The Sixers have been stuck under an avalanche of bad news and embarrassing losses.
No one would savor those circumstances.
So, a team that began the season with three All-Stars and championship ambitions is obligated to think in depth about the future. It’s practically all there is do.
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Joel Embiid’s season of great instability won’t include any more games, the Sixers announced Friday. He dealt with frustrating, persistent left knee swelling, suffered a sinus fracture, got suspended three games for shoving a columnist and played 19 times. He struggled physically and was transparent about the corresponding mental challenges.
“Just got to find to try positives and, even though there’s not a lot, lean on that positive stuff,” Embiid said on Feb. 4. “It’s important … family who can keep you up, keep you going, keep you motivated. But it’s tough.
“Try to manage it, try to find a solution. It just keeps happening. … I don’t really have time to really recover, so until I get that time, it could be like that. Just got to keep going, do the right things, take care of yourself and hope for the best.”
The 2024-25 Sixers have forgotten what best-case outcomes look like.
NBA
They’re 20-38 and almost everyone has endured a significant injury or two. A striking example: The dependable Guerschon Yabusele was back at practice Friday after hurting both eyes a few days prior in the Sixers’ blowout loss to the Bulls.
“I had no clue what was the injury or what was going on,” Yabusele said. “In my mind, when I recall it, I feel like his finger was so far into my eyes, he could touch my brain, kind of.”
As far as the remainder of the season, there’s not much worth saying. Even if they’re blessed by dramatically improved health and elevate their competitiveness, the Sixers’ odds of reaching “meaningful” basketball appear minuscule.
“I don’t have any goals other than that we’re playing to win and we’re playing to play better,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said Friday.
If the Sixers hold on to their top-six protected first-round pick, it would be a serious win. Conveying the pick to the Thunder would sting. Whatever happens, the Sixers will have their own second-round selection, which would currently be No. 36.
Beyond the draft, a large chunk of the Sixers’ potential hinges on star guard Tyrese Maxey and rookie Jared McCain, who showed off sensational shotmaking and poise before tearing his left lateral meniscus.
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said he wanted the team to “get younger” and “more dynamic” at the trade deadline. On the youthful front, rookies Justin Edwards and Adem Bona should be back. Ricky Council IV, 23, has a non-guaranteed contract for next season. Jared Butler has a team option. Fellow 24-year-old deadline addition Quentin Grimes is set to become a restricted free agent.
All those details matter and will be dissected down the line. And Embiid’s profoundly uncertain status looms over it all.
“Joel is core to everything we do,” Morey said on Feb. 7. “We believe he’s the right guy to build around. We believed it this offseason. We believed it, based on what we knew about his whole situation, and we believe that he, Tyrese and Paul (George) can win a championship.
“We’ll see if that turns out to be true, and it doesn’t look easy to spot how it’s going to work right now, given the path we’ve given ourselves, but we believe in that.”
Any plotting of the Sixers’ championship path now much focus on the future. The present is not pleasant.