The Disaster
On January 15th, thousands of fans donning blue poured into Wells Fargo Center for a marquee matchup between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, two preseason championship hopefuls. The Knicks and Sixers fans who made the journey roared in support of their team throughout 5 grueling periods of play (including overtime), shaking the stadium with “MVP” chants for the budding superstar, Jalen Brunson. The final buzzer sounded in the Knicks’ favor. The New York faithful flooded out of the stadium and into their cars and trains, returning to their city with the reassurance and ecstasy of such a heated victory.
In the meantime, what is left of the Philadelphians who made the trek to the south end of the city is a conflicted group: dejected, yet unsurprised. Dejected, because the Sixers have added yet another loss to an increasingly high margin beneath .500, yet unsurprised, as many have shifted their views towards a 1st place finish in the draft, rather than the finals. Tired, because they have witnessed another defeat at the hands of a fanbase who successfully raided their territory, yet cold, as they grew accustomed to the difficult reality of Knicks’ away games in the 2024 playoffs. Disgusted, because the embarrassment of every Sixers’ postseason has now leaked into the regular season, but depressed, as they’ve become desensitized to the inevitable failure that awaits them as a two-decade-plus conference championship drought drags on.
Such is the mindset of your average Sixers fan, who cannot help but find hope in the bleakest of situations, only for it to be swiftly and heartlessly crushed. They placed their faith in superstar center Joel Embiid, who, following an MVP campaign in 2022-2023, has played in a meager 52 total games. They invited the presence of high volume scorer James Harden, the hero of the Houston Rockets, who turned in a volatile season and a half before his dramatic media fallout with GM Daryl Morey (under whom he played in Houston). Harden, despite playing a somewhat selfish brand of basketball, unlocked another side of Joel Embiid with his extraordinary ability to run an offense through the pick-and-roll. He even took an uncharacteristic 15 million dollar pay cut to allow for maximum cap flexibility, in exchange for the promise of a maximum contract the next season. Following another unsurprising exit in the second round, Daryl Morey walked back on his word, sparking a many-month long controversy that resulted in a bitter trade to Los Angeles. With the understanding that their rivals grew far stronger and the belief that a championship run was still possible, the max contract initially promised to James Harden was instead handed to free agent Paul George, whose adaptable skill set has yet to be showcased on a frequently injured Sixers roster.
At the moment of writing this article, the Sixers stand at an abysmal 15-25, routinely entering games with rosters so obscure you can’t help but check that you didn’t accidentally tune into the Delaware Blue Coats (who have also lost 4 in a row, as well as many of their players to the main roster).
Where can this organization go from here? Well, simply put, they have two options:
They can continue to chase their championship dreams. Invest in the current roster with win-now trades; acquire veterans with playoff experience who can contribute immediately to the more minor aspects of the game. Make an improbable push towards the postseason, sneak into the play-in tournament, and front-load their playoff run with difficult matchups. Pray for the
miraculous alignment of the team’s superstar healthy periods to occur during the postseason, despite there being little evidence of this being a possibility in recent years for any team (except for Toronto’s miracle 2019 championship run with oft-injured Kawhi Leonard, a team coached by Sixers coach Nick Nurse). The organization has witnessed first-hand the incredible heights the team could reach under Joel Embiid. Unable to rationalize their championship efforts with any other justification, tt seems the Sixers are always stuck chasing what could have been.
History, situation, and logic suggest a pursuit of the opposite: a rebuild. Accept that, as absurdly talented as he is, Joel Embiid is physically incapable of managing the workload of an entire NBA season. Understand that the relentless pursuit of aged veterans, role players and superstars alike, was a lethal mistake, but do not attempt to amend it now. Reflect on the arduous journey of “The Process” and its innumerable disasters, rid yourself of the greedy general manager who spent every decisive moment reliving the Houston glory days, and make yourself respectable again to a loyal fanbase that has grown embarrassingly resentful and bitter. Abandon a futile multi-year effort whose failure would shock even the psychologists who introduced the sunken cost fallacy - and start over.
Naturally, it’s not that simple. For one, Joel Embiid would be nearly impossible to trade for a multitude of reasons. Trades/contracts in the NBA and any other sports league follow a trend of precedence: each contract or trade package takes into account the value of ones that came before it, which are then adjusted to the value of the specific player. NBA teams must keep a first round selection for every other draft and cannot trade picks from more than 7 years into the future, and we have already witnessed a trade (Rudy Gobert) that essentially maximized the amount of draft capital that can be exchanged for a player. Joel Embiid, both by means of his accolades/talent and the strong favor his manager holds of him, will merit a generational trade package supplemented by pick swaps and players that, given his injury history, no organization will be willing to exchange; such is the disparity between buyer and seller that complicates the process. Realistically, medical retirement is the only thing that stands between Embiid and the Sixers for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, while it may seem like a no-brainer decision to fans, choosing to scrap championship hopes and begin the process of rebuilding is a direction most organizations would rather avoid; it feels like a concession of failure to transition from competing to blowing the whole operation up. That being said, it is the responsibility of a coach, manager, or owner to bear either the fruits or the consequences of the team’s performance, regardless of whether or not they are individually deserved.
A rebuild likely wouldn’t even demand major imminent changes; with the NBA trade deadline arriving soon, the Sixers should seek to be sellers, shedding any impending free agent veterans (which may unfortunately include fan favorite Guerschon Yabusele) for future blockbuster trades. The organization is actually in a relatively fortunate position to begin the process, as they not only possess a solid amount of draft capital for a should-be contender, but have already obtained many building blocks of a youth movement, by virtue of Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and other young talent like local Philly and Kentucky product Justin Edwards. The bench is still primarily composed of aged veterans on one-year, mercenary-esque deals, but by seeking trades for some of these sought-after players (namely for other championship squads), the Sixers can supplement their draft capital and potentially receive a few young prospects in return.
In 2013, Sam Hinkie took the reins of a struggling organization, and stepped up as the new general manager. He reinvigorated the spirit of the Sixers faithful with “The Process”, his delusional vision of an ideal rebuild, one that exchanges veteran stars with the brightest talent the draft could offer.
What followed was a chapter of constant frustration: whiffed draft picks, missed rookie seasons, media fallouts, eternal injury periods, drama, dreadful losses, disappearances from stars in the most crucial of moments, big threes that only actually played together in a hypothetical fantasy-land, roster decisions that boggled the minds of even the most casual fans, and now away games that routinely take place in the home stadium.
“The Process” is over. While there is still a chance to make amends, the city of Philadelphia will wait with baited breath and pray that it doesn’t become “The Disaster”.