Should the Philadelphia 76ers Tank Now That They Officially Own Their First-Round Pick?
The Philadelphia 76ers fell at home on February 24th to the Brooklyn Nets by a score of 105-103, marking the franchise’s seventh straight loss and ninth loss across the team’s last ten games. As the 2024-25 regular season has gotten progressively worse for Philadelphia, there’s been much debate around the league as to when Philadelphia should call it quits and tank for next season. Now, there’s even more reason to tank than ever. With the loss to Brooklyn last night, Philadelphia now sits with a 20-36 record, the sixth-worst record in the NBA. Philadelphia was tied with the Nets for the sixth-worst record in the league but now holds sole possession of that spot after Brooklyn jumped them with the head-to-head victory. At this point, this means the Sixers own their top six protected first-round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft that the Oklahoma City Thunder owned.
The 76ers traded Al Horford and a 2025 top-six protected first-round pick for Danny Green back in 2020. Heading into the season, it would’ve been an afterthought for Daryl Morey to even consider the possibility that this pick could potentially be taken back from Oklahoma City. Seen as championship contenders throughout the preseason, injuries and lackluster play from stars Paul George and Joel Embiid have sent the Sixers’ season spiraling out of control. Now that Philadelphia officially owns its pick along with the fact that the Sixers keep on losing while trying to contend for a playoff spot, it might be time to throw away the season and rebuild for 2026 with a top rookie in a loaded 2025 draft class.
It’s recently been reported that Embiid and the 76ers’ front office are looking for treatment and solutions for his knee that’s been a glaring issue for the former MVP big man for the last few seasons. Although Embiid has tried to get back in the rotation, no current treatments and injections have worked to keep him healthy. He’s also said in the past that he will need another surgery with a long recovery time, and this could be the perfect time to allow Embiid that time off. It seems there’s nothing to look forward to for the rest of the season for Philadelphia and the continued play-in push seems out of denial for the front office to assume the season is over. The Sixers now sit in 12th place in the East, one and a half games back of the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. George is having one of the worst seasons of his NBA career, Embiid clearly isn’t anywhere near healthy enough to be a consistent piece of the rotation, and the supporting cast simply isn’t good enough. Philadelphia has a chance to enter the 2025-26 season with Jared McCain back along with another top rookie they can take with a top-six pick. Continuing to lose will only help Philadelphia’s chances of landing in the top six in the lottery, and the loss to Brooklyn could be a sign to call it quits for 2025.
