Monday night’s NBA Draft lottery could very well hold the Sixers’ future in the balance.
It is incredible how many ways Al Horford continues to hurt this franchise.
Anyone here likely doesn’t need the reminder, but the Sixers lose their upcoming first-round pick if it does not fall within the top-six. This is the result of a salary dump trade to get off of Horford’s contract in 2020.
The only thing that could be worse than the season Philadelphia just had would be walking away with absolutely nothing to show for it. While they still have ~64% of retaining the pick, that’s still a pretty decent chance they lose it.
Per Tankathon, the single pick they have the highest odds to get in the lottery is seven, which would spell disaster.
While fans and the team are doing their best to manifest a good outcome, Duke voodoo included, the organization does need to have a backup plan if things go poorly at next week’s lottery.
Forget the Flagg being captured, here are three things the Sixers should prioritize if they don’t keep this year’s first-round pick.
Keeping Quentin Grimes
So admittedly, all of these actions are probably something the Sixers should be focused on even if they do get lucky, but if they don’t, keeping Grimes becomes even more important.
While his end-of-season burst didn’t result in many wins, it did sort of breathe new life into the franchise. He certainly won’t be featured as the No. 1 offensive option going forward, but it was easy to see how what he was doing will fit with the other key pieces on this team.
His success on dribble handoffs and cuts on top of his shooting make it easy for him to fade back into the background. His size and defensive prowess are essential for a team with Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain going forward.
If the pick does not convey, those two become even more central to the long-term outlook than they already are. Given their size limitations, having another guard who will take on top perimeter assignments while holding his own offensively will be crucial to making three-guard lineups work.
Grimes’ status as a restricted free agent does take the pressure off the Sixers a bit. They’re able to match any offer he gets, and it feels like it would take an absurd offer from another team to get the Sixers to walk away. Given the state of the salary cap with the new rules across the league, there aren’t many teams who fit that criteria.
No vets for more than the minimum
This might be an overreaction to one move from last summer, but it’s always good to look for mistakes.
Not only were nearly all the veterans and elder statesmen the Sixers added last offseason pretty ineffective, but some are stuck here for next season too.
Andre Drummond’s $5 million dollar annual salary all but ensures he’ll be picking that up for next season.
The flashes of encouragement during the last season came when guys like Justin Edwards and Adem Bona got extended run and the team was not tied down to all these veterans.
Daryl Morey has already said multiple times since the season ended that he needs to look to get younger in those areas of the roster. That should be easier to do this summer. There probably aren’t a lot of veterans looking to chase a ring in Philadelphia at the moment.
Fixing the Embiid/George pairing
Again this is something the team will have to deal with at some point. Even if they land Cooper Flagg, they’ll have to address the two largest contacts in the payroll.
If the Sixers are blanked at the lottery though, they are truly locked into the Paul George and more importantly, the Joel Embiid experience.
I touched on recently how the George pairing with Maxey came along a lot better than this pairing with Embiid ever did. Part of that was due to sample size, but there just seemed to be roadblocks Maxey didn’t run into.
George’s diminished ability to attack the basket doesn’t really make him a great pick-and-pop partner. Embiid was obviously never able to settle into any sort of rhythm.
If the Sixers end up sending their pick to OKC, most fans are just going to pretty open to trade Embiid and PG on the spot.
That ultimately might end up being the right move, but it’s not one the Sixers can make at this moment. They’re going to have to try to rehabilitate value from what it is currently.
Whether that is the plan, or they are truly committed to those two as the organization keeps saying, getting the two of them to look better becomes the most important thing if the ping pong balls do not fall kindly on Philadelphia.