Having lost five of their last seven games sice the calendar flipped to 2025, the Philadelphia 76ers have officially disrupted the nice momentum they built over the previous month. As a result, they remain tighly seated at 11th place in the East and two games outside the play-in tournament picture.
But of course, the play-in is far from the target for this franchise. Unfortunately, at this rate, it could be hard for the 76ers to clinch an outright playoff berth. They are five whole games away from the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, and their schedule is starting to get more unforgiving in the upcoming weeks.
Philadelphia needs every ammunition it can possibly get. The consensus is that the front office will be taking matters into their own hands by capitalizing on the trade activity before the deadline, but that is far from a surefire gauntlet. As Nick Nurse has stated, the best means for this team to get closer to where it wants to be is in-house improvement.
Not-so-ideal KJ Martin injury update should be pretty concerning for the 76ers
One player who has been MIA since Christmas Day is KJ Martin, who last suited up for the 76ers during their December 23 matchup with San Antonio. Owing to a stress reaction in his left foot, the 24-year-old has missed the last ten games, and his presence has certainly been felt.
Unfortunately for the team, it seems like Martin’s return could take a while. When asked about his status moving forward ahead of their previous game against Orlando, Nurse gave an update on the recovery of the young forward.
He's out of the boot, but still not on the court yet. So, some progress but not a lot”.
While the progress is noted, that surely cannot be encouraging. What was initially thought of as a minor bump in the road has already turned out to be a long sabbatical for one of the biggest feel-good stories for the 76ers this season.
Despite widely being pegged as a mere trade attachment for later, Martin has greatly improved this season, really, on both ends of the court. No longer just a bull in a China shop as an exclusive rim-runner, he has become a better finisher around the rim while also showcasing a semblance of a perimeter game, draining 38.1 percent of his three-point tries. Of course, his defense has remained rock-solid.
The Philadelphia 76ers clearly need more at the forward positions, and KJ Martin is an in-house solution to address that issue. Hopefully, he can make his return as the team makes its playoff push before it’s too late.