Faulty Processing
Years ago, the Philadelphia 76ers told us to trust the process. Safe to say in the current state of affairs, folks are not buying in and rightfully so. As of this moment with this article written and published, the Sixers are 12th in the east at 20-38. There are only five teams that they have a better record than. Those teams are:
The 18-41 Toronto Raptors
The 15-43 New Orleans Pelicans
The 14-43 Charlotte Hornets
The 14-44 Celtics Salt Lake City division, better known as the Utah Jazz
10-48 Washington Wizards….yes this is correct, this team only has 10 wins
Since the Celtics swept the Sixers in the covid bubble in 2020 and fired Brett Brown as head coach, they hired and fired Doc Rivers and now have Nick Nurse as head coach. They have not made it past the second round of the playoffs. It looks like they’ve gone through a couple general managers as well. They have drafted and given up on multiple players and have given up assets, and draft capital to try to build a roster of superstar players. After passing on Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown, and giving up on Al Horford, the players they viewed as trash have become the treasures of the defending champions. Ben Simmons got ran out of town, James Harden quit, Joel Embiid has become a pompous overrated brat who doesn’t want to play anymore, Paul George has been a wasted acquisition for yet another organization, and Tyrese Maxey is on the verge of breaking his back from carrying the team. Simply put, Philly has become an irrelevant dumpster fire that nobody cares about.
Same Sixers, Different Day
The verbatim definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. For more hard hitting analysis on the rational of this team, let’s welcome in our newest contributor. You know and love him from the Disney show, The Emperors New Groove - it’s Kronk. There is a four second video, it will all make sense in a second. Take it away Kronk.
Click here before continuing to read.
No, no it doesn’t. Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Thanks for stopping by Kronk, we’ll talk to you soon. Let’s circle back to what the Sixers have done in this latest iteration of the roster. Paul George forced his way off another team after committing to stay long term, and for some dumb reason Philly said to themselves hey this would be a great idea for us. Let’s sign him. Well, he got hurt for the millionth time and the amount of podcast episodes he’s posted since joining the team is larger than the number of games he’s played this season. I swear to you, that was a real graphic and it is so pathetic.
Also before the season, star center Joel Embiid said that he wasn’t intending to play in back to back games for the rest of his career beginning this year. Dude, who the heck do you think you are and what have you won to deserve that kind of treatment? Nothing! You have done absolutely nothing. That gold medal from the Olympics doesn’t count. He isn’t that old. Yes, Al Horford isn’t playing back to back games anymore but he doesn’t need to. He is almost 40 years old and isn’t the feature player on a team anymore. Embiid is still viewed as that guy, but like all superstars he is quitting on this team when they need him most. On top of that, he is dealing with another complication with his knee injury and will likely miss even more time.
Maxey has been called the franchise before and that has never been more accurate and appropriate then right now. He’s averaging 19 points a game. He has nothing to work with. It’s almost like the team is saying to him go take over the game like Steph Curry used to do. All due respect, Maxey isn’t on that level yet and he needs somebody to help him out. First round rookie Jared McCain is also hurt and is out for the season with a knee injury. Kyle Lowry isn’t the same guy. Andre Drummond is old and isn’t giving you much. Kelly Oubre….eh, he’s alright. And there is probably no point in bringing up Guerschon Yabusele because most of you have no idea who that is. I rest my case folks, it’s Maxey against the world and he can’t take on everybody’s best all by himself right now.
Options
I think there’s only one thing to do here. Philly needs to blow it up and start over again. Trade everybody and rebuild. Make Maxey the centerpiece and get him some real help. Keep McCain, he’ll be fine. It doesn’t matter what draft capital you get in return for some of these players. Just get the money off the books and the dead weight off the roster. Sign free agents, recruit international players, build through the draft and build a core that you clearly do not have. Now if you don’t want to do that, then the best way to do right by Maxey is to move him and let him pick where he wants to go. Don’t let him waste away his best years for a good for nothing team.
Let him go to a team like Denver or Golden State who is looking for a burst of young talent to keep the championship window open. Or, send him to a team like the Spurs who are on the right track but need one or two more pieces. Based on what we’ve seen from the Sixers the last few seasons, they have not inspired any confidence that they can win and compete long term. Shut everybody down, cut the losses, and buckle up for the next few years which will require a lot of patience and will involve a lot of growing pains. The sooner they accept that, the better.