New backcourt depth has 76ers plumbing defensive possibilities

CAMDEN, N.J.

Nick Nurse made his reputation in the NBA on the defensive side of the basketball.

Much as the brilliance of Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard brought a championship to Toronto, those Raptors teams were built on a bedrock of defense, Nurse turning a passel of originally anonymous, lanky and willing defenders into NBA regulars and some into unlikely stars.

The team Nurse inherited last summer in Philadelphia was, to say the least, not that.

And while the 76ers made some halting attempts at stopgap defensive additions, it wasnt until the contract cliff at the end of 2023-24 that Nurse would get his first real chance to build a roster for his scheme.

That time has come, and Kelly Oubre Jr.

already has the nickname picked out.

Call it the water stoppers, Oubre offered Monday at 76ers media day.

Call us the plumbers.

Might need a little wrenching, but the exuberant Oubre is on to something.

While these 76ers, thanks to the electric scoring of Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, may not craft quite so fearsome a defensive legacy as Nurses Raptors, they at least aspire to improve from the middle of the pack defensively last year.

Defense was a priority, not an afterthought, in the offseason.

Its part of the reason why they 76ers zeroed in on Paul George to be the star complement to Embiid and Maxey, bringing nine All-Star nods and four All-NBA Defensive Team selections.

Its why the Sixers brought in Caleb Martin, an undersized but versatile defender who can play zone.

Its why Andre Drummond and his rebounding ability were prized as the backup to Embiid.

In this day and age, youve got to have two-way players, Nurse said, referring to George and Martin in particular.

And those guys are both capable at both ends of doing high-level things.

I think theres some good versatility in length with those two and with Oubre, some good size back protecting the rim with Joel and Andre.

Weve got some feisty speed up in front of them in the guards.

I think weve got a chance to be really good defensively and also really versatile, which I like.

That world, versatile, got a lot of use Monday.

So did its more sophisticated, college-educated cousin, positionless.

But with some justification.

The 76ers were too often found wanting last year on the defensive end.

Injuries hampered supposed specialist stoppers like Danuel House and DeAnthony Melton, while others like Marcus Morris and Pat Beverley were shuffled out via trade.

The starting duo of Maxey and Tobias Harris was not particularly adept defensively.

Trades and general upheaval meant an unsustainably chaotic mishmash of 28 players, disrupting any chance for continuity.

All of it felt like Whac-a-Mole, which the 76ers season descended into once James Harden decided he wanted out.

Now, in Year 2 for Nurse, theres a chance to build on principles implemented last year and to be proactive instead of reactive.

The defensive end might be where that is most felt.

Oubre seems fitting to lead the charge.

He called last year a dark summer, slowed by lingering shoulder injuries.

Barely able to lift a basketball, he signed in late September as almost an afterthought.

Hed go on to average 15.4 points per game and persevere in the starting lineup, earning a two-year deal to stay in Philadelphia, where he insisted on getting media to clap their hands and stomp their feet before hed take questions.

With that stability is a chance to forge a daunting defensive front with George.

Infinite amount of opportunities for us on the defensive end, he said.

Were definitely very versatile, agile, athletic.

But the difference is, we all want that challenge.

Its going to be fighting with them to see who guards and who stops this guy.

Martin is in the same boat.

He didnt get to the NBA until age 24.

That is one year older than Maxey is now.

He stuck in Charlotte because of his defensive tenacity, then earned a deal in Miami with it.

Hes done it with the chip on his shoulder of being a 6-5 power forward who nonetheless is capable of defending just about anyone on the floor, and hell get an early crack at that position, where the 76ers have toggled through different philosophies in recent years.

I think its positionless basketball more often than not in todays game, Martin said.

So I dont really look at it as the four.

I just look at it as just being versatile.

But if Ive got to play the four and guard the four, Ive been able to hold my own for as long as Ive been in the league, and Im going to continue to learn and find ways to do it.

With their big three, the Sixers possess star power.

But it will fall to players like Oubre and Martin to bring energy.

Oubres media day performance fits him to that role.

Im not satisfied, of course, he said.

Im very hungry, starving, to get more and to continue to just get back to where I know I was at before last summer happened.

Ive got to go out and show.

The words cant really do it justice..

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