The Philadelphia 76ers should shut down their two star players and tank the rest of the regular season.
When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Paul George from the LA Clippers via free agency, the belief was that this team was going to emerge as a potential championship contender in the Eastern Conference. On paper, the trio of PG, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey seemed like a big 3 that could leave their mark on the conference and potentially push a team like the Boston Celtics or New York Knicks in a seven-game playoff series.
However, it's almost as if this specific core never got a chance to prove its worth as a collection. From the start of training camp, nothing has seemingly gone right for the Sixers. Injury after injury, the Sixers' season was derailed from the start. Overall, Embiid has missed 37 games this season, PG has missed 19, and even rookie standout Jared McCain has missed all but 23. It just hasn't been Philadelphia's year.
With Embiid and PG limping their way just to get through games, there must come to a point where the Sixers have to figure out if this is all worth it. I'd argue Philadelphia, with just 26 games left, has arrived at that point.
The Philadelphia 76ers need to be smart with PG and Embiid
If Embiid and PG genuinely are hurt and need either surgery or extended rest to ensure they'll be ready for the start of next season, the Sixers should get a head start on that process now. At best, the Sixers will enter the playoffs as a bottom-two seed. If Embiid and PG have no shot of being near 100 percent healthy in the postseason, Philly has no real shot of emerging as a surprise team to make a deep run in the conference.
It can be argued that there's no reason for Embiid and PG to be on the floor anymore for the Sixers this season. As both deal with injuries, it could make much more sense for Philly to shut them both down and tank for the remainder of the season. Not only will it help this team (who has been excellent at drafting recently) improve their draft stock but this is also a move that will put the Sixers in the right position to potentially compete next season.
Many will be quick to say that the Sixers' move for PG will prove to be a bust because of how this season has gone. However, I'm not sure that is exactly the case. The Sixers have a great roster. But for it to be effective and live up to its expectations, health was a big part of the formula. This season, it didn't break down that way for the team. To ensure that is not going to be the case again at least at the start of next season, the Sixers should waive the white flag and shut down their two stars.
At this point, I don't see much reason to keep putting PG and Embiid in danger of getting hurt more seriously than they already are. At some point soon, you'd have to imagine that the Sixers will agree.