The Sixers Will Be Re-Evaluated in 1 Month

No one uses the term “re-evaluate” with more foreboding than the Sixers. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and now Kelly Oubre are all currently awaiting the dreaded re-evaluation at the moment and we are all slowly dying inside. Sweet mercy this team takes a lot out of you. Morale was already at a season long low thanks to a nakedly anti-team move of trading Jared McCain, but now we get 3 of our 5 best players joining Paul George on the “not-playing” list as we enter the final month of the season. How are we doing? Well, let’s just say right now all we can do is watch the team (or not watch) and re-evaluate in a month…

#SellTheTeam?

Remaining Schedule (click)

March 14 vs Nets
March 15 vs Trailblazers
March 17 at Nuggets
March 19 at Kings
March 21 at Jazz
March 23 vs Thunder
March 25 vs Bulls
March 28 at Charlotte
March 30 at Heat
April 1 at Wizards
April 3 vs Timberwolves
April 4 vs Pistons
April 6 at Spurs
April 9 at Rockets
April 10 at Pacers
April 12 vs Bucks

The Sixers are currently 35-31, good for 9th in the East. If you were thinking we were still in 6th place, you missed the past week of everyone around us winning relentlessly. The Magic have won six in a row to move up to 5th, the Heat have won their last seven and are now 6th, and the Hawks have won eight straight to move to 8th. The Raptors are sliding and in 7th for the moment. We will probably drop behind the Hornets (18-5 in their last 23 games) for 10th by Sunday night. Dropping any further though likely will not happen because the Bulls and Bucks are that much worse. What does this mean for the end of the season?

Inside the Sixers lives two wolves. The first is the one we all remember, the one that knows that tanking is our ally. We were born in the tank, molded by it. We didn’t see contention until we were already men, by then it was nothing but blinding. The tank betrays everyone else, because it belongs to us! We yearn to tank again. The other is that of contention that do not want to go gentle into the tank even if wise men know the tank is right. They want to rage, rage against the dying of the light of contention.¹ Which one are you?

Darkness (Tanking)

The Eagles owe their 2026 1st round pick to the Thunder to finally close the loop on Al Horford’s disastrous tenure in Philadelphia. The pick is top 4 protected though, so we would need to win the lottery. Though the Sixers are going to make the play in tournament, as the 10th seed, 1 loss would put them right back into the lottery. IF this happens, they could drop as low as the 11th spot in the reverse standings depending on how the other play-in tournament goes and how Portland and Golden State finish the season. The Sixers are currently 4 games up on the Trailblazers (with a big head to head on Sunday) and 2.5 games up on the Warriors.

Losing the play in comes with the following lottery odds:

11th – 9.4% chance of a Top 4 pick and keeping the selection
12th – 7.1%
13th – 4.8%
14th – 2.4%

What If the Sixers Paid James Harden?

Those might not seem like much, but considering there are 3 elite prospects (AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer) in this draft and a 4th guy (Caleb Wilson) who would have a legit shot to be #1 in a regular draft, these odds aren’t just to win, but to change the next decade of the franchise.

As much as we like to think tanking is in our past, winning the Play-In and making the playoffs doesn’t come with much of a prize. Finishing 7th means a date with the Celtics while finishing 8th means the Pistons. The Sixers would not stand much of a chance with either.

Light (Contending)

How could you say we wouldn’t stand much of a chance? The Sixers are hurt now, but with Embiid it is a completely different team. Yes, everyone is injured, but George will be back from his suspension next week and without the wear and tear of a full season on his legs. The same would be true with a fully healthy Embiid. Now Maxey is getting a mid-season rest as well with a finger injury. The team you see fading right now isn’t the real team!

Essentially, the rest of the regular season does not matter in the least. We are locked into the Play-In and will need to simply win our two games to face a team that will not only not take us seriously but would likely be in our way anyway! In order to win a championship, you need to beat good teams. It is what it is.

Plus, Embiid simply does not have many chances left. If he is healthy, you owe it to him and the fans to give it a shot. His play has been just as resurgent as it has been unexpected. We cannot take that for granted. Either way, the odds are that we do not get the pick.

20 Years of the Worst Contracts in Philadelphia

Conclusion

That’s a lot of words to say, we can do both! Losing as many games as possible while everyone is injured will not mean that the Sixers have any less of a shot at the Play-In Tournament. It will simply be a contingency in case no one regains their health and we once again hit the lottery. However, if a fully operational Death Star – I mean Embiid – comes back and is playing like he was a month ago, well then everyone watch out. Surprisingly right now, we can have it both ways without doing much of anything.

The Play-In Tournament begins on April 14th. We will re-evaluate the Sixers in just about 1 month.