Marcus Hayes: The Process keeps progressing with Joel Embiid after Tobias Harris exits for the Sixers

 

PHILADELPHIA – Having preached against The Process for these 11 years, it delivers me no small measure of delight when the Sixers inevitably falter every spring.

Losing on purpose to game the system created a culture of losing, and the Sixers have mastered the art of the springtime collapse against every decent opponent they’ve faced, assuming you consider the 2021 Atlanta Hawks decent.

As such, it is a rite of springtime sportswriting in Philadelphia to review how The Process is going. It’s fair – generous, even – to define The Process as a plan that emphasized losing on purpose for four straight years to maximize the chances of getting high draft choices who would have the best chance of developing into star players.

At the same time, The Process would stockpile future high draft picks to either use as trade capital for established players or resupply the talent pool. Finally, it would clear massive amounts of salary-cap space so as to sign superstars as needed. The devil, of course, is in the details.

Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Jahlil Okafor, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz never fulfilled their promise, which proved that drafting 20-year-olds to play a game whose stars are usually between 25 and 30 requires a sorcerer’s foresight and a leprechaun’s luck.

Meanwhile, they gave away Mikal Bridges. AND THEN … Their veteran acquisitions left them wanting, too. The first big one, and their best, was Jimmy Butler, who led them to the second round in 2019. But that came about only because Butler was a malcontent in Minnesota.

He wasn’t content in Philly, either, so, aware that he couldn’t coexist with Simmons, the Sixers traded him to Miami, Pat Riley’s fiefdom and, as such, the only franchise in which Butler’s ego can be controlled.

Tobias Harris arrived a few months after “Jimmy Buckets,” at (essentially) the cost of two first-round picks, and wound up staying the next five years.

He was the most professional 76er since Julius Erving – prepared, available, and accountable – but, at $180 million, he was the most overpaid 76er since Matt Geiger.

Harris played hard, and he didn’t pay himself, and it wasn’t Harris’ fault that, in the last five seasons, his win shares (30.8) and value over replacement player (9.3) are less than (this is going to hurt) Bridges (33.4, 11.2). (Disclaimer: All advanced metrics are flawed.)

There was no more fitting end to Harris’ career as a Sixer than to go 0 for 2 with zero points in 29 minutes as a starter who averages 16.3 points in the postseason … in a three-point home playoff loss.

“Bully Ball” with Al Horford & Co. occupying all that cap space, failed in 2020. Simmons short-circuited in 2021, and was traded for James Harden, who stole money for two seasons and left the Sixers and Joel Embiid adrift – or so it seemed.

ometimes, less is more. FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT … It pains me to admit it, but Embiid, the third overall pick in 2014, which was the second year of The Process, has blossomed into a monumentally valuable, if vexing, player.

 

There has never been an NBA entity who is 7-feet tall and 280 pounds with Embiid’s three-level offensive game combined with his defensive instincts and IQ. However, it delights me to point out that Embiid’s costar, Tyrese Maxey, was the 21st overall pick in the 2020 draft. He was an entirely coincidental addition to The Process. Maxey’s emergence helps to undercut the theory on which The Process operates – that is, higher picks will result in better players.

Not so in a one-and-done college world and a volatile global stage. Five of the top 10 players in Player Efficiency Rating since 2013 who played at least 433 regular-season games were picked outside of the top six selections, and they account for eight of the 10 titles.

Why 433? That’s how many games Embiid has played, and his PER is No. 1. (Disclaimer: See above.) Move the number of games to at least 677 and you get a similar result – half of the top 10 were picked seventh or lower.

Why 677? Because that’s how many games Jrue Holiday has played. No Sixer who played at least two seasons during The Process has a higher PER than Holiday. Why does this matter? Because Sam Hinkie traded Holiday on draft night in 2013 for Noel.

It was the first dynamic move and the most damning decision in the history of The Process. Holiday currently is the point guard for the Celtics, the best team in the NBA.

He’s a two-time All-Star and a five-time All-Defensive player. He won a title in Milwaukee and will likely win his second Olympic gold medal this summer, with Embiid as a (naturalized) teammate.

To date, the Sixers have not put a viable, pure point guard on the floor with Embiid. Maxey might develop into one, but he probably won’t. At any rate, with the departure of Harden this summer and the departure of Harris this spring, the door creaked closer to closed on The Process.

But again, as always, so much depends on Embiid’s fitness, soundness, and professionalism. Since the birth of his son, Arthur, in 2020, all of those aspects have improved. Guess we’re just going to have to trust The Process.