In Memoriam: The Last Decade of Sixers Basketball
What happens now?
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
I have never said anything like this before, as I do not plan on making an actual dying declaration anytime soon, but let me give this my best shot.
If you are reading this, the Philadelphia 76ers have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics for the third time in Joel Embiid’s career. Embiid’s historic MVP season has been permanently tainted, while James Harden very well may never don a Sixers jersey again.
Nobody knows what is coming next. But on the 10-year anniversary of the team hiring Sam Hinkie to run its basketball operations, the team he hoped to build into a perennial championship contender has failed to live up to those expectations once more. And this may have been their last chance.
It feels like just yesterday that the Sixers had Embiid, Ben Simmons and a massive collection of valuable players and draft picks, a treasure chest that most believed would translate to consistent contender status. But Embiid was drafted nearly nine years ago and Simmons was drafted nearly seven years ago… and the Sixers have still not won a second round playoff series since 2001.
That is not squarely on Embiid or on Simmons and then his replacement, Harden. Even though Embiid and Harden had horrific performances today (and they were truly horrific performances), they are far from the only culprits. Many people share responsibility for this fact: it is very possible, if not likely, that the Sixers’ championship window has closed.
Rumors about Harden angling to return to the Houston Rockets have been more than loud enough to cause real concern. If he walks, the Sixers would fall into an exceptionally difficult spot from which they could acquire a viable second-best player on a championship contender.
But what if Harden does return and suffers even more from aging? He has taken multiple significant steps in the wrong direction over the last few years, and he turns 34 years old in August. He is only going to get less explosive.
What if Harden returns and is the exact same player, and it still is just not enough? Evidently, it was not enough this time around. What is supposed to change?
They are also likely stuck with the final year of Tobias Harris’ contract, which has been one of the single worst contracts in the NBA since the day it was signed. And no matter how many times the Sixers talk about his leadership and his versatility, do not get it twisted: the trade for Harris and the subsequent contract he received are both massive failures that have held the Sixers back for four years.
I am not guaranteeing that anything specific will or will not happen. But all of the ominous possibilities ahead explain the point here: realistically, the majority of potential outcomes down the line do not include the Sixers getting this close to being a championship contender again.
There is no telling exactly where the Sixers will go from here. But there is an enormous amount of obvious questions facing this organization, and there are not any obvious answers.
As the Sixers must now shift focus to yet another pivotal offseason, President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey takes center stage. Morey has gotten creative in finding pathways to improvement in the past, but he really has his work cut out for him here.
I am not going to say “The Process is dead.” The Sixers ditched that style of thinking in 2016, and it would be disingenuous to suggest all of their moves since then were made with the same motivations and by the same people. But after many years of constant and painful oscillating, this era of Sixers basketball, geared towards the pursuit of a championship, may have just taken its final breath.
Rest in Peace to the Sixers who were just never enough.