If you didn’t see this coming, then you’ve just been lying to yourself.
I’d say that time was 2019.
The past 5 years have all just been about salvaging whatever was left of Joel Embiid’s prime.
A prime that now seems to be in the rear view mirror.
I legitimately don’t know how anyone could have seen this Sixers season playing out any differently?
He’s 30 years old.
His knees are hanging on by a thread.
He’s been injured every single year of his career.
His body just doesn’t have it anymore.
If it wasn’t his knee right now, it would be his back.
If it wasn’t his back, it would be his hip.
If it wasn’t his hip, it would be an ankle.
His best days are now behind him, and what do the Sixers have to show for it?
Not a damn thing.
Sure, he won an MVP in 2023 but everyone will always remember that as a joke.
It’s been nothing but blunder after blunder for the Sixers since 2019.
It all starts with trading Jimmy Butler.
So what do you do now?
Do you just shut him down for the rest of the season?
Is it just going to be the same exact thing next year?
And every year after that until his contract runs out?
We’ll never get that peak Joel Embiid back.
And if you put any lesser version than peak Joel Embiid out there with this Sixers team?
So it really doesn’t matter at this point.
The result is always going to be the same.
This year and every year after that.
