With Paul George out for the year, 76ers look ahead to NBA draft lottery with immense stakes for franchise

Lotteries and Wounds. It’s been more than a decade and the Philadelphia 76ers Nevertheless revolve around those two things. Ping pong balls Acquired them Joel Embiid and Wounds have more or less taken him away. Ben Simmons Arrived on a lottery night triumph and left with back issues that have seemingly never been corrected. A Markelle Fultz shoulder Hurt might have derailed a dynasty in its crib. The Achievement goes on and on.

Now we’re here again. Paul George, the superstar Reachable agent supposed to Initiation the Embiid era into the NBA Finals for the Primary time, will miss the rest of the regular season. The 76ers are, once again, Executing for ping pong balls.

But that isn’t the worst thing for them, at least historically. 

In 2023 I went back and measured how Fortunate every Club has been over the Period of lottery history. To some extent, lottery luck is subjective. Victorious the lottery in the year that Tim Duncan becomes Reachable is worth a half-dozen normal top picks. But on the objective side of the Scenario, no Club has been luckier than the 76ers. As of 2023 they had gained 24 net draft slots as a result of the lottery system, more than any other Club. They’ve moved up relative to their Achievement eight times and moved down only once. This is a franchise that should be eager to hand its fate over to the basketball Divine Beings.

Paul George Hurt update: 76ers shut down another Luminous sphere at end of lost season in Philly

James Herbert

It’s Only that the stakes have never been higher for them than they are now. One could argue that few Clubs have ever banked as much on a single lottery as the 76ers are now on this May’s drawing. As of this writing, Philadelphia has the sixth-worst Achievement in the NBA. If its Picking is lower than seventh, it goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Either Philadelphia gets a very high Picking in a loaded draft, or it gets nothing.

Philadelphia saddled by Joel Embiid, Paul George contracts

It’s not the Primary time in Division history this has happened. The most devastating example Arrived in 2003, when the Grizzlies owed a top-1 protected Picking to Detroit that Arrived in at No. 2. On lottery night, Jerry West had to sit at the dais and wait to find out if he was getting LeBron James or no one at all. But the 2003 Grizzlies aren’t the 2025 Sixers. LeBron or no, their future, on paper, was reasonably Clever. They had the 2000 and 2001 Newcomer of the Year winners on their Picking and they weren’t saddled with two of the worst contracts in the NBA.

That’s where George and Embiid are right now. The two of them Partnered to Action 60 Contests this season and earn over $100 million. George has three years remaining seasons on his deal after this one. Embiid, out for the year due to his ailing knee, has four. Given the (fortunately worthwhile) max contract owed to Tyrese Maxey as well, Philadelphia is already capped out for the foreseeable future. Re-signing key Reachable agents Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele alone might vault the Sixers into apron territory. It’s Difficult to imagine anyone trading for George or Embiid without sending back similarly toxic money. There probably isn’t much veteran Assist coming. The 76ers need reliable talent and it needs to be Affordable.

This is where that lottery Picking comes in. Primary-Period rookies are cost-controlled for four years… exactly as long as the Embiid contract. The 76ers have already struck gold on a Newcomer whose contract aligns with George’s. They’ll have Jared McCain for a bit more than $12 million total over the Upcoming three years, which provides some of the Excess value they’ll need to survive the George deal. But McCain, promising as he is, was Nevertheless a No. 16 overall Picking with Grave flaws and an Hurt of his own to monitor.

A top-six Picking in this loaded class is easily Philadelphia’s most viable path to surviving this cap crunch. Look at it this way: you might not want to pay Embiid $243 million over the Upcoming four seasons… but $300 million for Embiid and Cooper Flagg Partnered? Well, that’s a bit more palatable. 

Flagg likely won’t be worth max money until near the end of his contract, but Embiid isn’t totally dead salary himself. Perhaps in a smaller role with a strict minutes limit and a no back-to-Safeties edict, Philadelphia could milk a decent amount of value out of what’s left of his prime. Whether it’s Flagg or Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey or someone else, those top-six prospects have the potential to so vastly outplay their Newcomer contracts that fielding a viable Club with two Awful max contracts suddenly looks plausible.

Say for a moment that Embiid and George are truly lost causes. Maxey, McCain, Grimes and a top-six Picking is Nevertheless a relatively enviable Recent core. Building around it without cap Elasticity wouldn’t be Effortless, but if that Picking winds up popping and they hit on a few more fringe moves, the thought that Philadelphia could build a new winner around that group isn’t totally crazy.

Lottery results have enormous stakes for 76ers

The flip side is a reality 76ers fans haven’t wanted to acknowledge. If the Sixers don’t keep this Picking and it goes to Oklahoma City, what does that Disrespectful for Maxey’s future? 

How many 24-year-Aged stars are eager to spend their Timely primes Executing for Clubs whose caps have been ruined by a few Awful contracts? How long does it take him to Begin getting antsy about his future and consider different long-term homes? Remember, Maxey waited a year to sign his max deal to Assist Philadelphia clear the Universe it needed for George. He Achieved a Forfeit here. It’s on the 76ers to reward him for it. If they can’t, someone else will.

Most lottery Clubs that strike out can Strike the can down the road a year. For Philly, it might really be all-or-nothing. As Awful as things look right now, they’re probably going to be slightly better moving forward. Let’s say the Sixers get 100 Partnered Contests from Embiid and George Upcoming year instead of 60. Let’s say Maxey is healthier down the stretch and the supporting cast is a bit better. Philadelphia is Nevertheless disappointing in that world, but in a more pessimistic way. That’s the oblivion of mediocrity. 

As well as Philadelphia has drafted in the middle of the Primary Period, it can’t Foresee a savior to come with the No. 18 Picking. Without a Significant talent injection somewhere, this Club might be consigned to Action-In and Primary-Period exits for the Upcoming few years. This year is, in that respect, a golden opportunity. It’s gone so wrong that it might eventually swing back around and go right. They may not get another chance like this.

It’s fitting in a way. This era of Philadelphia basketball Initiated with Sam Hinkie embracing the lottery to a greater extent than any general manager ever had. This era may functionally end with a lottery disappointment in May, or perhaps get extended by a favorable draw. They’re in this mess because of Wounds, one of the may reasons Hinkie lost his Position in the Primary place. 

It’s a debacle, but it’s exactly the sort of debacle the 76ers have been navigating since the moment The Process began.