There is a path to the Philadelphia 76ers extending their championship window this offseason.
The Philadelphia 76ers tried to restart “The Process” but that didn’t work out.
The Sixers passed on Jayson Tatum for Markelle Fultz.
The Sixers missed on Ben Simmons.
They missed out on Jimmy Butler by choosing Tobias Harris instead. Many young talented players were shuffled in and out of Philadelphia and none of them were developed really within the organization.
Despite all their misfortunes, this seemed to be the year where the 76ers could make some noise, with the re-signing of James Harden, the continued growth of Tyrese Maxey, and the MVP performance of Joel Embiid.
But somehow, once again, it just didn’t work out. Was it because of James Harden? Doc Rivers? Joel Embiid? There’s plenty of blame to go around on why the Sixers haven’t been able to get it done. But what needs to be done to make sure that they can achieve the championship aspirations they have? The championship window seems to be closing and changes must be made.
What the Philadelphia 76ers must do this offseason
The first thing that the Sixers need to do is hit an absolute home run when it comes to the hiring of their new head coach. Rivers was a good coach for the team but when the team needed guidance the most, he clearly wasn’t good enough to get them over the hump in the Eastern Conference.
After hiring a new head coach, the Sixers have to make a big decision regarding Tyrese Maxey’s future. Quite frankly, the Sixers have to give him a contract extension. With the whispers that James Harden is going to decline his player option for next season and leave Philly, it will be exceedingly important for the Sixers to lock up Maxey.
Maxey is a young superstar in the making and the team needs to put all faith and confidence in him this offseason. It’s time for him to take his place next to Embiid as a co-star.
The last thing that the Sixers need to do this offseason is to sign a leader. Right now on the roster, the Sixers have one leader: PJ Tucker. They need more. The Sixers need Embiid to be the leader, but right now he is not there yet. And that comes with growth, experience, and failure. It will come in time but Embiid needs some help next season in the leadership department, especially if Harden ends up leaving.
There are a lot of veteran big names who are set to be free agents this season, so if the Sixers can grab at least one of those veteran leaders, maybe the team can do just enough to extend their championship window this offseason.