The Philadelphia 76ers have been headed in the wrong direction for the last month. Paul George hasn’t played since Jan. 29 as he’s in the middle of a 25-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. Joel Embiid has played in just five games since the start of February and remains out with an oblique strain.
The Sixers (34-30) have lost eight of their last 12 games. Entering play on Tuesday, they’re just one game up on the Atlanta Hawks, the No. 9 seed in the East, and three up on the No. 10 seed Charlotte Hornets, who had won 16 of their last 19 before a recent two-game skid.
And now the team announced that star point guard Tyrese Maxey is out for at least the next three weeks with a tendon injury to his right pinkie finger. And it will likely be longer than three weeks that Maxey is sidelined. That’s just the re-evaluation period. Best-case scenario, Maxey is out for the remainder of March. So let’s take a look at Philly’s schedule between now and April.
- vs. Memphis (Tuesday night)
- @ Detroit
- vs. Brooklyn
- vs. Portland
- @ Denver
- @ Sacramento
- @ Utah
- vs. Oklahoma City
- vs. Chicago
- @ Charlotte
- @ Miami
George is out until the Chicago game, and who knows with Embiid? At the very least, Philly is looking at the first eight games on that list without at least Maxey and George.
Brooklyn, Sacramento, Utah, Chicago and Memphis are in tank mode, but honestly, this Sixers team without three of its best four players can lose to anyone. Facing Detroit, Portland, Denver and Oklahoma City without Maxey and George is a tall order. The Charlotte and Miami games will be huge with at least George back, as those two teams are right with Philly for Play-In Tournament positioning.
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But Maxey is the big hit here. The Sixers are being outscored by opponents by almost 10 points per 100 possessions this season when he’s off the floor, per Cleaning the Glass, with what would register as the worst offense in the league.
Meanwhile …
How Thunder can benefit from Maxey’s absence
You want to know who’s jumping for joy watching this Sixers slide happen? The Oklahoma City Thunder. Why? Because they own Philly’s first-round pick this summer as long as it falls outside the top four.
To that end, the Sixers are in a sweet spot of potentially being low enough to lose in the Play-In Tournament and land a lottery pick that is still very good but not high enough to convey to OKC.
The Thunder also own the Clippers’ pick this summer and Utah’s if it falls outside the top eight, which is very much possible. Can you imagine? The Thunder, the best and deepest team in basketball, who might very well have won two straight championships by the time the draft arrives, ending up with three lottery picks? It could happen. It probably won’t. But it could.
Maxey’s All-NBA bid in jeopardy
Maxey has only missed three games to this point, but he’s guaranteed to miss the next 11. That puts him at 14, and you can only miss 17 while remaining eligible for awards. Meaning, if Maxey comes back exactly on time, he would have a three-game buffer to still qualify for All-NBA.
If he doesn’t come back immediately after the re-evaluation, each game missed starts to make it more and more unlikely that he’ll qualify. That would be a shame. Maxey, a first-time All-Star starter averaging 29 points, 6.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, has been outstanding this season and would probably be a lock for the third team.
But now that’s up in the air, which could open the door for any number of guys, including, perhaps, Deni Avdija or Devin Booker (each of whom can only miss one more game in their own right) or Karl-Anthony Towns.