The Philadelphia 76ers once seemed like the next dynasty of the NBA. They had multiple All-Star level players. Multiple time MVP finalist Joel Embiid led the team with Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris at his side. The team had great bench pieces and amazing chemistry with each other. It seemed nothing could go wrong in Philly, but their downfall had just begun. The Sixers now remain at the bottom of the standings, but how did they get there? Let’s have a look back at what transpired over the last few years and find out what went wrong to leave them in their current position.
After a great 2018-19 regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers were considered one of the top teams in the NBA. They were one of the favorites to win the championship that year. They had a great playoff run, but it ended in one of the clutchest shots in NBA history by Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors. The 76ers thought this was just a fluke and they would be back to contending for years to come, but little did they know, their downward spiral had just begun. They had a decent 2019-20 season, finishing with 43 wins and 30 losses and secured themselves at the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They had a tough matchup in round one, being the Boston Celtics. These teams had met in the playoffs before, but this series would start a one-sided rivalry that would disappoint Sixers fans for years. The Celtics would demolish the Sixers, sweeping them in embarrassing fashion. The Sixers were very injured though, so they still had hope for next season. The fans would watch another chance at a championship blow past them, just out of their reach.
In the following offseason, the 76ers would have a great draft. They drafted Tyrese Maxey with the 21st overall pick, a steal for what level of player he is today. Next, they traded Al Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder in return for some bench pieces to round out the roster. These roster additions gave the Sixers high hopes for the 2020-21 season. The team was determined to show that they meant business. The Sixers blazed their way to the first seed in the East, torching every team in their way. They finished 49-29, a great improvement from last season. This year was destined to be Philly’s year, but it didn’t turn out that way. The Sixers easily beat the eighth seeded Washington Wizards in five games to advance to the second round. They matched up against a Trae Young led Atlanta Hawks team, who had upset the Knicks in the previous series. The Sixers thought very little of the Hawks, seeing them as another stepping stone to their championship trophy. The Sixers would quickly learn that no team is safe in the playoffs. The Hawks kept fighting and had the series tied at three games a piece. This is where disaster would strike.
Ben Simmons, the Sixers starting point guard and first overall pick in the 2016 draft, would have a horrible performance in game 7 of that series. He would end up with thirteen points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Not bad stats on paper, but that is not what the main issue was. Simmons would make many confusing mistakes that seemed way under his level of play. He even passed up on an open dunk in the clutch, passing it to his teammate instead, and missed out on two points. No one knew why Simmoms was struggling, but his blunders would end the Sixers’ season, with them losing 96 to 103. Ben Simmons took a flurry of insults and criticism from fans and the media and he grew upset with the team. Ben Simmons started to sit out games because he did not want to play for a team that did not accept him.
Eventually, Simmons was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden midway through the 2021-22 season. The 76ers also had to give up some role players and two first round draft picks to the Nets in the deal. The Sixers were not happy they had to give up this much, but at least they got away from the Ben Simmons drama. The Sixers finished 51-31 that season, securing them the fourth seed, but the mood was not great. All the drama had weighed down on team chemistry and new additions needed time to find their roles. The Sixers were eventually eliminated from the playoffs by the Miami Heat in the second round. The Sixers knew their time was running out to win a championship with Joel Embiid as their star, so they made sure to go hard the next season.
The 2022-23 season was now or never for the 76ers. Joel Embiid was now well into prime and he had a great secondary option in Harden and a great supporting cast. The Sixers dominated the league that season, finishing 54-28, which got them the third seed. Joel Embiid would narrowly beat out Nikola Jokic to win the 2023 NBA MVP award. This year was the Sixers’ chance to finally hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets’ had regressed severely after losing Harden and they decided to move on from that roster. They traded all of their star players to other teams midway through the season for young talent and draft picks. The new young core of the Nets was not very good, but the excellent play of the superstar before them kept them at the sixth seed. This would be an easy matchup for the Sixers, who swept the team in four games.
Their next opponent was their long time rival Boston Celtics. The Celtics were coming off an NBA Finals appearance and were better than ever. The series was neck and neck all the way through, with each team having all-time performances to beat each other. The series would come down to a Game 7, in which the Sixers’ hopes would be crushed. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics would go off for 51 points, the most in Game 7 history, to beat the Sixers 112-88. Another year would go to waste and the 76er’s championship window was rapidly closing. The Sixers had enough with the drama that Ben Simmons and James Harden brought to the team. The Sixers decided to roll with their homegrown talent from now on.
The 76ers traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers at the start of the 2023-24 season and put Tyrese Maxey as their new starting point guard. The Sixers received many role players and picks as part of the deal. These players were experienced and knew how to win. If Maxey and Embiid could produce similarly to last year’s team, they might have a chance to win the title. Hopes were high in Philly, and Maxey did not disappoint. He fit in perfectly next to Embiid and produced better numbers than Harden in just his first year as the starter. Although everything was going great, tragedy would strike in Philly once again. Embiid and Maxey would start to face injury trouble near the midpoint of the season. Without their star players, the Sixers wouldn’t have enough juice to make the playoffs. Despite that, the team stayed healthy enough to get the seventh seed. Conditions were not ideal, but any chance was good enough for them.
The series would be against the second seeded New York Knicks. This was a tough matchup for any team, but the Sixers had to push through no matter what. The series went back and forth, but the Sixers would fall down 3-2 in the series This was do or die for the Sixers. If they lost, the Sixers may have to blow up the roster and rebuild for the future. The 76ers tried their hardest, but the Knicks were just too much. They lost game six and left home dejected. All hope was lost, but one last chance arised. Paul Gerople of the L.A. Clippers became a free agent and could save the Sixers from doom. George was signed to a huge $212 million dollar contract to be the new star next to Embiid and Maxey. The Sixers had high hopes, but the next season would go unexpectedly.
The team started off terribly, being 1-8 in their first nine games. No one knew what was wrong. Everyone hoped it was just a slow start, but the team never picked back up again. Paul George’s production had fallen off a cliff and the team dealt with horrendous injury luck. The season had gone down the drain faster than it started. That’s where the 76ers stand now. They sit near the bottom of the standings and are in the lottery from the NBA draft. Their team is now extremely expensive, but not good enough to justify it. The Sixers championship window seems to have closed up for good and the Embiid era was all for nothing. Only time will tell what is next for the Sixers, but nothing looks sunny in Philadelphia.
