“Joel Embiid and the Sixers have lost to 3 COVID-riddled teams in a row”: Embarrassing stat shows off the necessity for a Ben Simmons trade sooner than later

Joel Embiid and the Sixers lose to an extremely shorthanded Atlanta Hawks, making it the third loss in a row of a similar manner. 

Having over 25% of the league be placed in Health and Safety Protocols has taken a toll on several teams’ roster construction. Luckily for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, they have remarkably stayed relatively healthy throughout this whole ordeal, making it even more bitter when they lose to teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, or the Miami Heat. 

Those weren’t mere examples of teams the Sixers could lose to: those are the three teams that they did lose to. When full healthy, there’s no shame in losing to a Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving led Nets squad or a Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo Heat team.

Also read: “Kendrick Perkins announces his availability for a ten-day contract, sharing a throwback image of him sitting on Mike Miller”: When Big Perk used the former Grizzlies player as a chair

However, with these teams’ star players being unavailable due to COVID protocols, the Nets and the Heat were missing a slew of guys who are regular starters and All-Stars for them. 

Following two straight losses to a COVID-riddled Nets and Heat team, Joel Embiid and company did it again by losing to the Atlanta Hawks, a team that has also not had any of note take to the floor. 

Joel Embiid misses potential game-tying shot against the Hawks. 

While on their home floor, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers lost to an Atlanta Hawks team that was missing Trae Young, Deandre Hunter, Clint Capela, and Danilo Gallanari. The bout was close all the way up to the end, with ‘The Process’ having a sort of off-night. 

Embiid would end up missing the potential game-tying mid-ranger to send the game in OT, resulting in a Hawks win, led by 18 points from Cam Reddish.

Joel Embiid had a wide open to tie the game at the buzzer#JoelEmbiid is ONLY 1-18 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 5 seconds of games in his #NBA career pic.twitter.com/5WoPdBHAI5

— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) December 24, 2021

Sure, Philly was missing Andre Drummond and Danny Green tonight but that doesn’t speak to the magnitude of players that the aforementioned squads were missing.

Also read: “How is it for money? It’s f*cking free!”: Austin Rivers slams anti-vaxxers and their conspiracy theories about Moderna and President Joe Biden

Ben Simmons sitting idle for the Sixers is proving to be a problem as there is way too much money wrapped up around one player who simply does not contribute to the team. Tobias Harris isn’t exactly playing like a $170 million player either, to put it lightly. 

Safe to say that moving Simmons for a CJ McCollum type player is imperative for Daryl Morey and company to utilize Joel Embiid in his prime, to the fullest.