Sixers Notes: Wings, Oubre, Embiid, Maxey

For as good as the Sixers have been so far this season, the wing rotation remains a puzzle to figure out for the 8-2 squad, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. As Mizell details, between the roster changes that occurred in the James Harden trade and players being in and out of the lineup for personal reasons or due to injuries, head coach Nick Nurse has had to continue experimenting with different combinations in those positions.

Danuel House had been out of the rotation for much of the season but logged 34 total minutes over the team’s past two games. He’s one player who has been affected by what Mizell refers to as the team’s “ever-changing wing hierarchy” but he says he’s not bothered by his inconsistent role.

“I’ve never been a player to go up in the coach’s office and be like, ‘Hey, Coach, what’s going on?'” House said on Tuesday. “I trust his process. He’s the coach. The organization hired him to make sure they would take care of them and us, to make sure that he’d get us where we need to be.”

Currently, the team is without Kelly Oubre (fractured rib) and Nicolas Batum (personal), which has resulted in minutes bumps for House and Marcus Morris. Furkan Korkmaz, who has requested to be traded out of Philadelphia in the past, is another player whose minutes have fluctuated.

“The difference this year is Nick is trying to get everybody in,” Korkmaz told Mizell. “It’s not like he chooses three guys and then lets those guys play 15 or 20 minutes. If it’s three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, whatever the minutes, he just puts people out there. It’s still early [in the] season. He’s just trying to find a way for the real rotation. … There [are] opportunities for everybody.”

Here’s more on the 76ers:

• Surveillance footage that has been reviewed so far by the Philadelphia Police Department shows no evidence that a collision took place at the Center City intersection where Oubre reported being hit by a vehicle, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday, per Max Marin, Ximena Conde, and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. A source who spoke to The Inquirer stressed that Oubre is new to the area and was shaken up after being struck by the vehicle, so he may not have provided an accurate account in his initial statement to police of when and where the alleged hit-and-run took place. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
• Oubre’s injury absence may not be as lengthy as initially anticipated, Appearing on NBA Countdown on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter video link) said there’s a “realistic expectation” that Oubre could return to action in about “two-plus weeks” — either around the end of November or start of December.
• Star center Joel Embiid had been considered a game-time decision for Wednesday’s tilt vs. Boston after being listed as questionable due to left hip soreness, but he’s playing, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports tweets. Embiid, who has never appeared in more than 68 games in a season, has yet to miss a game in 2023/24.
• Former Sixers guards Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, and Harden never turned into the sort of long-term partner for Embiid that the franchise envisioned, but there’s reason to believe Tyrese Maxey can be that player, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Through 10 games, Maxey has averaged 28.4 points, 7.0 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per night with a .493/.429/940 shooting line. “He’s running a pretty good floor game right now,” Nurse said last week. “He’s going to what’s open. And I think that was everybody’s question: Can he create for somebody else?” With Maxey showing his bona fides as both a scorer and a play-maker, the Sixers should be able to approach this season’s trade deadline confident they have two stars to build around, not just one, says Bontemps.