Every time The Process Sixers lost a game, it felt like they were inching closer toward a top draft pick that could potentially alter the trajectory of the franchise. Every time last year's Sixers lost a game, that same feeling permeated through Philly. Both instances were correct, of course, as the former earned the Sixers Joel Embiid, and the ladder helped them land VJ Edgecombe.
In 2026, every Sixers loss feels far more dire. Because this team losing isn't productive. For starters, they've won far too many games this year to tank. Even if they started tanking, they have a 7.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks, currently the No. 11 seed in the East.
Even more bleak, the Sixers getting some lottery luck would actually be incredibly unlucky because they have to forfeit their pick if it lands in the top four. Don't look up who owns that pick... (It's the Thunder).
In other words, bottoming out is too risky at this point. The only option is to push forward. I'm not sure what that actually looks like, but here we are. Once again. An injury-riddled team limping toward the finish line.
Sixers have no choice but to go all in over the next month
What if this is the team that breaks through to the conference finals? It would be the most Sixers outcome I can imagine. At this point, it doesn't help to be negative because there's really nothing else they can do except try to win, and it's also hard to get mad at a team starting Dom Barlow and Justin Edwards for not winning.
In the end, there's something noble about trying to win when it seems obvious how it's all going to end. It feels, at this point, like the Sixers have tried so many different strategies and somehow end up in the same spot they always do. A talented roster that's still fighting an uphill battle come April, and ends up being overmatched by a healthier, more balanced team.
But unlike some of their Eastern Conference contemporaries, they don't have a choice in the matter. Against all odds, they must try to win. That's what general NBA fans wanted all along, right? The Philadelphia 76ers, the last ethical basketball team. Get used to it.