For the 76ers, their five-game playoff loss to the Celtics was a great revealer, manifesting some obvious yet uncomfortable facts, and here are three at the top of that list: Markelle Fultz couldn’t play. Ben Simmons couldn’t shoot. Joel Embiid couldn’t keep up.
Complain about Brett Brown’s unwillingness to call timeouts all you like, but the broader and more meaningful implications of that Eastern Conference semifinal were born of the three players who are supposed to be the cornerstones of the franchise’s future. Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft, was consigned to the Sixers bench for the entire series, his mind and mid-range game still too much of a mess for him to be trusted on the court.