This season will go down as an unsalvageable disaster for the Philadelphia 76ers, and it was difficult to find anything positive from their campaign until last night’s outing against the Warriors. The Sixers may have lucked into a diamond in the rough with Quentin Grimes, who has played admirably in a starting role with the team thus far.
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The 24-year-old has given the franchise a silver lining amidst one of the franchise’s most disappointing campaigns in recent memory. After bouncing between four teams over the last two seasons, Grimes has found his groove during a lost season for Philadelphia.
The talented wing is averaging 16.8 points with 44% shooting from deep in his nine games with the team, but it’s Saturday’s career night against the Golden State Warriors that truly stands out as a breakout performance.
Dropping 44 points with a scorching 18-24 mark from the field, Grimes has put his name on the map as someone to watch in the season’s closing weeks.
The Dallas Mavericks parted ways with Grimes in a salary-cutting move, but the fourth-year guard wasn’t having a bad showing in Texas. However, his two-way impact has had even more of an opportunity to shine with the Sixers, who are desperate to find any silver lining following Joel Embiid’s season-ending diagnosis.
Philadelphia will have to push forward without Embiid
In a somewhat unsurprising report, the Sixers announced Joel Embiid would be shut down for the season, with the team’s postseason chances quickly fading away.
Knee issues have plagued the former MVP throughout his career, and it’s clear he needed more time to recover, but no treatment option is set in stone yet.
The idea was floated that Embiid would need another surgery, but it appears the Sixers’ front office is growing impatient with the star center’s lack of availability. It was even reported that the franchise could petition for a ‘medical retirement’ if Embiid is unable to return within the year.
With Embiid’s future known for the next few months, the Sixers will now have to consider shutting down Paul George, who has been a disaster in his own right this season.
Considering the 34-year-old has struggled with injuries himself, it may be in the team’s best interest to allow George to recover and regroup for next season.
Philadelphia’s first-round pick is also top-6 protected this year, which is even more of a reason to attempt to bottom out in the Eastern Conference. At this point, a chance at Cooper Flagg would be the only thing that could somewhat salvage the league’s most disappointing team.
