Sixers seem to be going all in on small ball without Joel Embiid

Sixers seem to be going all in on small ball without Joel Embiid by George Kondoleon

Starting Five, Shirley Temples, Ben Simmons, A Complete Roster, and a romance with the bench. Follow these 5 storylines for the 2017 Philadelphia 76ers.

The 2017 Philadelphia 76ers are going to be endlessly fun to watch, talk about, and critique. There is an undeniable amount of potential with this young roster, and with that, some exciting storylines.

Here are 5 storylines to watch as the season approaches.

1) The Starting Lineup

Now that Brett Brown has named his starting roster for the 2017 season, we can finally start dreaming about what schemes he may draw up. Fultz, Redick, Covington, Simmons, and Embiid should prove to be one of the most interesting lineups in the entire league. Brown also reiterated that Simmons will be playing as the primary ball handler while on offense, hopefully putting to rest the tiresome debate that has raged on this entire offseason.

2) The Shirley Temple

Joel Embiid hasn’t been medically cleared for five-on-five action. However, Bryan Colangelo has said that the team is simply exercising an abundance of caution and that there is no reason to believe that Embiid won’t be ready to play when the time comes.

One of the most talked about storylines this season will be Embiid’s health. We’ll know more soon as training camp starts next week and the season kicks off in less than a month.

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3) Ben Simmons

The highlights have trickled in this offseason – workouts, draining threes, acrobatic dunks. However, there were some great performances this summer league that have since dominated the rookie hype discussions. That said, Simmons is only a year removed from being the most highly touted prospect since Blake Griffin, and it won’t take long for fans to be reminded why.

4) The Gangs All Here

Brett Brown finally has a team. The question now is what will he do with it? Last season, Brown showed us that he can draw up the game-closing plays, make the most of the young talent, and even navigate the murky waters of a backlog at center. The 2017 campaign will give Brown a chance to coach a complete team while giving fans a chance to fairly and accurately judge their coach.

5) Old Loves

The Sixers have a unique competitive advantage over most of the Eastern Conference; our bench unit played starter minutes for the bulk of last season. Will this experience against 1st team lineups set our bench up for success against backups, or will we realize that we all fell in love and are overrating the likes of TJ, TLC, Holmes, and Stauskas?