The Sixers have shown a lot of fight lately and if it continues, they might be viewed in a more positive light heading into the offseason.
It’s officially trade deadline week in the NBA. The day itself is Thursday, but perhaps we see some movement earlier in the week as well. How active the Sixers will be and what direction they’ll opt to go in if they are active remains a mystery. This week’s games against Dallas and Miami might still determine Daryl Morey’s final decision.
In a season full of negative headlines and injuries, the Sixers have shown some life in the last week as they trudge through the dog days of winter. It’s certainly a good sign for Nick Nurse as the team’s head coach had to be feeling rather beleaguered as the injuries and load management days that piled up for his players. Yet, the players that are on the floor each night are still fighting for the second-year bench boss.
Regardless of what happens to the roster this week, it’s worth pondering what kind of long-term effect some more winning would have on the franchise. The middle of the hierarchy in any sports league often leaves fans scratching their heads about what the future holds. If this strong stretch from the Sixers continues, it’s likely that’s where this season will end. For many, that will be an understandably frustrating way for the final 35 games to play out as it will leave the Sixers with almost no chance at retaining their top-six protected first-round pick. On the flip side, the hole is deep enough from such a rocky first half, that even a strong second half would probably leave Philadelphia in the play-in tournament with long odds of making any kind of serious playoff run.
But, for once, let’s try to view things through an optimistic lens, however challenging that may be with this team. None of this is meant to glamorize the play-in tournament and the first round of the playoffs and sure, I don’t blame anyone that would pass on another playoff exit at the hands of the Celtics. However, the Sixers are almost certainly going to enter next season with hopes of contending and could afford to rebuild their image.
It’s that public and leaguewide perception for the Sixers that would gain the biggest boost with a strong final two months and change. It gets much easier for fans to speculate about Joel Embiid being healthier or Paul George being more productive in 2025-26 if the rest of the roster continues to prove its worth in February, March and early April. If the Sixers are going to win a championship any time soon, they’re going to need both of those star players to be available. But the rest of the roster can certainly build up some positive equity in the minds of fans if this hot streak is elongated.
Another point that proponents of a tank will point to is that a top six pick in what looks like a good draft will provide Morey and his staff an opportunity to add another young player to the roster and make life after Embiid look less bleak. That might be completely accurate, but looking ahead to life after Embiid is still fast forwarding towards the end of the decade. For the next three or four seasons, with whatever is left of Embiid’s prime, a higher approval rating for the franchise amongst agents and players would be a huge help.
With lots of money tied up in the contracts of Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey, Morey and company are going to need to continue to find diamonds in the rough like Guerschon Yabusele moving forward. They’ll need those players to want to join the Sixers in future free agencies. If the Sixers are viewed as a team that never quit during a season that appeared to be so easy to quit on, that can only help in rounding out the rosters ahead.