The 76ers’ season starts with a bad sweep vs. Knicks, leaving Philly in familiar territory
After the Philadelphia 76ers lost the first three games of their second-round series to the New York Knicks, Paul George was asked what the message should be. His answer was simple: he cursed and said “win the game.”
[Narrator]: They did not win the game.
That was to be expected. With the Sixers, you always know how it’s going to end — badly, and usually sooner rather than later. Their annual summer vacation was delayed a bit this season when they upset the Celtics in the first round, beating Boston in the playoffs for the first time since 1982. Any interest gained from that Game 7 victory in Boston was canceled eight days later by a shutout effort against the Knicks, who had six outs on the season and finished Sunday. Philly lost to New York by an average of 22.2 points per game. Game 2 — played without Joel Embiid, who appeared on the injury report with knee and hip issues, because of course — was the only fight the Sixers showed in the series, and that quickly disappeared. As Embiid said when it was over, the Knicks “were better than us in everything.”
Adding insult to injury, Knicks fans invaded South Philadelphia like locusts and behaved in the same way. (A Knicks fan interrupted a moment of silence for the brother of recently deceased Sixers coach Nick Nurse and was yelled at for being rude.) The whole experience prompted more than one Sixers fan on social media to post something about how it would be better to lose to the Celtics than get swept by the Knicks. The way the Sixers’ season ended was sad — but not surprising.
A typical Philly feel
A disappointing postseason exit has become a trademark of the business. The Sixers have lost in the first or second round in the past nine seasons — except for last year, when they didn’t play at all. They haven’t reached the conference finals since 2001. That’s still some rite of passage against Embiid, who remains the only MVP in league history to never get out of the second round.
In fairness, Embiid playing in the Celtics series just 17 days after emergency surgery was amazing. It was yet another addition to a long list of ailments suffered just before or during the season, including a bout with Bell’s Palsy, two orbital fractures, two torn meniscus and a torn thumb tendon. Despite the recent treatment, he played well in four games against Boston, and they would not have beaten the Celtics without him. But like all things related to the Sixers and Embiid, the good times didn’t last. They never do it. He played better than his teammates in Game 4 against the Knicks, but at that point it didn’t matter. It was too late. That’s always the case with the Sixers.
A few months ago, there was reason to be optimistic about the Sixers. Or if not exactly hope, then at least not the general dread that has defined the organization for so long. The season started with very low expectations. Whatever the oft-injured Embiid and inconsistent Paul George could produce was seen as a bonus. The current and future focus has instead shifted to the promising backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, as dynamic a guard combination as Philly has ever seen.
During the All-Star festivities in Los Angeles, I asked Maxey about working with Edgecombe. He responded that Edgecombe is “like a little brother to me” and said “he’s great, man. Not just basketball wise, but on our team the wise personality and the culture of our organization.” After winning just 24 games last season due to various injuries and a tanking effort that eventually led to the signing of Edgecombe, Maxey added that “this year we did a really good job of turning things around.”
[Narrator]: Actually they didn’t change things.
That’s not Maxey’s or Edgecombe’s fault. Maxey was an All-Star and nearly made All-NBA, while Edgecombe finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and received one surprising second-place vote, likely cast in a bar in South Philly with awesome wifi.
The two gained experience playing together until they beat Boston. Those are good things to build on going forward. But it’s also fair to wonder if these two would have been a better fit this season and in the long run if they were still a trio.
So.., can anything change?
At the trade deadline, the Sixers opted to ditch the luxury tax and ship underappreciated and underutilized fan favorite Jared McCain to the Thunder. At the time, President of basketball operations Daryl Morey said the Sixers were “playing well” and were “trying to improve the team and add to it now” but “nothing is visible.” So instead of adding, they removed McCain. Many people had difficulty understanding those figures. Morey took a lot of heat for that move – especially for saying that he’s “sure we sell a lot.”
Anyone who has watched the Thunder since then has likely seen McCain thrive with his new team. He just had 18 points in 18 critical minutes off the bench in a Game 3 win over the Lakers, then joked in the postgame interview that the Sixers didn’t sell enough. Wow. No one is saying the Sixers would have beaten the Knicks if they had McCain, but it wouldn’t hurt Philly to have a shooter like that off their painfully thin bench. How the Thunder, the deepest team in the league, figured out how to use McCain when the Sixers let him go before he was “highly traded” was a bad case of the front office and Nurse, who may not be a coach for much longer.
So the Sixers enter another season with no easy answers. The obvious lever to pull is the head coach, who in terms of wins and losses is somewhat less successful in the role than his much-maligned successor, Doc Rivers. It’s hard to imagine, but it’s true. There’s an exterior shot where the ownership team kicks Morey to the curb along with the Nurse, but that seems pretty minor. Although there is a case to be opened.
In addition to the McCain debacle and other questionable decisions, Morey is responsible for two of the worst contracts in the NBA. George has two more years left on the four-year, $211 million deal the team used to lure him away from LA. In retrospect, the lure should have cost a lot less. George will be 37 in the final year of his contract, which has a player option of $56.6 million. Meanwhile, Embiid — who has missed 150 games over the past three years and has never played more than 68 in a season — has two more seasons remaining on a three-year, $187 million extension. In his final year, which is also a player option, the Sixers will pay the then-34-year-old $67.2 million. Pick which of the two contracts is the worst, but both are unmoved.
The Sixers also have decisions to make with some of their other rotation pieces. Kelly Oubre, Quentin Grimes and Andre Drummond are all unrestricted free agents. They would probably like to keep Oubre. Grimes is another issue that depends heavily on the price point, which was an issue last season and the reason why he is headed for free agency this summer.
As for the draft pick situation, it could be worse. But, like all things Sixers-related, it could be better. They have the Rockets’ first-round pick in the upcoming draft, 22nd overall. Smart draft scouts and the Philly faithful have pointed out that the team drafted Maxey one slot higher. Maybe they get lucky again and land on a talent in what has been considered a full draft.
Their first round pick, 17th overall, belongs to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That pick was protected in the top four. If the Sixers had gone out and lost both games instead of advancing as a 7 seed, they would have had less than a 3% chance of getting into the top four and keeping their pick. In retrospect, even after beating the Celtics, that might have been a better option, considering beating Boston led to being humiliated by New York. But who knows, maybe the draft gods will smile kindly on the Sixers this summer. Maybe they’ll make a series of inspired moves to strengthen the bench and flesh out the roster. Maybe George won’t be suspended next season and miss 25 games. Maybe Embiid will be (relatively) healthy. Maybe everything will end up in their place.
[Narrator]: You don’t need a narrator to know how this will happen.
