When the Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks back in 2021, I wrote the following regarding “The Process”
“Many people may argue that The Process has been a success; the 76ers got a bonafide superstar in Joel Embiid, a three-time All Star in Ben Simmons, a high-quality tertiary option in Tobias Harris, and consistent playoff appearances. Yet, despite these moderate successes, they seem superficial, especially considering the ultimate goal was multiple championships. Here the 76ers are, suffering from the same shortcomings every year, and landing far, far away from the main objective: winning the championship”
It was two years ago that I declared The Process to be a failure in Philadelphia, not necessarily because of Sam Hinkie’s original strategy, but because of the subsequent failure in executing the latter steps. The irony of my sentiment is that, over the past two seasons, the 76ers addressed many of the qualms around their roster construction which I addressed. They added significantly more half-court shot creation, stopped relying on a false narrative that Ben Simmons could be a go-to half-court guy in the postseason, and fortified their unit with shooting and positional versatility. I even went so far as predicting them to win the NBA Finals preseason. Yet, while watching their season end to the Boston Celtics, with Joel Embiid and James Harden going down without so much of a fight, perhaps my sentiment from two years ago was correct all along: The Process has failed.
It feels like if there were a year for the 76ers to finally get over the hump, this was the year. This was the year where things not only felt different around the 76ers and for their fans, but that things were different. Philadelphia’s franchise has been plagued by disappointments ever since Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons’ inaugural playoff appearance back in 2017-18. While it is unfair to characterize that initial playoff appearance, along with the subsequent year where a conspicuously soft rim eliminated Philadelphia in heartbreaking fashion, as failures, it’s tough to survey the past four seasons and identify any as less than disappointing. Swapping Jimmy Butler for Josh Richardson and Al Horford may go down as an all-time blunder and despite the immense preseason hype, that 76ers team was swept by Boston and subsequently blown up. Their Game 7 defeat to Atlanta in a playoff series they had no business losing spawned the OG version of this post. Last year’s defeat to the #1 seeded Miami Heat doesn’t seem bad on the surface, but remembering James Harden and Joel Embiid’s horrific performances in Games 5 & 6 will change the perception there. Five of the last six seasons, the 76ers have had top-8 preseason title odds. They haven’t made a Conference Finals appearance in any of those seasons. How else should that stretch be characterized for the Sixers, other than disappointing?
Despite the long history of shortcomings, this was the year where things did feel and seem different. To start, this was the most complete team the 76ers have had during Embiid’s tenure; the Jimmy Butler team was great, but it lacked quality depth outside their starting five, Embiid was nowhere near the force he is today, and due to the midseason nature of the Butler deal, it was a group that was cobbled together rather than cohesively constructed. This season, Philadelphia was loaded; they had an abundance of half-court shot creation (Embiid, Harden, Tyrese Maxey), were the #1 3-PT shooting team in the NBA, and boasted an elite defensive group anchored by Embiid, P.J. Tucker, and Tobias Harris. The 76ers’ 1-6 rotation might have been the best in the NBA. Embiid finally got over the hump and won his MVP, an award he has shamelessly campaigned for over the past three seasons. Harden had continued his reinvention, thriving as a distributor and lead playmaker over his heliocentric style. Maxey had taken a noticeable step forward into the best tertiary option Embiid has ever had. The 76ers went on torrid win streaks, pulled off improbable comebacks, and had headline moments, such as Embiid’s 50-point performance over the Celtics, their huge comeback over Milwaukee, and Embiid’s signature showing over his self-declared (and one-way) rival, Nikola Jokic. Even in the series against Boston, things felt and were different. Harden overcame playoff demons at times with two historically great 40+ point outings, the 76ers won twice at TD Garden, and PJ Tucker yelled at Joel Embiid in a situation which had become all too common amongst 76ers fans.
Despite all of those feels, this season ended with the same exact result: disappointment. Despite Embiid and Harden’s individual greatness and growing war chest of accolades, both have been hampered by their elusive chase at postseason success. It isn’t just a lack of team postseason success which has plagued them, but rather, their own individual failures on the biggest stage. Harden was Mr. Inconsistency all series; his highs were so high, but the lows were equally low. Despite Harden’s greatness in Games 1 & 4, he will be remembered significantly more for his performances in Games 6 & 7. Harden’s Game 7 performance shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to people who have followed his career over the past 10+ seasons. At times throughout the series, it felt like Harden got in his own head; he was afraid to look at the basket, seemed to not trust his intuition, and seemed more intent on flailing for contact than making the winning play.
