Philly Front Office

Why in the world are you talking about the Sixers after an Eagles playoff win?

Because yesterday was a pretty funny day for everyone’s least favorite city team. First, word leaked out during Eagles pregame that after over a year of nonsense, the Sixers would not be building the new downtown arena that absolutely no one wanted. Thanks for the waste of time, resources, and emotions Josh Harris. Second, shockingly, the Sixers played and lost yesterday during the Eagles game (it’s certainly not shocking that they lost, but I didn’t realize they were even playing until Derek Bodner made a joke). How many people do you think watched this game? I’m not talking had it on another tv in the bar/house or flipped over once in a while, but actually watched and ditched the Birds? Ten? Less? For those ten, congratulations on watching the Embiid-less Sixers lose again to an undermanned Magic team. How are you alive right now?

I wouldn’t call that funny, but how are the Sixers doing anyway? Still playing basketball?

Losers of 5 of their last 7, the Sixers are a robust 15-22 on the season and in 11th place in the East. Somehow, they are only 2 games out of the play-in-playoffs. In the last two weeks, they had some really winning efforts including:

• Up 107-98 against the Kings with 3:34 to play, the Sixers gave up 15 straight points to lose 107-113. No Embiid on the front of a back-to-back.
• Lost by 34 to the Warriors the next night despite Embiid playing. The game started with a turnover and a Steph Curry 3. The Warriors never looked back.
• Lost to Phoenix at home despite Phoenix losing 4 in a row and looking pretty lost themselves. Embiid missed the game without much fanfare.
• Almost lost to the completely depleted Wizards. Embiid misses another game.
• Did lose to an even worse and depleted Pelicans team in a game that wasn’t even competitive in the 4th. 3rd absence in a row for Embiid.
• Who the hell knows what happened against the Magic yesterday other than Embiid missed his 4th in a row for what has been called a foot sprain.

That sounds gross. At least the worst is over, right? Right?

Not. Even. Close. In fact, things are about to get much worse. 12 of the next 13 games are against teams over .500. This includes 2 against Denver, 1 each against conference leaders OKC and Cleveland, and then throw in home games against Boston and New York for funsies. Even that one below average team, Chicago, is still better than us and sitting in the 10th seed.

It’s even worse than that though. That slate includes FIVE back-to backs. We are notoriously terrible in back-to-backs because Joel Embiid either does not play or just doesn’t try too hard. He currently isn’t playing any games, so do not expect him to magically be more available. We are currently 0-4 in the second game of a back-to-back this season by the way. Hilariously, four of these back-to-backs are back-to-backs themselves, meaning two sets of four games in six nights. I’m sure we will do GREAT.

This run end on February 5.

Why is this date important?

Well very conveniently, the NBA trade deadline is February 6. If we are 7 games below .500 right now, where are we going to be at the end of this stretch? Realistically, 3-10 is not off the table here. A winning record should not even be possible. My biggest fear with this team is the front office having false hope.

They cannot seriously think of adding to this team at the trade deadline when the playoffs are such a dim light in the distance. Would you really want to trade from our stash of surprisingly decent draft assets to chase slim playoff hopes? Who would you even add when the biggest problems are Embiid’s health and a lack of cohesiveness? Maybe a veteran point guard who didn’t cost very much? Is that even a thing?

At 18-32, even perpetual optimist Daryl Morey would have to start thinking about next season right?

So tanking?

HA! The Sixers do not outright own their first round pick this year. If it is not in the top 6, it goes to OKC (Al Horford, the gift that keeps on giving). Teams like the Hornets, Wizards, Raptors, Nets, Blazers, Jazz, and Pelicans already have a good lead on this with less talent. To guarantee keeping our pick, we would need to finish in the bottom 2. That’s not happening. At best we could possibly drop to #7. Sure, the odds of keeping the pick are better the worse we are, but the difference between 7-9 is only about a 12% chance at moving up. For us, the lottery would simply hinge on luck.

What is tanking anyway? It is not like the players and coach just decide to start losing more games. We would need to sell assets that make the team worse. How would we do that exactly? The team floor will remain higher than tanking teams because Tyrese Maxey is going to keep playing and obviously is not getting traded. Other trades don’t make a lot of sense.

Going into this season, the team built its roster with the hope of adding before the deadline, not subtracting. KJ Martin was literally signed to a contract specifically designed to be traded as filler salary. He doesn’t have much value to other teams. Who else is there?

• Kelly Oubre – He has played well and has value to other teams. The problem with trading him is that it would make it impossible to get him back on the team next year. His contract was designed to give him an extension. Even if he opts out, signing him in free agency could only happen with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (around $14m) at that point.
• Gershon Yabusele – The other guy on the team playing well could theoretically bring back a decent return, probably a few second round picks. Even though the team could give him the same contract as Oubre (though not to both of them) so could other teams including the team who trades for him. Basically, you are telling your girlfriend to go date and see if she wants to come back to you afterwards all things being equal. If he leaves, he is not coming back.
• Caleb Martin – his contract is excellent and he has a great reputation around the league. You might get a late first round pick for him. Again, this hurts next year’s team. He is the kind of player a championship contender needs and we NEVER have.
• Paul George – The only way he gets moved is for another disgruntled star that would at least be signed for next year, likely in a 3-team deal. Would they trade him for Jimmy Butler straight up? I kind of think they would. This wouldn’t exactly help anything considering Jimmy torpedoed his Miami run because they wouldn’t give him a contract extension. Would he sign a Paul George equivalent extension? This kind of trade is a whole different discussion.

Wait, so we shouldn’t add players OR get rid of players?

Sure looks that way. After the deadline, the team will have 32 games to play and will be at least 10 games under .500. At that point, the only real thing you can do to improve next year’s team is to shut down Embiid and figure out what can be done for his health. This season cannot be the reality for the next 4 years.

It isn’t fair to his teammates, the fans, or Embiid himself to go through this uncertainty every day. The team can’t keep living with his availability in question each game. Imagine trying to work not knowing if you would have access to your most important tool that day? Have you ever tried to drive in a nail with no hammer around your house? Now imagine you were a carpenter. How about a writer not knowing if he/she would be able to use a computer each day. Sorry lawyer¹, no electricity in your office for your meeting. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. I am sure your clients will enjoy that.

Is it time to completely quit on this team?

Last night I was trying to figure out who to root for between Tampa and Washington. I hate both teams. I figured Zach Ertz deserved a little bit of love…until Washington won and I saw Josh Harris. I always forget that slimeball owns the Washington Football Team. He just held the city hostage for over a year for an arena he didn’t need. I won’t pretend to know the politics of this, but I do know that he wanted it because it makes his franchise more valuable to own the arena too. End of story. Everything else is noise. The city was going to give it to him too because at the very least they didn’t want to lose the team. Harris obviously isn’t tied to the market. It took the Flyers, the NBA, and for some reason even Roger Goodell to broker a deal that would see the Flyers and Sixers co-own a new arena built in the same complex as the current one. This was probably the goal all along too. This means this ownership group just completely used and abused as many people in the city as possible to get their way. Just the worst.

1. law talkin’ guy ↩︎