If the Sixers learned anything from last season, it should be not to prioritize veterans who are nothing more than band-aids.
In light of some of the recent headlines surrounding Joel Embiid and Paul George, pessimism about either one staging a serious bounce back and becoming more available next season has only grown. It’s hard to blame anyone for feeling hopeless already on a season that’s still three months away from starting. The Sixers are built around Tyrese Maxey and two veterans who are in their 30s and have already seen their better days.
What Philadelphia must avoid in the coming season is relying on more players in their 30s, thinking that “established” veterans are the kinds of players contenders have on the floor for the majority of the 48 minutes in regulation. Frankly, even though Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse’s jobs could be on the line if the upcoming season is even half as much of the stinker last season was, they must not operate like this coming season is about winning now.
After all, a good argument could be made if Philly finds its way into the play-in tournament on the heels of its young guards leading the way with an improved Adem Bona up front and Johni Broome looking like another successful second-round pick, that Morey and Nurse should get a chance to oversee the future as well. I can’t come up with a good explanation for why Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon are still on the roster. It looks like the Sixers are going to be stuck with Andre Drummond for another year. Not that Kelly Oubre has been a bad Sixer, but if VJ Edgecombe proves he can guard up and play small forward and Quentin Grimes returns and looks like he did last season as a Sixer, Oubre’s presence on the roster becomes secondary.
Playing those aforementioned veterans too much is what could ultimately be the undoing of Nurse and Morey in their current positions. Adem Bona should be given every opportunity to be the primary backup to Embiid. Broome should get at least the same 15 minutes a night Bona got as a rookie picked in the second-round last season.
Many people have made the point that the Sixers are trying to juggle two timelines. They have managed to add some solid impact young players over the last couple offseasons but Embiid and George still exist and are under contract for the majority of the remaining years in the 2020s. Then there’s Maxey who is young enough to fit with whatever the future looks like but experienced enough to help the team win now. The reality is, the Sixers are going to go as far as Embiid, Maxey and George take them in 2025-26. Granted, that doesn’t sound like a positive outlook, but it’s the only outlook.
Attempts to salvage the season if Embiid and George are yet again more unavailable than they are available should be foiled instantly. The only silver lining to last year’s disaster was that the Sixers were able to keep their first-round pick and eventually drafted Edgecombe. While I don’t speak for the entire fanbase, I do think most fans would be able to come to terms with a greater silver lining than retaining a draft pick if we saw a lot of promise from Edgecombe, Jared McCain looked healthy and picked up where he left off, Bona established himself as an NBA rotation player and Broome showed he at least belongs in the league. There’s also players like Trendon Watford and Justin Edwards who are young enough to have some kind of role in the franchise’s future if they have a productive 2025-26 of their own.
Make no mistake, I am not suggesting the Sixers are set for life after Embiid and George. Is Edgecombe, Maxey or McCain good enough to be the best player on a contender? It’s far from certain in the case of all three guys. Therefore, a world still exists in which the Sixers need to add more top-end talent by the end of the decade once we finally get to the end of the Embiid and George contracts. But by then, the hope is the Sixers have developed enough of their young players to where the cupboard isn’t bare.
Let’s remember why The Process started in the first place. After taking the big swing on Andrew Bynum, the cupboard was bare once said swing resulted in a whiff. There wasn’t really anywhere to go for the Sixers but into the basement and start collecting assets. If the Embiid era doesn’t bear any more fruit, Philadelphia should at least hope it has developed a nice core of players in their 20s behind Embiid whenever he hangs it up. That development curve begins now for all of the young Sixers. If it doesn’t result in a return to the playoffs in 2025-26, so be it. In that case, Philly will have made its bed and have no choice but to sleep in it. But it might not be a restless offseason next year if Morey and company feel optimistic that they have some good pieces to work with for the future.