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Why Not Buy In on the Sixers One More Time?
By Sean Barnard
Published:
There has been an apathetic feeling surrounding the Sixers for the better part of the last two years. After over a decade of Trusting the Process and hoping the franchise can find the right formula to finally escape the second round, patience has seemingly worn thin.
While this season may have felt dead for quite some time, the reality is that this franchise controls its destiny and holds about as positive an outlook as it could hope for. With six games left to play, the Sixers sit in the sixth seed of the Eastern Conference. If the season were to end today, they would face off with the New York Knicks in a seven-game series in the opening round. This is similar to the Knicks team that they went to battle with two seasons ago, without Paul George and VJ Edgecombe, and with Joel Embiid playing on one leg and with half a functioning face. The Toronto Raptors are tied with them in the standings, but the Sixers hold the tiebreaker, and Toronto is fading down the stretch after largely overachieving in the beginning of the season.
If you want to drink from a half-empty glass, you can point to the lack of postseason success on Joel Embiid’s resume. You can make the case that this team has not had the proper time to build chemistry with each other, or that the Sixers revealed their hand for the season outlook when they failed to make any sort of upgrade to the roster at the NBA trade deadline.
But enough with the negativity.
Choosing to drink from my half-full glass, the outlook for the Sixers was always going to be fully dependent on whether Joel Embiid and Paul George are healthy at the season’s conclusion. Aided by an oblique strain and a drug suspension, this goal is within reach. Embiid has referenced how his knee issues have not been bothersome for quite some time, as he remained off of it and worked to heal the oblique issue. George voiced how he utilized the break to get his body completely right and how he does not plan on missing a game from here on out. The nine-time All-Star is averaging 28.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.0 steals per game across his first four games back and showing a level of burst and athleticism that had not yet been seen in a Sixers’ uniform.
It may feel like the Sixers have run into the same postseason wall year after year, but the reality is, we do not have an idea if this iteration of the roster could work. George has yet to suit up for the Sixers in a postseason matchup. V.J. Edgecombe is a new addition to this core and has passed every test with flying colors of looking built for the big moments. A side effect of the absence of the stars has been Edgecombe being given the chance to receive additional on-ball opportunities to accelerate his development. He already looks like a night-and-day different player from when he came into the league just a few months ago, with leaps taken in his ball-handling and shot creation abilities at the forefront of this conversation. While they can look overexposed at times when the stars are sidelined, players like Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Dominick Barlow are better role players than has been the case in past years.
The scar tissue has been built up in the fan base during Embiid’s time in Philadelphia. But the same cannot be said about this core as a whole. If anything, a guy like Tyrese Maxey has shown us more reason for belief in why he can be at his best when the lights are the brightest.
The margin to make any sort of noise in the NBA playoffs is slim. If you are to scream and yell that every team has no chance of winning the championship, you are going to be right 29 times out of 30.
But every team is a loser until they aren’t. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo were discussed as if there is no way they could be the best player on a championship team- until they did it. Celtics fans were ready to break up the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown duo- until they got over the championship hump. It felt like an impossible task for the Toronto Raptors to win a championship with Kawhi Leonard in his first season with the franchise, but under Nick Nurse, they made this happen.
All season, one of the major talking points has been how wide open the East is. The Pistons have been the best team in the conference all year, but Cade Cunningham has not played since March 13th due to a collapsed lung. The Celtics have far exceeded expectations on the season, but actively ducked the luxury tax this year, and much of their complementary pieces will be asked to play much larger roles than they have in the past. While the Knicks have had more time together as a core, they look like a vastly different team on a night-to-night basis. New York has lost three of their last four games, and the roster looks like it hates each other at times. To round out the current top four in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers added James Harden as their all-in push to get over the playoff hump, which feels like an oxymoron in itself.
The point of this is that there are no perfect teams, especially in the Eastern Conference. If you want to have zero belief in this Sixers team making any sort of postseason noise, there is a strong chance you will be proven right. But at some point, you have to believe, and the Sixers have provided more reason for this than has been given proper credit to this point.
Talent and chemistry matter, but postseason outlooks are about peaking at the right time. George looks rejuvenated, Embiid is as healthy as he will ever be, Maxey and Edegcombe look ready, and the team has currently won seven of their last 10 to climb into a top-six seed. It was not a straight path to get here, but finishing as a top-six seed at full strength and facing a beatable opponent in the first round is as ideal an outcome as could be asked for this season. Why not get hurt one more time?
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.