The Philadelphia 76ers fell to 20-35 with a blowout loss to the Boston Celtics out of the All-Star break. Despite a fully healthy rotation (minus Jared McCain), Philly was outmatched and out-hustled across the board. Nick Nurse is either the worst coach in the NBA or this Sixers team has completely given up; Boston ran circles around a Sixers defense that could only be described as ill-prepared.
Joel Embiid continues to signal that his knee requires another surgery. Paul George has been playing through significant pain in his hand, with the on-court results falling well short of expectations for a $212 million All-Star. Tyrese Maxey looks good, but that's about it. The Sixers have interesting depth pieces and plenty of overall talent, but this season is cooked. They just don't have it.
That's why it is past time to bring out the tanks and shut things down. Embiid doesn't need to play another second this season. Neither does George, for that matter. Allow the youth to run wild, play Andre Drummond an ungodly volume of negative-impact minutes, and let the wheels fall off. If the Sixers can begin the offseason with a top-six pick in the NBA Draft and a head coaching vacancy, that would be a small but meaningful consolation for basketball's most tortured fanbase.
The top-six bit is important, too. Philly's pick belongs to OKC, top-six protected. So, unless the Sixers can successfully navigate their way to the bottom of the standings, all this losing will be for naught. Postseason hopes are out the window. Now it's time to get serious about salvaging what little value can still come from this season.
Here are a few prospects who'd make a tanking effort worthwhile.
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5. Liam McNeeley, UConn
The Sixers will presumably try their hand at contending again next season. Embiid, George, and Maxey are all under contract for a few more years, so this core isn't going anywhere — strap in. That could lead Daryl Morey to prioritize a more ready-made contributor, especially if the Sixers whiff on the true top-tier prospects. Enter Liam McNeeley.
We know how successfully this UConn program can churn out NBA talent under Dan Hurley. McNeeley has more or less been the Huskies' best player as a freshman. He missed time recently with an ankle injury, during which the Huskies' success cratered. Now he's back and putting up his best numbers of the season. As a sharpshooting 6-foot-7 wing with strong off-ball instincts and connective passing chops, McNeeley is a rather obvious fit for this Sixers team.
Embiid's greatest success has always come with volume shooters in his orbit. McNeeley would feast in two-man actions with Embiid, whether he's sniping a movement 3 or attacking the lane with his head on a swivel. McNeeley might not boast the highest ceiling, but he does a ton of valuable, role-playing things well. He would get minutes out of the gate and deliver immediate results.
4. Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
Conference play has been a mixed bag for Illinois freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, but it's hard not to buy stock in a point guard with his intersection of size, passing IQ, and shot-making. If we want to be aggressively friendly with our comps, Jakucionis can at times channel a James Harden-esque cadence, patiently working the middle of a defense with a deadly step-back in his back pocket and the ability to fire quick-hitting passes with either hand.
Jakucionis is not James Harden, to be clear, but one can't help but think of the success Philadelphia experienced during their brief affair with the future Hall of Fame guard. Harden took Maxey's game to a new level, fed Embiid easier looks than he's ever seen, and kept Doc Rivers' offense afloat when Philly's other stars took a seat. The Sixers picking George over Harden will go down as Morey's biggest misstep. If Philly lands high enough, though, Jakucionis could provide some — some — of that same offensive stimulation.
Your opinion on Jakucionis' fit in Philadelphia probably depends on your feelings about McCain, who was running away with Rookie of the Year before a season-ending meniscus tear. Jakucionis has a wing's frame, though, so he can share the court with McCain and Maxey, two smallish guards with okayish defensive profiles. Both McCain and Maxey are elite off-ball shooters, and you can never have too many capable ball-handlers, assuming they're willing to defer to each other when necessary. Jakucionis would bring a lot to the Sixers' offense.
3. Ace Bailey, Rutgers
Ace Bailey is the most preposterous player to emerge on NBA radars in quite some time. We all knew this was coming — he has been a five-star recruit, touted as Cooper Flagg's main competition, since the beginning — but we still weren't prepared for the sheer magnitude of "WTFs" uttered while watching Bailey scorch college defenses.
The 6-foot-10 freshman has been rather easily lobbed into the Kevin Durant basket of tall, long shot-making wings, but Bailey probably deserves a more measured and patient comparison. He is not nearly as well-rounded and fully developed as KD was coming out of Texas. That said, Bailey does have the it-factor. He gets to his shots whenever and wherever he wants, capable of shooting over the defense at awkward angles and scoring with absurd efficiency on what would be a categorically unhealthy shot diet for 99.9 percent of other basketball players on Earth.
Bailey's lack of passing is a concern, and there are valid qualms with his shot selection, even if he tends to make more than he misses. Some of the heavily contested long-2s that Rutgers lives with won't fly at the next level. In Philadelphia, however, Bailey wouldn't be tasked with running the offense or carrying an outsized burden. He'd simply need to space the floor for Embiid and Maxey, stepping into open spot-up 3s and attacking seams in the defense. It's pretty much an ideal landing spot.
2. Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Dylan Harper has been the consensus No. 2 prospect on most boards since early in the season. Rutgers' point guard has undergone his share of turbulence due to injuries, but he remains an unimpeachable talent with a clear path to NBA stardom. The Sixers don't necessarily need another "point guard," but Harper is more than his positional label. He's also just too good to ignore.
At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Harper has no trouble defending wings. The Sixers can plug him into Kelly Oubre's starting spot without sacrificing much in terms of size or matchup flexibility. Harper's advantage creation is special. He's an impressively dynamic slasher, with the burst, footwork, and dexterity to put defenders on skates and manifest driving lanes out of thin air. He applies rim pressure at will and frequently works his way to the free-throw line, a key indicator of star potential.
Harper is a good not great shooter, but that's fine with Maxey, McCain, and George bombing 3s at high clips. Embiid doesn't set up shop in the paint like he used to. The Sixers would benefit from the combined abilities of Harper and Maxey to tilt the defense and set the offense in motion. Harper can create easy looks for Embiid out of pick-and-rolls, he can make advanced reads on the fly, and he's a competitive dude. He won't back away from contact on either end of the floor. The Sixers would be lucky to get him in the building.
1. Cooper Flagg, Duke
Every tanking team wants Cooper Flagg, but it's difficult to imagine a more optimal landing spot, on paper, than Philadelphia. The Sixers need to actually get healthy enough to put a full team around Flagg, but he could be the missing piece for a floundering, wannabe contender. The Sixers need more size and physicality in the frontcourt; one more dynamic shot-creator would really open things up. Flagg fits the bill perfectly.
At 6-foot-9, Flagg has emerged as the most dominant freshman in recent college basketball history. He is putting up absurd numbers on a heavy usage rate, operating as the centrifugal hub of Duke's offense. Everything orbits around him, which was frankly not the expectation when Flagg reclassified and arrived in Durham at 17 years old. He worked through early-season kinks and emerged all the better for it.
Flagg has been prolifically canning shots from all three levels for months now. He's stepping into movement 3s, burying mid-range pull-ups, and scoring with appreciable physicality around the cup. He could stand to get a bit stronger, but Flagg plays with a hard competitive edge and outlier athleticism. (Lost in the overwhelming excellence at times is a top-tier dunk highlight reel.) In addition to sharp connective instincts, elite play-finishing, and legitimate upside as a go-to creator on the wing, Flagg is a whirlwind weak-side defender capable of racking up stocks and giving Philly another layer of protection next to the ailing Embiid.
If the Sixers can turn this lost season into Cooper Flagg, it won't feel like such a lost season anymore.