Sixers Rumors: Rivers, Concerns, Simmons, LeVert, Trades

The Sixers took a 123-107 loss to the Raptors in their first preseason game, but it is worth noting that Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris didn’t play, in addition to, of course, Ben Simmons.

Still, Doc Rivers had some concerns about his team’s performance, which includes them having a lack of energy.

“Number one, I thought conditioning,” Rivers said. “I thought they were in better shape than us. That’s the first thing I saw. Transition D, I thought they beat us down the floor, a lot of that could be due to conditioning, and a lot of that is due to discipline, getting back, getting loaded, and then keeping the ball in front of us. And again, that can be conditioning as well.”

Philadelphia was also outrebounded by 17 rebounds, which is glaring considering they still had Andre Drummond out there, who, to his credit, finished with 14 boards.

“I still look at our roster, though I do worry about our size,” Rivers said. “Joel goes out of a game, Tobias not [out there] and we don’t have a lot after that, we get small quick. One thing I thought stood out was their length. Even at the guards, all their players are long and athletic, and I thought we had a lot of short guys on the floor. There were times when our guards are inside on rebounds and they still got them because of their length and size so that’s a concern.”

Adding Embiid back into the mix should help their rebounding problems, but if the Sixers want to contend, they’re going to need to show more energy on a nightly basis.

More Sixers Rumors

• The Pacers and Sixers have had talks on a potential Ben Simmons deal, per Ian Begley of SNY. Caris LeVert was one of the players discussed as a potential piece heading back to Philly.

• Rivers helped recruit Drummond and Georges Niang to Philly, Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “That was the swinger in me wanting to be here,” Niang said of his phone conversation with Rivers. “Just simply because that’s the guy that’s taking me in and out of the game. He had a vision for me, and it aligned with [how] I thought I fit in. He wants to win right away, and so do I. I want to be in a good culture, and that’s what he’s building here. Obviously, when I got off the phone, I was real excited because I thought, before I even made the decision, I had a home here in Philly.”

• The Cavaliers are one of the several teams that have been linked to Simmons. However, one NBA scout doesn’t quite think he would help make them a better team offensively.