In 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Joel Embiid with the 3rd overall pick a future MVP, scoring champion, and hall of famer. However, no one would have expected that ten years later, the team would be in a worse place than it started. The team has started the season 1-4 and shows very little promise for future success. So how did this team get here and why can they seem to never get past the 2nd round? Is it safe to say that the “process” is officially over?
Let us find out together!
The year is 2001. The 76ers just beat the LA Lakers in the first round in the finals, and MVP Allen Iverson was looking hot. Little did the franchise know, this would be the last time the Sixers would ever win a finals game again, or even get to a series. After losing 4-1, the team went into total rebuild mode but seemed to never get back to their original prowess. Enter Sam Hinkie in 2013; this man coined the term THE PROCESS. His ideology, unlike any other at the time, was to continuously tank seasons until the team drafted the right players around which a team could be built. This concept would have worked, however bad draft choices after bad draft choices ruined the strategy and his name. The 2014 draft was successful, acquiring future star player Joel Embiid, but the year after it started to fall apart. The 76ers drafted power forward Jahil Okafor to work with rookie Embiid from Duke University. A good idea in theory but he turned out to be a huge bust. Fast forward to the 2016 draft, the 76ers draft 6’10 point guard Ben Simmons. The pick is controversial! Many people argue that it was a good pick as he was a two-time all-star. However, he ended up being a head case, not being able to shoot the ball, so who knows?
Year after year the 76ers blew their chances at getting a franchise player. In 2018, the team acquired all-star Jimmy Butler, and before you knew it, he was traded away. Then in 2022, the 76ers acquired MVP James Harden who, to put it lightly, was not a team player. The 76ers have had ample opportunities to win a championship yet they have yet to make it past the second round. So here we are, almost in 2025, living through the same stuff we have seen throughout the last decade, and let me just say I have lost all hope. This is partly due to the organization being terribly run, but it also has to do with the star player of the franchise. Ever since he was drafted everyone and their mother thought Joel Embiid would be the next big thing. And don’t get me wrong, he is a great player, but he lacks what is needed to win a championship: health. Embiid is always getting hurt. In his first season, he had a broken foot, and from then on, injuries kept coming and coming. I love Joel Embiid, but his injuries have made him a liability. If this organization ever wants to win a championship I have one recommendation: for the love of god please trade Joel Embiid!
