Opposing Perspective: 76ers vs. Raptors

Samson Folk is joined by Jackson Frank to set up the always interesting, 76ers vs. Raptors early season bout.

Folk: Tyrese Maxey & Scottie Barnes, forever linked by their terrible performance in the Rising Stars Skills thing and their respective stardom. Both struggled immensely on opening night with Maxey choosing heavy volume and Barnes going a good deal more passive. How do you feel about the two stars to this point, and is there an All-NBA spot carved out for either this year?

Frank: It’s hard not to be optimistic about these two youthful stars with arrows pointing upward. Maxey, the vivacious blur of a sweet-shooting guard, and Barnes, the do-it-all wing who continues wading into deeper waters as a shooter. I expect both to contend for All-NBA berths in the coming years and cement themselves as a top-20 players throughout their primes. As for this season, I lean toward Maxey having a better chance of All-NBA, largely because end-of-season honors traditionally factor in team success (often wrongfully) and the Sixers are much better positioned for a winning campaign than the rebuilding Raptors. That’s to no fault of Barnes, but merely the reality of these things. Regardless, these are the sorts of conversations I anticipate both being involved in for many seasons moving forward.

Folk: How seriously should we be taking this investigation into the 76ers?

Frank: I’m not really sure as it pertains specifically to the investigation. But there should clearly be some level of concern that Joel Embiid is missing, at a minimum, the first three games of the regular season. Per usual, Philadelphia has handled the entire situation poorly. There’s been zero clarity about what exactly he’s “ramping up” from and his status for these initial three games was only made known a day before the season opener after weeks of vague statements about his status and progress. Did he suffer a setback in training camp/during the offseason with his knee issues? Is this a prolonged issue? Is any of this tied to his time at the Olympics? What is going on? Obviously, the goal is to help him complete a playoff run healthy, something that’s escaped him basically every season of his career. Yet there simply had to be a better way to handle all this than what we’ve seen.

Folk: You and I have come together year over year and looked wistfully upon the 76ers and wondered about their contender status. With Paul George in town, is this finally the year?

Frank: It’s likely the best roster the Sixers have ever enjoyed during the Embiid Era, as well as the best since he became an MVP candidate four years ago. I think this group has a good chance to make the Eastern Conference Finals, which has eluded them for nearly 2.5 decades now. As for anything more ambitious than that, I’m pretty skeptical. The Celtics look even more potent than last season when they cruised to a title, while Philadelphia’s roster is a bit incomplete. It’s lacking significant size at the 4 and the wing depth behind Paul George is pretty uninspiring. I’m also keeping tabs on their guard depth, which seems somewhat tenuous behind Maxey. George himself is a pretty pivotal factor here, a player whose ideal role seems to constantly shift based on whatever he’s not currently doing. He remains good, but who he wants to be and how he elects to fit in — or stand out — are integral to whether the Sixers have any chance of actually vaulting themselves into the top tier of contention. It’s only been three days, but the Celtics and Thunder have made resounding statements about their sharpness thus far. The burden is on Philadelphia to demand inclusion there with them.

Folk: Any players you find interesting from the Raptors and why?

Frank: RJ Barrett! After many mercurial seasons in New York, Barrett arrived in Toronto last winter something of a new player. His decision-making and pacing improved. The three-ball was more reliable. He chiseled and wiggled his way to the rim with regularity. By season’s end, he’d played 32 games as a Raptor and averaged 22-6-4 on 62 percent true shooting. He converted 61 percent of his two-pointers and 39 percent of his triples. That’s some pretty nifty stuff! So, as 2024-25 begins, I’m fascinated as to how real that run was. Is that who Barrett is now: a high-level secondary scoring wing? Or will the rickety outside shooting and bumpy drives return from his Knicks tenure? There were certainly process and approach improves that lend me to think some of that stretch was sustainable. I’m hopeful it’s true, and will absolutely be following closely.

Folk: Pick a winner between two injured teams. 76ers or Raps?

Frank: I’ll pick Toronto. I think the Raptors have just enough point-of-attack juice to give Maxey some problems, and I’m not sure who’s going to wrangle with Barnes all night. He should bounce back after Wednesday’s blowout loss and the excellent defense Evan Mobley played against him.

Hope you enjoyed!

Have a blessed day.

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