The Philadelphia 76ers: Where do we go from here?
- uk76ers
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
After missing out on the play offs for the first time in 8 years, and tabling their worst record since 2016, how do the Philadelphia 76ers bounce back and prevent this blip from turning into a full-blown catastrophe.
After a narrow 4-2 defeat in the first round of the play-offs to the high-flying New York Knicks in the 2023/24 season Sixer fans were once again ruing missed opportunities. For the neutral, the series displayed some of the most competitive, entertaining basketball you'd see in the post-season. But for those familiar with Sixers basketball it was yet another season characterised by the same errors that have plagued their post-season runs since unexpectedly returning to the play-off scene in 2018.
Once again, the Sixers found themselves struggling with a lack of depth. While the Knicks found themselves replacing their starters with the likes of Mitchell Robinson, Precious Achiuwa, Miles McBride, and Bojan Bogdanovic, the Sixers had to lean on a 35 year old Nicolas Batum, 37 year old Kyle Lowry, and streaky shooters Cameron Payne and Buddy Hield. The lack of effectiveness of our bench unit was illustrated perfectly with an all too familiar statistic, with Embiid on the floor the Sixers had a +/- of +46 whilst his understudy at the center position Paul Reed put forward a +/- of -44. And with the Knicks winning by no more than 7 points in any of their 4 victories one can only wonder how we would have fared had we had a team that was competently assembled.
Of course we could point to other issues with the team, a lack of size, lack of playmaking, an inability to defend the perimeter, inconsistent 3 point scoring, and the $39m black hole in the Sixers cap space taken up by a certain Tobias Harris. But with Harris on an expiring and the Sixers going into the 2024 off-season with roughly $74m in cap space and just 3 players under contract, (Embiid, Maxey, and Reed) this seemed to be the perfect opportunity for General Manager Daryl Morey to address all the aforementioned issues pertaining to the team. Morey, a GM known to favour a 'Moneyball' style of assembling teams and also known for his "star-hunting" having previously traded for James Harden (Twice), Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul the latter two of which being traded for during his time in Houston. It therefore came as no surprise that Morey opened free agency with the marquee signing of 9 time All-Star, 2 time All-defensive first team, and All-NBA first teamer Paul George.
On paper this acquisition made complete sense. We were getting a decorated NBA all-star, a 6'8 wing with a reputation for being a strong defender and a career 38% 3 point shooter on high volume. This, alongside the fact that George was coming off the back a 23ppg season for the Los Angeles Clippers led many to believe that he'd slot in seamlessly alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. But, all one had to do was scratch beneath the surface ever so slightly to begin questioning why Daryl Morey was so quick to sign George to a bumper deal worth just shy of $50m a year. Despite an impressive stack of personal accolades and some strong statistical data to back George's corner, many expressed their concerns with his reputation as a 'play-off dropper' with his self-proclaimed nickname of 'Play-off P' being quickly replaced by critics of George with 'Pandemic P' an ode to him being a part of the Clippers monumental collapse to the Denver Nuggets during the 2020 play-offs in the bubble. After having a 3-1 lead, George was part of the team that gave up this advantage, and when he was needed most, he logged just 10 points in game 7. Since 2020 George's play-off performances have still been brought into question and remain a real blot on his résumé. As well as this, PG had averaged just 52 games a season over the past 5 seasons, when compared to Joel Embiid, that's actually 3 less than what he has averaged over that same date range. Which raises the question, why have we used so much of our cap space on a player that is routinely injured, questionable in the clutch, and won't alleviate any pressure off of an already injury prone Joel Embiid?
Soon Paul George was joined in Philly by former Sixer and back-up center Andre Drummond, wing-defender Caleb Martin, veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, athletic power forward Kenyon Martin Jr, 3-point scorer Eric Gordon, fan favourite Kelly Oubre Jr, and fresh off of his Olympic heroics, Frenchman and former Celtic Guerschon Yabusele. So in true Sixer fashion, after nearly 7 years of consistently failing in the play-offs and being unable to get to the elusive Conference Finals we ignored the early warning signs in relation to the acquisition of George and his OAP entourage and began kidding ourselves into thinking this was a team that can not only compete, but can win.
Opening night provided the rudest of awakenings with both Embiid and George being injured, allowing Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to completely steamroller Tyrese Maxey and his sorry Sixers outfit. This became a common theme that then became the story of our season with our 'big 3' seemingly never able to take the floor with one another, in fact, Maxey, George, and Embiid were only able to share the floor for just 15 games out of the 82. In hindsight, it seemed paying big money to a player north of 30 and allowing an injury riddled Joel Embiid to play in the Olympics seemed a bit short-sighted.
Alas, we now find ourselves in severe predicament. It was apparent very early on that we simply cannot compete for play-offs, so an executive decision was made to tank allowing the Sixers to finish with the 5th worst record in the division with a measly 24 wins. With our 1st round pick heading to OKC but for a top 6 protection the people in the front office came to the conclusion that our best hope for the future was to pray for a bit of luck in the lottery meaning that now the destiny of this franchise now resides in some ping pong balls being drawn favourably. The odds favour Philly, we've a 64% chance of keeping our pick, and a 10.5% chance of landing the number 1 spot and the esteemed wing Cooper Flagg from Duke. But if my near 7 years of supporting this team has taught me anything, it's that nothing is ever truly guaranteed when it comes to the Philadelphia 76ers.
So best case scenario we return with a healthy trio of Embiid, Maxey, and George, all 3 of which return to the best versions of themselves. Sixer rookie Jared McCain enters his sophomore season full of the promise that earned him the recognition of being one of the top rookies in last years draft class, and we manage to secure deals for Guerschon Yabusele, Quentin Grimes, and maybe even a Jared Butler for the right price.
But what about worst case scenario?
Embiid is beyond repair, on an eye watering contract that doesn't expire until the season after the next, so utterly eye watering even that no one would dare trade for it. Likewise Paul George may find himself in a similar situation, his body not working like it once did all the while eating into a sizeable amount of Sixers cap space. If the Sixers front office find themselves in this situation there's no way of knowing how to proceed. A coaching change? Nick Nurse has received his fair share of criticism and I've certainly been sceptical of his methods, be that his reluctance to play youth or his general stubbornness, but does replacing Nurse with a Monty Williams, Mike Budenholzer, Mike Malone, or even Sam Cassell move the needle to get us to where we want to be? Equally with all the discussion of how the draft can be utilised to bolster this roster, some people have neglected to mention that we may not even have a pick to use. One last sucker punch in the endless low blows that the Sixers are always on the receiving end of.
To conclude, the Sixers are not without hope. It is entirely conceivable that after a year PG finds his feet again and gets used to life in Philly, and who knows Embiid after his surgery may finally have a more reliable lower body. The likes of Maxey and McCain I have full confidence in to develop further. But my confidence in the front office to secure Yabusele and Grimes to new contracts I'm less certain of, even having Morey adequately bolstering the supporting cast seems a tall task, and therein lies the issue, this front office has proved time and time again when it comes to the big decisions, be that trades or free agency, they'll consistently come up short. So how can we as Sixer fans say with any level of certainty, that this is just a blip.
How to the Sixers do in the 25/26 season?
Title
Finals
Conference Finals
2nd Round
Great breakdown Ben, I’d given up hope early in the season but this helped process it all and look forward hopefully back to winning ways