Sixers go into full Cooper Flagg or bust mode, and it's a dangerous game

The Philadelphia 76ers' season from hell marches on, and the end is nigh.

It will be the purest relief for this Sixers season to end, but the future looms large on the horizon. What exactly happens from here? Are Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse safe? Can Joel Embiid ever put together a full season again? Is Paul George still even close to a star? These questions rattle continue to rattle around my mind. The answers are unclear.

Philly has all the pieces on paper — a generationally talented offensive cornerstone, a dynamic star guard, a prototypical 3-and-D wing, and the most promising rookie from this year's draft in Jared McCain. If this all does somehow work out, there's a world in which the Sixers are pushing deep into the playoffs next season. That feels an awful lot like wishful thinking, though.

If there's one saving grace — one path forward for the NBA's most tormented, snakebitten franchise — it's the No. 1 overall pick. The NBA Draft Lottery will determine how Sixers fans feel about things moving forward. The front office, to its credit, has done everything in its power to manifest the Cooper Flagg dream into reality.

With Embiid and George already done for the season, Tyrese Maxey is expected to join his fellow max contract recipients on the IL. Philly is all-in on the tank in these final weeks. Somebody ought to tell Nick Nurse.

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With Tyrese Maxey done for the season, it's Cooper Flagg or bust for the 76ers

This is, to be clear, the only path for Philadelphia at this point. It's beyond their control. The injuries have piled up and postseason aspirations are long dead. That said, it's fair to wonder how this all plays out if the Flagg dream does not come to fruition.

As of right now, Philadelphia has 10.5 percent odds to land the No. 1 pick. Not bad, but that is essentially a 1-in-10 chance. This is a deep draft, and Philly would benefit tremendously from adding the likes of Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey. VJ Edgecombe. The list goes on. Flagg stands alone as a franchise-changing talent, however, and he feels like the surest bet to brighten the future in Philadelphia.

There's still a world in which the Sixers lose this pick to OKC, should it fall outside the top-six. That is the flip side of the coin. For all this talk of Cooper Flagg, the odds of Philadelphia emerging from this nightmare campaign empty-handed are even higher. Then what? The vibes are at an all-time low, there is friction between Embiid and the front office, and the core of this roster feels irrevocably broken.

Maxey and McCain are immensely promising long-term talents, and Philly appears to have found a gem in Quentin Grimes. Is there a path forward building around two small guards and a small wing, though? Embiid and George are virtually untradable. The Sixers could end up right back in the same spot next season, hoping for another top pick instead of vying for the championship.

The second tier of this draft is tricky territory for the Sixers. A lot of the popular names in the 4-6 range, like Derik Queen, Khaman Maluach, Jeremiah Fears, and Kasparas Jakucionis, overlap with either Embiid or the Maxey-McCain backcourt. It's not necessarily Flagg or bust is such overt terms, but it does feel like the alternatives leave Philadelphia with more questions than answers.

Daryl Morey, if he does one thing well, tends to nail the draft. Philadelphia fans shouldn't be panicking yet. But, if this impromptu tank leads to underwhelming returns, Sixers fans will need to start asking some tough questions.