Will the revamped Sixers be more versatile defensively in Year 2 under Nurse?

Will the revamped Sixers be more versatile defensively in Year 2 under Nurse? originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia

Nick Nurse doesn’t mind having options.

Speaking Tuesday between press conferences for Tyrese Maxey It is Paulo Jorge, Nurse seemed to believe the Sixers assembled a more flexible team this summer.

“You hear me talk a lot about versatility,” the Sixers coach said when asked about Caleb Martins. “I think we have a lot of guys that are versatile – they can play multiple positions, defend multiple positions and just make our team better by being versatile in general.

“But listen, I love Caleb. I think his competitive spirit, how hard he plays and his athleticism are what got him to where he is now. I’m excited to see what it’s like with Caleb.”

With 13 spots on the standard list filled, Have the Sixers significantly improved their versatility on defense?

The team has five players who are 6 feet tall or shorter in Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and newbie Jared McCain. However, none of these guards are inherently condemned by their height defensively.

Maxey continues to add muscle. Lowry knows as well as anyone how to scrape effectively at 6 feet. Jackson has an incredible 7-foot wingspan. Gordon is used to changing everything on defense from his years with the Rockets.

“I’ve always liked using my strength on defense,” Gordon said in a July 10 virtual press conference. “I try to be physical as much as I can with the guards — and the bigs as well. I can protect the big ones a lot. As I have seen in previous years, Nick Nurse changes a lot and is very aggressive in defense. … I think I fit in really well here and it’s all about making the most of it.”

In the ward, Martin, George and Kelly Oubre Jr. it should indeed be capable of handling missions ranging from lead guards to taller attackers.

Behind Joel Embiid, the Sixers must replace Paulo Reed with André Drummond. It’s an intriguing exchange.

As Drummond showed during his time with the Sixers in 2021-22, he keeps his hands active, makes some surprising steals and is open to adventure on the counterattack.

Drummond has been well above average in center steal rate throughout his career; he ranked in the 95th percentile for big men last season, according to Glass Cleaning. He’s much beefier than Reed and better equipped to do traditional center jobs like protecting the rim, but Drummond also has turnover-forcing instincts on the perimeter that Nurse will likely appreciate.

The 30-year-old big man breaks up lobs, picks up pocket passes and even occasionally steals the ball from guards. For Drummond, drop coverage doesn’t automatically mean sitting back and letting the play unfold in front of him.

Along with the fundamentals, perhaps Nurse will install and implement a little more zone defense this season. The Sixers were zone-heavy in summer league under the command of assistant coach Matt Brase.

Whatever starting options Nurse turns to, he is very open to exploring.

“My mindset now is that most of my ideas are being written in pencil,” he said. “I have some ideas about some things, but we’re going to experiment and try a lot of different things.

“I think what we’re going to do in training camp running on both sides of the ball is going to take some twists and turns and evolve to where we are by the end of the year. So I just want to see how it looks and unfolds without making it too narrow a box.