There is literally no team that has been more disappointing this season than the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite clearly having one of the more talented rosters in the league, at least on paper, they have only been able to muster a meager 15-24 record.
Already nine games below .500, the 76ers are stuck in NBA purgatory. They are currently a bit far from the playoff picture, but similarly not in play for a high lottery pick. They can only keep their first-round pick this year if it falls within the top-six, and at the present, the odds are stacked against them.
Clearly, Philly has to choose a direction they want to take moving forward in the current campaign. Their odds of winning the title are realistically close to nil, and going full throttle on an escapade that seems futile either way will only make it tough for them to pick a struggle. Having said that, they must face this dilemma head-on and commit to a particular road this season.
The 76ers should just punt this season, but the NBA probably won’t allow them.
The hardcore realist in me says that the 76ers should seriously consider pursuing a top-six pick this season. While they are a currently out of that range, they do have the league’s eighth-worst record, a good enough position that can still be bolstered by losing more games.
Having said that, this team is still too good to continuously rack up more losses at a rate faster than their current trajectory. And the only conceivable way for them to do that is to sit their stars for longer durations.
The 76ers could choose to do that as their stars have actual ailments they are dealing with and playing through, but the NBA has not been the biggest fan of the franchise this season. League officials have already slighted them a bunch of times with fines and suspensions, one of which even involved a full-blown investigation on Joel Embiid’s real status after the star publicly announced he would never play in back-to-backs anymore.
League sanctions for teams intentionally resting players who are otherwise healthy have become a hard-and-fast rule for everyone, but the NBA has given less leeway to the 76ers, perhaps due to pressure from fans and the media. Philadelphia has been among the most injury-riddled teams in the association, but the league has seemingly glossed over that fact.
Unfortunately, even if the Philadelphia 76ers decide to take the road less taken by teams of similar construction and conviction, the NBA has way too strong of an agenda against the franchise to allow them to do that, even if they have all the justification in the world.