After a disastrous start to 2024-2025, a trip to the other side of the country is just what the doctor ordered for the Sixers.
To put it mildly, the season has not started the way anyone would have liked for the Sixers. Not only have they lost four of their first five games, but the four teams they lost to are a combined 5-18 in their other games so far this season against teams that aren’t the Sixers. So, what’s going on?
Well in short, a lot, and none of it is good. The Joel Embiid situation has created nothing but drama for the franchise from the top down. Management has once again failed to be transparent in disclosing whatever the plan is with Embiid’s load management. Embiid has grown frustrated with the rise in negative press surrounding his continued absence. On the court, an argument can be made that the role players are once again not good enough to handle Embiid being sidelined for extended periods of time. But Nick Nurse also deserves some blame because he went into this season expecting to be down Embiid for lots of games and losing games to lottery teams from last season like Toronto, Detroit and Memphis is not exactly encouraging.
While I haven’t canvassed the entire fanbase, I think it’s fair to assume most fans entered the season with a renewed level of optimism. Daryl Morey had a very active offseason in which he not only added Paul George as another high-end player into the rotation, but revamped a good chunk of the supporting cast with so many contracts coming off the books at the end of last year. As would be the case with any team in Philadelphia that fails to live up to preseason expectations early in a season, the narrative around the Sixers has shifted to a much more negative one.
Fans probably don’t want to hear things like “It’s a long season” and “Both Embiid and George haven’t even played a game yet,” even though George is set to debut with the Sixers on Monday night in Phoenix. But those feelings aren’t wrong sentiments to express either. The Sixers still have a lot of assets they can use to shake up the roster if they feel various personnel changes are warranted down the line. However, we’re likely still months away from Morey making those kinds of decisions.
The best immediate remedy for the Sixers is likely to head to the other side of the country and get away from the pressures that come with playing in front of what’s now a very disgruntled and frustrated fanbase. It’s easy for us on the outside to forget that professional athletes are still humans too. They have some of the same emotional triggers that we all do. They’re compensated adequately to deal with the challenges of playing in intense sports markets like Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean a change of scenery can’t help everyone take a deep breath and relax a bit.
The Suns and Lakers are especially off to good starts so consider this road trip an opportunity for the Sixers to remind us all that it is truly a long season that will come with several twists and turns. What better time for the first positive turn in 2024-25? A couple of wins this week would certainly put fans at ease at least for a little bit before the team returns home for a Sunday night tilt with Charlotte. Perhaps George’s debut allows the role players to loosen up a bit and find more of a groove knowing that they won’t have to shoulder as much of the load as they did in the first five games of the season.
After the Charlotte game, the Sixers will square off with the Knicks for the first time since last year’s playoff exit in their opening NBA Cup group stage game, and then welcome in a Cleveland team that’s off to a 7-0 start. Should the Sixers’ struggles continue once we’ve hit the 10-game watermark on the year, it would certainly make more sense to hit the panic button. I’m not there yet though. Last season’s Sixers did not have a losing streak of more than four games. It’s times like these where you should be confident that a coach like Nick Nurse will be able to stop the bleeding.