvageable? Should the Sixers even try to find out?

On one hand, Simmons is an in-prime All-Star who is arguably as good as it gets on defense, ranks as a top-shelf playmaker (at 6'11" no less) and is an explosive attacker in transition. On the other, his shooting woes shrink the floor for Embiid—making life harder on Philly's best player—and Simmons' postseason flop won't soon be forgotten in Philadelphia.

A trade seems more likely than not. But until it happens, this will be one of the NBA's most fascinating storylines.