Philadelphia 76ers have lost seven consecutive games, they are 12th at the East Conference with a 20-36 record and have very little margin of error if they still have the opportunity to reach the playoffs, which is probably only possible with a successful career Through the successful race through the successful game tournament.
The good news is becoming more and more rare within the Sixers organization, especially after the last reports suggest the superstar Joel Embiid – Who will miss its 38th game of the season on Monday night? – It is considering alternative options for a persistent knee injury that has limited it to only 19 games. One of those options is another knee surgery, which Embiid hinted After a loss of 124-104 against the Boston Celtics last week, saying: “I think I probably need, you know, solve the problem, and then I will return to that level.”
Several options are being considered, According to Shams Charania de ESPNLike the current injections and knee treatment is not helping MVP 2023. EMBIID is expected The Sixers ought Make regardless of what the tests say.
Sixers need to close Embiid for the rest of the season.
That is not something incredibly bold that, since it is only suitable for 19 games so far, and with 26 games, I was probably already lost a good part of them. But he entered the season with a murky explanation about his ongoing knee problem, and without improvements, he probably had no business playing throughout this season.
Why should the 76ers close Embiid … and pg?
The best option now is to put it on the shelf for the rest of the season, and instead of pretending some goal of trying to compete for a place in the playoffs, prioritize the next draft, in which the Sixers have the sixth landing probabilities General selection No. 1. In fact, close both Embiid and Paul George, the last of which has been Receive regular injections In his left hand to opillate the pain of an lesion in the extender tendon on his left little finger that he picked up on January 25. George has been playing admirably for pain, although he has also played in 37 games due to several other injuries and has been inefficient (compared to his standards) when he is on the floor.
It is clearly time to stir the white flag and focus on the future. If the main office of the Sixers needs more convincing, then perhaps the fact that its first round selection this year goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it is outside the first six is the reason enough to disconnect the rest of this season.
If the season ended today, Philly would have 45.8% possibilities (By Tankathon) to land a selection among the top six, which they would keep. But if the election of the Sixers lands at number 7 or later, that choice goes to thunder.
At this point, it does not seem that there are Sixers to make any type of deep race in the postseason (Despite the optimism of its owners earlier this month), Not with Embiid being a shell of himself throughout the season. As much as the Sixers would like to enter the game with the tenth place, it could harm them that for them in the long term.
There is a recent example to follow
Sixers need to take a page from the 2023 Dallas Mavericks book. Two years ago, the MAVs collapsed their last handful of games, losing the postseason completely with the hopes of maintaining their protected selection among the 10 best. It worked incredibly well for the Mavericks, who maintained their selection of 2023 (No. 10) and managed to write a rising star in Dereck Lively II to be its center for the future. Lively played an important role in Dallas’s career to NBA Finals the following season.
Sixers could follow a similar plan, collecting a promising young talent in the draft to even more complete what is already a deep list when it is completely healthy. Even if the Sixers do not necessarily want the selection, they could use it in commercial negotiations this summer, but if they fall from the first six and the leverage and the control they go out the window.
This should no longer be a difficult decision, especially with how bad this season has gone. Even if the Sixers are concerned about the optical aspect of it, which I doubt they would not receive almost as many criticisms as the Mavericks two years ago. Dallas was not hindered by injuries, and simply achieved a half -season exchange for Kyrie Irving with the intention of competing for a championship. They changed the course once the losses began to accumulate, and decided that maintaining that first round selection was more important than perhaps ensuring a game place. In the long run, they made the correct movement, even when at that time they were very criticized for it.
Sixers are in a very different situation at this time, so Tanking will not look like a horrible decision. Actually, it would look like the smart movement to keep Embiid and George marginalized for the rest of the season, get healthy and enter the next season with a complete list and a better opportunity to win a championship. Because at this moment they are staggering between losing a valuable first round and fighting for a meaningless game place. We will have to see what the Embiid knee tests say, but from where I am sitting this decision, it should have been made at least a month ago.
