Trust the process?
To say the 76ers’ 2019-20 campaign has swung wildly on both ends of spectrum is an understatement.
And with the trade deadline finally here, the 76ers have gone into this critical point in the season seemingly hitting rock bottom, certainly from a morale perspective. It all stemmed from a 31-point loss to the Miami Heat earlier in the week and they enter Thursday night with a three-game losing streak and are 8-10 since meeting the Bucks back on Christmas Day.
This downturn has come with Embiid returning back to the fold from his injury and after going 6-3 without him over that stretch, reincorporating back into the mix has been tough as he spoke about to reporters Wednesday morning before Thursday night’s game:
"“Like I say from time to time, you don’t know what you’re getting,” Embiid said Wednesday. “I don’t know if I’m getting into the game and if I’m getting the ball or not. “Spacing is an issue,” he said. “Sometimes we play fast, sometimes we play slow. But at the end of the day, when you think about it and as we try to get ready for the playoffs, the game slows down. It becomes a half-court game, and that’s where we struggle the most. So hopefully we do a better job the next few games.”"
But Embiid’s comments yesterday were certainly overshadowed by what veteran Sixers forward Al Horford had to say, per Jon Johnson of WIP Sports Radio:
Al Horford asked if players need to called out:"There's some stuff going on in our locker room, and we'll keep that internal"
— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) February 5, 2020
The 76ers have reportedly made a deal to add in shooting and extra ball handling in a deal with the Golden State Warriors for Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, but it certainly seems like their issues and lack of consistency is more deeply rooted than any remedy can fix.