The Sixers Have Ample Time to Right Their Ship, but Their Strategy Is Dangerous

These are not uncharted waters for Paul George.

In fact, he doesn't have to reach that far back into his memory to relive the turmoil that immediately followed the Los Angeles Clippers' acquisition of James Harden - from the Sixers, of course.

The Clippers lost the first five games that Harden, George and Kawhi Leonard played together last season.

The talent was difficult to rival on paper. The product on the court was closer to a fine wine. It took some time for things to come together. For a week, they were a laughing stock. By February, they were one of the favorites to win the Western Conference.

"I saw some statistic that the teams that start off bad like this tend to play well and have a great stretch and turn their season around late into the season. So, not to be leaning on that, but I think the LA experience with the talent we had was definitely underwhelming and underperforming up to that point," George recalled after Tuesday's loss to the New York Knicks.

He and Joel Embiid, talking in entirely different rooms in the bowels of The Center just minutes apart, shared an expectation: once everyone - most importantly, the two of them and Tyrese Maxey - recovers to their utmost capacities, the team will right its ship. 

"But, the season's long. I do think once we get all of our pieces together, we will start making strides in the right direction and we'll start to get some consistency and the chemistry will continue to take off. But, right now, Joel's first game back. Tyrese is still out. So, we've yet to see this team complete. Those are big pieces for us," George said. 

The star forward believes the Sixers are all trying to play beyond the roles for which they signed up. That's natural, a human tendency when you're trying to fill significant voids.

"But, once we're full strength, I think that's when we can kind of judge how we are," he said.

Embiid isn't concerned, either.

"We'll be fine. Based on the history, I think with us on the floor, we'll be fine. I think it's all about everybody getting on the same page," he told reporters after making his season debut on Tuesday night. 

"Like I said, right now I'm still trying to figure out the best way to help...I think it's all about us just getting on the floor together, learning how to play with each other. But, health is the big thing. I'm back. PG's feeling pretty good. Now, we need to get Tyrese back."

Again, the thesis that ruled the night: once everyone is healthy and on the court, Embiid expects the wins to pile up.

But just because he's not concerned doesn't mean he's not cognizant of the team's current state.

"Yeah. When you're [now 2-9], it's tough. I haven't had that in my career so far. Even the early years, especially my third season, we were still really competitive. Even that year, they wouldn't let me finish the year. I thought we actually had a chance of making the playoffs," Embiid said of whether the team's disastrous start to the season creates more urgency for him to be at his best as quickly as possible. 

"So, urgency? Sure. But, I also got to understand we haven't been healthy. Everybody's getting back. Like I said, based on how it's gone the last couple of years, with us on the floor I think we got a pretty good chance."

The Sixers have the second worst record in the NBA heading into Friday's action. But, all that really matters is their record relative to the rest of the Eastern Conference. They are currently four games back of the third seed in the East, three games back of the fourth seed in the conference.

This is the middle of November. There is ample time to make up the ground.

While it may be premature to panic at the standings, there is not a robust history of teams that have gotten off to starts similar to Philadelphia's and lived to tell the tale beyond the first round of the playoffs.

The Sixers are unique compared to the infamous teams that have gotten off to paces similar to theirs. Those teams did not have the three tentpoles Philadelphia does.

But, did they have the load management plan the Sixers have? Did they essentially pencil their best players in to miss one game of every back-to-back on the schedule, in addition to some random rest periods throughout the season?

The Sixers are 0-1 with Embiid on the court. They are 1-4 with George playing. They are 0-2 with Maxey and George available.

They are 0-0 with all three in the lineup.

The Sixers have the artillery to make you believe they don't belong in the same bucket with those other lost seasons in the annals of NBA history. The problem is that their best path to winning enough games to earn a favorable seed involves winning the overwhelming majority of those that Embiid figures to play in.

They've already taken one in the 'L' column. The margin for error has already shrunk by that much.

If those losses pile up as Embiid finds his footing, does Philadelphia reach a point of abandoning its thesis just to salvage the season? Of course, the irony in abandoning the thesis is that the Sixers are right back to where they started - over-exerting Embiid in the regular season and increasing his risk of injury ahead of the playoffs.

For now, time is on their side. A 2-9 start to the season looks worse than a 2-9 stretch at any point in the middle of the season.

The Sixers' next back-to-back - the next foreseeable game for Embiid to miss - is December 3 and 4. Until then, they will play the Orlando Magic without Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr., Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies ostensibly without Ja Morant, Brooklyn Nets, Clippers, Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons.

There's plenty of opportunity in that window alone to stabilize within the context of an underwhelming East. 

But, with each game they lose with Embiid, the more dangerous their strategy for preserving him becomes.