The Philadelphia 76ers publically admit that they’re perfectly fine with wasting Joel Embiid’s prime.
When this season is all said and done, the biggest sin of the Philadelphia 76ers won’t be the way they handled the Ben Simmons situation. Instead, it’ll be their passive approach to allowing another year of Joel Embiid’s prime, specifically his age-28 season, to be essentially hijacked by a player that the team, probably, deep down doesn’t even want on the roster.
Nevertheless, Sixers general manager continues to make this Simmons situation about himself as it’s been reported that he won’t take the best offer at the deadline and, instead, will wait until the offseason to try and use Simmons for a bigger fish.
Or, the bigger fish that he wants.
In what might end up being his best season to date, the Sixers are essentially telling Embiid “just wait until next season to be a real contender in the East.”
Embiid, who will likely finish top 5 in MVP voting this season, is averaging 29 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists per game on 50 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Instead of doing his job and trying to field the best roster that he can to try and make the Sixers a contender THIS season, Morey is reportedly electing to wait until the summer to trade Simmons for other stars that may or may not even be an option for this team.
Maybe the Sixers end up getting James Harden or Bradley Beal, or another superstar during the offseason. But it’s a big risk for players that are probably more likely to re-sign with their current teams than they are to sign (or be traded) elsewhere.
If the Sixers end up missing on adding a superstar during the offseason (by using Simmons as trade bait), the sins of Morey as it regards to this Simmons situation will not be forgotten. Another year of Embiid’s prime is being knowingly wasted.
The Sixers need to be held accountable if the next two seasons don’t result in deep playoff runs.