For all the talk around Nikola Jokic’s lack of postseason success, Embiid has had far less. It was March 27th when Shams Charania of The Athletic published the following article; which was an “unplugged” interview with Embiid. Embiid didn’t really hide much of his true thoughts around Jokic and how he’s judged around the league, evident by two of the following quotes:
On changing criteria for MVP
The criteria does change. If we want to talk about the last three years since I’ve been in the running for it, the first year it was that I didn’t play enough games. Last year, I came back, I played enough games, I led the league in scoring, and obviously, Nikola deserved it and he won it. But then again, he won as a sixth seed in the West. And then this year, I’m leading the league in scoring, I’m doing all of these things defensively … I should be making an All-Defensive team too. I don’t care, but every year it’s something. And when you add analytics into it, which don’t make sense. You can talk about analytics all you want. When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all. I don’t make the rules, I don’t choose whatever criteria that they use, so it’s really about whatever people’s preferences are.
Shams Charania, The Athletic – Joel Embiid Unplugged: On NBA MVP race, how he feels pressure entering playoffs and Sixers’ pressure to win
On pressure for the playoffs (title-or-bust):
Not necessarily. I don’t care about the pressure that everybody puts on me. All I care about is the pressure that I put on myself to win. People have been talking about who has the most pressure to win. People want to mention me. I’m not at the top of that list. I’m not a two-time MVP, I’ve never made first team All-NBA, I’ve never won anything. So why is there pressure on me to do something when there are guys that have won two MVPs, a bunch of MVPs and haven’t done anything either?
Shams Charania, The Athletic – Joel Embiid Unplugged: On NBA MVP race, how he feels pressure entering playoffs and Sixers’ pressure to win
Embiid’s self-promotion of his own game is not a new angle for him. He’s relished in it and isn’t shy about it, as he alludes to at other times throughout Shams’ interview. Yet, at some point, there has to be postseason results that back up the subtle shots at other stars or the incessant desire to be compared favorably to his peers. Embiid wasn’t just outplayed by Al Horford over the six games he was active, he was dominated by him. Embiid was just 3/16 shooting when defended by Horford in Game 7; throughout the series, Embiid shot 31/80 (38.8%) when defended by Horford, along with ten turnovers and eight shot attempts blocked. At times, Embiid looked downright scared to challenge Horford (hence, PJ Tucker’s pep talk). Embiid settled for tough (albeit makeable) fadeaway jump shots, tried to bait the officials into calling fouls, and was unable to make an imprint in the game’s biggest moments. Tucker yelling at Embiid in Game 4 led to Sixers’ fans applauding their veteran and (correctly) pointed out that Tucker’s attitude and mentality is exactly what the Sixers have lacked in prior seasons. It should be equally telling, however, that a grizzled, role-playing veteran needed to be in Embiid’s ear during (at that time) the most pivotal stretch in the series when Philadelphia was literally fighting for their season. Embiid has won just five playoff series over his career and the best team he’s beaten was probably the Toronto Raptors from a year ago. It’s been one underwhelming postseason performance after another for Embiid, and what’s followed has been the poor body language, disappearing acts in big moments, and postgame press conferences where he’s never been shy to redirect accountability or responsibility in another direction.
Certainly, not all of Philadelphia’s shortcomings over the past six years should be pinpointed on Embiid. But, for a player who constantly demands to be acknowledged as a topflight player, he should also be rightfully critiqued when he falls woefully short of the expectations he craves. Embiid’s Game 7 performance against Boston was a disappointment of massive proportions; not only did Al Horford dominate the matchup, but Embiid was relentlessly targeted defensively via pick-and-roll. He wasn’t his usual force at the rim (although, he did block/alter a few shots) and was cooked by Jayson Tatum when switched. It wasn’t just the missed shots and uncharacteristically mediocre defense; it was the poor body language, a lack of demanding the ball outside of having Marcus Smart on him, inconsistent effort, and loose handle which resulted in multiple turnovers. This isn’t a one game blemish on Embiid’s record either; he was poor down the stretch in the aforementioned Game 4, where he got blocked three times by Al Horford. In Game 6 against Miami last year, he scored 20 points on 7/24 shooting, one game after scoring 17 points in a -29 effort. In Game 4 against Atlanta the year prior, he scored 17 points on 4/20 shooting in a loss that allowed Atlanta to get right back into the series. Embiid’s co-pilot has never been a consistent factor either, in fairness. Ben Simmons was borderline unplayable against Atlanta and James Harden was horrible over Games 5/6 against Miami and 6/7 against Boston. Embiid deserves plenty of fire, but at the same time, stars don’t win alone in the NBA. That’s a tough sell to make, however, when as the star player you shoot 5/18 in a Game 7.
One thing that always strikes me after a 76ers’ elimination game is how poor Embiid’s postgame press conferences are. Every year there is some variation of Embiid vocally wanting more from his teammates to borderline throwing them under the bus, along with a few answers about how he needs to be better as well. He had another viral clip after Game 7 alluding to how him/Harden can’t do it all by himself, a quote that in full, wasn’t too bad, but was a comment that certainly wasn’t going to cool the criticism after losing by 24 when combining for 24 points. Embiid’s troll job of Giannis’ iconic “losing and failure” quote was a particularly cringeworthy one. While this is a lazy take better suited for the more notorious sports media personalities, it does seem that at times, Embiid cares more about social media engagement, trolling, and individual awards over postseason success. His “nobody respects me” act needs to eventually come with some level of meaningful results.
