Atlanta Hawks Puts An End To The Process Season, Maybe For Good
The free playoff trial for The Process is over, it’s time for them to renew their subscription.
Game 7 on their home floor, the Sixers blew a berth to the Eastern Conference Finals to the young Atlanta Hawks in embarrassing fashion. The season on the line, in the waning moments of the game, almost seven-foot Ben Simmons passed up a dunk over Trae Young that would’ve tied the game:
There was still time left in the game but at that moment you just felt Atlanta had them right where they wanted, an opportunity for the newest NBA villain Trae Young to crush the city of Philadelphia, and surely the landslide commenced.
This loss brings many questions to the forefront for the Sixers. Were they wrong for not trading for the services of James Harden who was available at the beginning of the season? Is Doc Rivers still an elite coach in the NBA after blowing leads in both Games 3 and 4? And most importantly, is there still a market out there for Ben Simmons after he mentally broke this series?
One thing for sure, The Process is over. There’s no going back to that without major shakeups. And it starts with breaking up two stars in Joel Embiid and Simmons.
It can’t go unmentioned that the MVP candidate was playing with a partially torn meniscus this series. The fact that he gave you the performance he did was amazing and it’s hats off to him. But the same thing can’t be said about his counterpart who folded like a cheap tent. Ben averaged 10 points this series and although he played his role as a playmaker and an elite defender, his performances were unacceptable. He had four games where he didn’t touch double-digits in points, three of them coming in the last three games (8, 6, 5) of the series. In the last four games of the series, he didn’t take a shot in the fourth quarter. And worst of all he shot a historic worst 34.2% from the free-throw line these playoffs (min. of 70 attempts) as the point guard for the Sixers.
Now to be clear, this isn’t a Ben Simmons hate expo but these are facts that happened. And though he was injured during the second round, even what we saw from James Harden might’ve been better for the Sixers this series, who they could’ve pushed the button for in a trade including Simmons. Ben was just that bad offensively and he said it himself during his presser after the game.
"I didn't shoot well from the line this series,” Simmons said. “Offensively, I wasn't there. I ain't do enough for my teammates, but there's a lot. There's a lot of things I need to work on."
The next logical step for this franchise is to see what’s out there for Simmons. Doc Rivers all but wished him out of Philly in his post-game conference when asked can he be the point guard of a championship team:
Embiid followed suit with the kiss of death with his thoughts of the Simmons-potential dunk play:
I have been said a few post-season exits ago that Sixers should’ve traded Simmons to get the best out of the better player in Embiid who needed more space to operate down low. The health of Joel obviously was a factor in keeping both, and what Simmons provided you couldn’t go unnoticed, made obvious by his runner-up candidacy for the DPOY and another All-NBA defensive team award. But to get the best out of Simmons, he needs his own team like Giannis where he can get into the lane without it being clogged up by someone like Embiid, with shooters around him where he can thrive in transition with his talents.
IF there is still a strong market for Ben I would trade him this off-season along with Tobias Harris who is just straight up stealing money from the franchise. Get Kyle Lowry to Philly where it just feels like he is destined to go along with an elite scorer in Zach LaVine or dare I say Bradley Beal if he’s available and there you will have your title contender that can stand with the Nets and Bucks next year. Otherwise, you are just wasting away Joe'l’s good years.
Doc Rivers doesn’t escape the bill here either. His fascination for blowing leads is about to tarnish his coaching legacy if he can’t get to another Finals with a championship-ready team.
Respect to the Atlanta Hawks is deserved in this as well. Though they were the underdogs they came and outperformed the better team and that should be acknowledged.
A long off-season awaits the Sixers, one surely that is going to be filled with drama. Prepare for the Woj bombs.
