NBA scout on Sixers: They’re not good enough without Joel Embiid

The 76ers love their young guards. Everyone does. But if Philadelphia wants to climb in the East, the whole thing still comes back to Joel Embiid.

That’s the theme from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, and it’s the whisper around the league. Without Embiid, the Sixers are remarkably small. Andre Drummond is their only true big, and the paint has looked wide open the past couple weeks with Embiid sidelined by right knee soreness.

“They’re not good enough defensively without him,” one East scout told Bontemps. “That’s why I have a hard time believing in them.”

Even when Embiid has played, the mobility hasn’t been the same. The scoring touch is still there — after a horrendous opener in Boston, he rattled off five straight 20-point nights on efficient shooting — but the movement is the concern.

Teams are going right at him when he steps outside the paint. An Eastern assistant put it bluntly: “He basically runs from one free throw line to the other.”

The rebounding is down, too. Another sign the pop just isn’t there.

Philly still wants to use Embiid as a weapon. His gravity alone makes life easier for Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes and Jared McCain.

Dribble-handoff actions with Embiid can still bend a defense, even if he’s not the MVP version of himself.

The question is how much they can ask of him, and how often he’ll be available. Embiid’s left knee has been an issue for years. Now the right one is barking.

He’s missed more than two weeks, and the Sixers have built a system that doesn’t depend on him because, frankly, it can’t.

“He was having trouble keeping up with the pace when he was healthy,” the same scout said. “Let alone now.”

Philly believes he’ll get his legs under him. But belief and availability are two different things.