MEMPHIS -- Sixers forward Thaddeus Young watched with his hands on his hips as teammate Tony Wroten flew by him and attempted a 39-foot prayer as the third-quarter horn sounded.
By that time, the Sixers trailed the Memphis Grizzlies by 23 points -- a mountain the Sixers weren't going to climb -- and Young retreated back to the huddle, shaking his head with the team on its way to a 117-95 road loss Friday night at FedExForum (see Instant Replay).
It was the Sixers' third straight loss and fifth in its last six games since snapping its NBA record-tying 26-game losing streak.
And with three games left in the regular season, they could be Young's last as a Sixer.
"Yeah, all the time," Young said before the game when asked about his future. "One thing I've always said: Just like upstairs, they put their GM hats on. I put mine on also. It's not just about basketball. It's about me as a player. This is a business, and it's about doing what's best for my family. It may be here, or it may not be here."
The losing -- the Sixers fell to 17-62 Friday -- has admittedly taken a toll on Young, who at 25 years old and in his sixth season, has become one of the "elder statesmen" on a team with 10 players with no more than one year of experience in the league.
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Young has two more years on his contract with the Sixers, but he can opt out after next season.
"It's been very, very difficult," said Young, one of three Sixers returning to his hometown of Memphis on Friday. "But I've been making it through just by going out there and just playing, continuing to try to have fun and and help these guys be better.
"We all know the situation at hand. There's a rebuilding process and restructuring. We have a lot of guys in this room. Some won't be here [next year], some will. We know we have a lot of second-round draft picks and two first-round picks. This is a big draft, and personally I think the future is big for this organization and this team for what we're trying to accomplish right now."
For the rest of the season at least, Young will continue to play the role of leader and mentor, shepherding and offering advice to the team's younger players like fellow Memphian Adonis Thomas, a former University of Memphis forward whom the Sixers signed to a 10-day contract this week.
Thomas saw his first action as a Sixer on Friday, finishing with four points on 2 of 3 shooting while playing the game's final eight minutes.
Young and Wroten both scored a team-high 18 points for the Sixers, who were outscored 24-7 over the final seven minutes of the third quarter after Young picked up his fourth foul and was forced to the bench.
Elliot Williams, another Memphian and former University of Memphis player whom the Sixers signed this season, added 13 points (on 6 of 11 shooting) and four assists off the bench. It was eighth time in the last nine games Williams has finished in double figures.
"We let the game get away from us in the third [quarter]," Williams said. "We've got three more games -- games against playoff contenders. One against Boston, but we've got Miami and Charlotte (on Saturday) on the road. We just want to keep getting better offensively and defensively in our rotations because it wasn't too good today."
Asked about his future with the team, Williams said: "This year was big for me because it was my first year of being healthy. Just getting my body right. Just working hard in the offseason and coming back better -- that's all I can focus on."