While I’ve been hard on Embiid, I thought his press conference paled in comparison to how Doc Rivers has fared. It’s clear that, throughout hearing the 76ers’ leadership group speak to the media, there’s a void of accountability throughout the organization. It was frankly appalling that, an hour before Game 7, Rivers was lamenting about an officiating report over Game 6 in which a disproportionate number of missed calls favored Boston. To repeat: an hour before the biggest playoff game in franchise history in 20+ years, the head coach was airing out his gripes about officiating in a game played over 48 hours ago. It was embarrassing. Everyone had a feeling that Game 6 was Philadelphia’s shot to finish Boston; they didn’t get the job done, but this year’s Sixers’ team had proven they were different. Yet, their head coach went up in front of the media an hour before tip-off and acted like the series was over. Rivers’ inability to make adjustments, his stubbornness with his rotations, and his own track record of postseason failure has led to falling back to excuses in Philadelphia. Rivers didn’t shy away from another one after Game 7, this time lamenting how he’s never had a fully healthy Joel in the postseason. I’m not sure I’ve seen more of an acceptance of defeat than what Doc Rivers showed pregame. It was inexcusable. Given the marquee names available on the coaching market, I’d be shocked if Rivers was back in charge of the bench next season.
This is a pivotal summer for the 76ers and it’s clear why the sense that this was Philadelphia’s best chance to win a title with Joel Embiid was so present. The buzz around James Harden returning to Houston has only gotten louder, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski did not do anything to silence that chatter on his Monday appearance on Get Up. Even if Harden doesn’t return to Houston, can the 76ers really justify making a substantial financial commitment to him after his performance this past series? I’m not sure the 76ers can afford to tie the remaining years of Embiid’s prime to Harden, who has shown noticeable signs of decline and consistently has underwhelmed in the brightest moments. That being said, can the 76ers really afford to lose a player of Harden’s caliber for nothing either? In some sense, Philadelphia’s most ideal option is bringing Harden back on a two-year deal and hoping they can win a title in their narrowing window. Still, can they realistically believe they can do that after falling short this year, in the year where everything felt different?
If Harden leaves Philadelphia, where does that leave Joel Embiid? Tyrese Maxey wasn’t afraid of the moment in the postseason, but he’s far from being the #2 option title teams need, especially when your #1 has consistently underperformed in May basketball. Philadelphia wouldn’t have cap space with or without Harden and their cache of tradeable assets pales in comparison to competitors. Can the 76ers sell Embiid on this roster and organization sans Harden? Maybe, but given Embiid’s oddly critical comments around his belief that there are fans who want to trade him, I’m not so sure. Unless Maxey witnesses a Jalen Brunson-esque jump next season, this is a Philadelphia team that doesn’t have many clear avenues to substantially improving their roster. They’ve almost forced themselves to exhaust every possible option to bringing James Harden back, even if it seems unlikely that he’ll return.
A final note, but one wild card in this whole mix is Daryl Morey’s future with the organization. When Morey originally joined Philadelphia in 2020, Marc Stein reported it was a five-year deal. It’s no secret that Morey and Harden boast a strong relationship; if Harden were to leave, would Morey also walk away with two years left on the deal? Morey has been instrumental to properly optimizing the roster around Joel Embiid. If he’s gone, what happens to the front office? Would Doc Rivers be gone as well? The 76ers are probably more likely than not to witness a significant reshuffling this summer, but what it looks like remains a mystery. Maybe they get extremely aggressive and try for a Kyrie Irving sign-and-trade. Maybe they opt for a smaller retool, offloading Tobias Harris for some package involving John Collins from Atlanta. Either way, the options aren’t particularly appetizing.
The 76ers won’t be fully toast so long as they have Joel Embiid. It’s another postseason exit that certainly stings and one that has certainly limited their viable path of go-forward options. Change is certainly needed at all levels of the organization: I’d say a coach that can instill a culture of accountability should be the top priority. The end result wasn’t what Philadelphia had in mind, but the moments experienced this year won’t be forgotten in the City of Brotherly Love. Embiid capturing his elusive MVP, the belief the 76ers gave their fans, the historically great James Harden performance in Game 1. All those moments don’t disappear just because a banner isn’t hung for NBA Finals Champions. Those things should provide some solace for the fans. Yet, it shouldn’t be satisfactory given the expectations. It was a year that felt and seemed so different, only for it to end in the exact same way. A new process is needed in Philadelphia: what that looks like, we can’t be sure. If The Process Era wasn’t officially over two years ago, it is today.
The Chirp 