Analyst suggests Joel Embiid-led Sixers embrace tanking amid losing season

When Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers fell to the New York Knicks in the playoffs last season, fans were upset but optimistic about the team. In the offseason, the team extended Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and signed Paul George. Now, the 76ers find themselves fighting for the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.

There's a long list of reasons why the 76ers have fallen so far below expectations this year, from Embiid only having played 13 games to George fighting through one of the worst shooting slumps of his career. Combine that with the injuries Philadelphia has endured and the result is a team bad enough that one analyst suggested the team throw in the towel.

Zach Kram, a writer for The Ringer, claimed the 76ers could give up on competing for a spot in the play-in tournament and attempt to secure a high pick in next year's draft.

"The Sixers could cut their losses," he said. "Shut Embiid down, and embrace a second-half tank—a prospect made all the more appealing because Philadelphia owes a top-six-protected pick to the Thunder, courtesy of the Al Horford salary dump back in 2020.

"That trade wouldn’t be an issue if the 76ers were on pace to finish with one of the NBA’s six best records, as they were projected to before the season. But missing out on a top-10 talent in a loaded draft would hurt."

He said the Sixers face an uphill climb to get out of the play-in picture in the East, currently sitting five and a half games behind the seventh-seed Detroit Pistons.

Even though the Sixers might embrace struggling for the rest of the season to try to secure a top pick, the end result might see them giving their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder thanks to the Al Horford trade back in 2020. Philadelphia has been trying to dig itself out of a hole since the season began, but it would be late to the tanking race compared to its potential competition.

The bottom-feeder teams in the NBA are clear at this point. The Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards are all slotted near the bottom with a chance to secure the rights to draft Duke's Cooper Flagg. The Sixers would find themselves chasing those teams in the loss column at this point.

Joel Embiid Sixers tanking scenario: Players they might trade at the deadline

The Sixers could move players like Guerschon Yabusele, Kelly Oubre Jr., Eric Gordon or Caleb Martin to other teams this year.

The 76ers have fallen well short of expectations but could take the year off and return even better next season.