The 76ers nightmare season

The Philadelphia 76ers spent last season prepping for the summer and the max cap space they were going to have.  In turn they inked Paul George to a 4yr/$212 million deal with their cap space.  They also re-signed Tyrese Maxey to a max and extended Joel Embiid to a super-max worth 3yrs/$192.9 million, a deal they did not have to extend him to.  This season has turned into a mess that I don’t think Sixers fans imagined in their worst nightmares and it has the possibility of getting worse.

The 76ers are in a dog fight to make the 10th seed in the Play-In Tournament, they had games on Saturday and Monday that would have gone a long way into getting into better position.  Entering Saturday, they were tied for 11th with Brooklyn and a game and a half behind the Bulls.  After the Bulls lost to the Suns on Saturday evening, Philly had a chance to get half a game behind Chicago with a win on Saturday night.  They lost to Brooklyn at home, who they had been tied with so they fell to 12th.  On Monday night, they took on the Bulls, again at home.  They lost again but this time it was by 32 points to a Bulls team who was without Nikola Vucevic.  Philadelphia’s season is toast and there are reports that Joel Embiid is unlikely to play again this season, which makes sense because he cannot move.  His knee is a huge problem right now and with how knee injuries have killed careers before, this is a major concern to me for the 76ers.

The 76ers signed Joel Embiid to a 3-year contract extension worth $192.9 million in September.  Why was Philadelphia in a rush to extend Embiid, I don’t know.  He had 3-years left on his current deal worth $165.6 million.  Instead Embiid declined the $59 million player option, which he would have likely picked up if Philly didn’t extend him, and tacked on the new deal.  After this season, Embiid has 4yrs/$248 million left on his deal and Philadelphia is stuck with it.  Unless someone is willing to take on Embiid and even then, would the Sixers be willing to rip the band-aid off for what would be a very light return?  Philadelphia has to do everything within their power to ensure Embiid’s health for years to come.

The Sixers also have Paul George’s max contract still on their books.  George signed a 4yr/$212 million deal this summer and has 3yrs/$162.4 million left on the contract after this season.  The season hasn’t gone well, George looks invisible in a lot of games and the numbers tell us that.  Averaging 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, George has been a disaster for the 76ers offense this season.  Philly scores 4.9 points less per 100 possessions with George on the court than when he is off of it.  He is currently dealing with a finger injury and it is a big reason why he has struggled over the last few weeks.  However, he is on the court and a finger injury doesn’t excuse George for looking invisible on the court as often as he does.  The Sixers have 3-years left on George’s contract and it is going to be tough to get off of it.

There is also another reason for Philadelphia shutting Embiid and George down for the rest of the season.  They owe their first round pick to the Thunder due to the Al Horford for Danny Green salary dump in November 2021 but it is top 6 protected, so Philly keeps the pick if it is 1-6.  The 2025 draft is seen as one of the better drafts we have had in recent seasons and after a season like this, the 76ers need to do everything in their power to make sure they get to keep their pick and with the recent Embiid news, it seems that is what they are going to do.

Things are bad for the Philadelphia 76ers right now and they need to make sure they don’t get worse.  The Sixers need to shut George and Embiid down and tank for the rest of the season so they can keep their first round pick and add a very impactful player in the draft.