When most people think of bright-green villains around the holidays, they think of the Grinch coming to steal Christmas. The Philadelphia 76ers fanbase collectively thinks of the Boston Celtics– who nearly pulled off stealing Christmas themselves. But just like the festive fable, the Celtics banded together to show some love to their little brother, and the Sixers escaped TD Garden in Boston with their biggest win since Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, also at TD Garden.
The win brings the team’s record to 11-17 as they continue this road trip on the West Coast with a real opportunity to make up ground in the standings. They will play the Jazz, Trail Blazers, Kings, and Warriors before flying back to face the Nets before their next home game.
Assuming general health and that Embiid will sit one of the games in California because of a back-to-back, the Sixers should win four of their next five games and find themselves with a 15-18 record just past the New Year- completely unthinkable when they were 3-14 on Thanksgiving.
How they fare on this road trip will go a long way in determining Daryl Morey’s course of action as trade season kicks into high gear. The Sixers proved that they can compete with good teams when they have their full cast of characters.
These next five games are about proving that they can “keep the main thing the main thing,” to quote Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. With little margin for error anymore, the difference between 4-1 and 2-3 on the road trip might seem trivial but could prove crucial in how the Sixers’ brass evaluates the prospects of the rest of the season.
If things go well
It is still the holiday season, so we should start from a positive angle. Christmas Day is the “unofficial start of the NBA season,” so what better way to get things going than with a win over the defending champs? Seriously, though, just for morale purposes, that win has a chance to catapult this team after the turmoil they went through to get here.
Usually, things start off well for the Sixers; fans get their hopes up, and then it all comes crashing down. Maybe this year is the opposite: they start the season up in smoke, fans think it is over, and then the team starts playing their best ball when it matters.
The Sixers can play with and beat any team in the league when their triumvirate of stars all suit up. The Eastern Conference might be deeper than it has ever been, but the Sixers have the best player in any matchup outside of maybe Milwaukee or Boston. They have the best secondary star in any matchup outside of maybe Milwaukee, Boston, or New York. They have the best tertiary star in any matchup outside of maybe Boston or New York. Only Boston and Orlando have better defensive personnel from top to bottom. For all that has plagued this team, those things remain true when they are at full strength and clicking.
If the Sixers can finally get this train on the tracks, all options are open until the trade deadline in February. They have tradeable contracts and draft picks that can be packaged to get a starting caliber stretch-four, a better backup guard and secondary ball-handler, or more 3-and-D wings. If they earn the right to be buyers at the deadline, rest assured, they will be. Daryl Morey’s history and Joel Embiid’s waning prime says they have to be.
If things go poorly
It would be an unmitigated disaster if the Sixers drop the ball on this road trip. Not only would it completely tarnish all the good equity they have built over the past month as they have begun to figure things out, but it would also come at a time when they have likely played themselves out of their 2025 first-round pick protection. Even for the most optimistic of fans who did not give up on the season in its early stages, that would be a slap in the face.
Daryl Morey will not deplete the Sixers’ asset pool just for the sake of doing so. If the team is not good enough to warrant making moves to make them even better, it is very likely they sit on their hands entirely. How that will sit with oft-injured and aging Joel Embiid and Paul George? Probably not so great. For a team with a lot of promise, they are one false move away from flipping everything on its head.
Joel Embiid could be moved as early as the upcoming offseason. Paul George’s contract will be hard to trade, but salary dump opportunities arise every year. Kelly Oubre has a player option that he will certainly decline if he keeps playing at the level he has been. Guerschon Yabusele will be an unrestricted free agent, and he is also playing himself into a much larger payday. KJ Martin was originally signed with the idea that he would eventually be traded. If the wheels fall off, there would be no point in keeping Caleb Martin, who is on a long-term and team-friendly contract, either.
That would basically leave Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain, coming back from a torn meniscus, to pick up the pieces of what was supposed to be the grand culmination of the Process Era. Never have five games seemed so pivotal—not just for the outlook of the season but for the long-term future of the organization.
