76ers grant fans’ biggest wish as they shut Joel Embiid down for the season

Six days ago, Joel Embiid sprinted down the floor in transition to contest Trendon Warford’s three-point attempt. Racing down the floor with a full head of steam, Embiid lost balance in the air and landed on one leg. That ended up being his final play of the season. 

This afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that Joel Embiid has been deemed medically unable to play and will miss the remainder of the season. Philadelphia is working with medical experts to determine the best course of action and will provide an update accordingly. 

This comes amidst the 76ers’ nine-game losing streak that has plummeted them down to the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 20-38 record — leaving the question, what now?

The 76ers need to intentionally lose moving forward

With its season essentially in the gutter, Philadelphia should prioritize obtaining its 2025 first-round pick. The 76ers dealt the first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 18th, 2020 in what was essentially an Al Horford salary dump. 

As a result, Philadelphia re-acquires the pick if it falls between selections one through six, but if it lands from seventh and beyond, it goes to Oklahoma City. The 76ers have the sixth-best odds to land the first overall pick according to Tankathon.

For Philadelphia to maximize its chance of losing, Paul George should be sidelined to let his injury pinky fully recover. Tyrese Maxey should also take time to recover from his finger injury. Both injuries likely wouldn't be season-ending, but without George and Maxey, the 76ers lack the top-end talent to compete with anyone. 

However, one can make the argument that Philadelphia doesn't need to shut down anyone considering how poorly it has played even with its stars on the floor. The 76ers severe lack of cohesion and effort has caused them to drop many games against inferior opponents and they’ve repeatedly surrendered when faced with adversity. 

The 76ers' youth movement should commence

If there's a silver lining to what has been a nightmare season, it's that Philadelphia can see what its young prospects are truly made of, especially if it elects to start tanking. The 76ers acquired Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler at the NBA trade deadline and added Lonnie Walker IV via the buy-out market. 

Grimes has established himself as one of Philadelphia's most consistent players — averaging 13.4 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and three assists per game, on 45.3% shooting in 13 appearances. However, Butler and Walker are yet to find their footing. 

Butler notched 15 points on 6-10 shooting in the 76ers’ 106-103 loss to the Toronto Raptors on February 11th. Since then, he’s been in and out of the lineup and unable to make much of an impact. A tank could allow Butler real reps that could help him develop into a viable backup point guard. 

Walker was unable to produce more than five points in his first three games in Philadelphia. During such instability, he’s struggled to find his role on a team that is truthfully without an identity. If the 76ers chose to bottom out, fans and the front office will be able to see if they struck fools gold with Walker.

It's an understatement to say that this isn't the season Philadelphia envisioned after acquiring George in the offseason — who was labeled as the missing piece. It's easy to scapegoat George’s lackluster performance and Nick Nurse’s coaching. While both have been issues throughout the season, the 76ers’ devastating amount of injuries have prevented them from gaining chemistry and forming an identity.

As a result, Philadelphia fans may find themselves in what was once very familiar territory — the draft lottery.