Heading into tonight’s game, the 76ers face a Washington Wizards team that has a similar record and future outlook going forward, if you are only looking at things on the surface.  

As you peek down the rabbit hole, that judgement seems wrong.  It also depends on how you are looking at things as well as your opinion on what you want out of a bright future.  

Since it seems obvious that the 76ers aren’t going to tank in 2013-14 for Wiggins, there is no doubt that Washington is right now in a better place than the 76ers.

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According to an online report today, citing multiple league sources, the 76ers organization privately hopes that coach Doug Collins decides not to return for the 2013-14 season and, regardless of his decision, it does not intend to extend his contract – which has one year remaining, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported late Wednesday morning.

Thus, the Sixers are hoping that Collins, who has never lasted more than three seasons at the helm of an NBA franchise, walks away from the organization all on his own.

And, boy, would many dedicated and knowledgeable fans in Philadunkia be more than eager to throw him a retirement party down South Street.

 
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When we last left the 76ers, this hopeless professional basketball club had just suffered a humiliating loss to the Charlotte Bobcats that broke the team’s three game winning streak, but also helped improve their lottery odds. 

So with ping pong balls in the minds and hearts of Philadunkia nation — except Doug Collins, who persists on playing for pride and an improbable playoff berth — the Sixers headed off to Atlanta and then Miami.

Fortunately, for all parties involved, the 76ers were eliminated from the 2013 NBA playoffs this weekend and officially transitioned into offseason mode.  But, that’s not the only thing that happened during Final Four weekend.

After the Jump a Philadunkia Weekend Recap…

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On Monday night, Sixers forward Thaddeus Young held a black tie fundraiser for his charity, The Young for Youth Foundation, at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in Center City Philadelphia.

While a lot of athlete’s tend to use their free time to gamble or party, Young enjoys seeking ways in which he can help the at risk youth in the area’s in which he’s made a name for himself. Started in May of 2011, Young for Youth has continued to expand from Memphis, Philadelphia and New Orleans to now having programs which reach across the globe.

“You hear about a lot of players that have foundations around the league, but I feel like I’m one of the few players who gets involved with everything that goes on,” said Young in front of a crowd that had gathered at the event. “I know everything from top to bottom that we’re working on from week to week. We’re constantly texting, emailing, calling and we’ll even have sit down meetings every now and then.”

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When the 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks square off in Phillips Arena tonight, the Sixers organization and Philadunkia nation will have their second to last view of Hawks forward Josh Smith before he hits free agency.  Ironically enough, the skill set that Smith possess which makes him an attractive free agent prospect for the Sixers makes him a dangerous opponent this evening.

While Spencer Hawes has been very productive as of late for head coach Doug Collins, defensively, he will likely be taken out of the game by Atlanta center Al Horford’s size and skill.  With that in mind, Thad Young, Lavoy Allen and sometimes Arnett Moultrie will be left to cover the polarizing Smith. 

Unfortunately for Collins, Smith is a mismatch for all three of those bigs.

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Philadelphia 76ers

83

FinalRecap | Box Score

88

Charlotte Bobcats

	Thaddeus Young, SF 33 MIN | 2-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -14 After a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Bobcats Saturday, Thad came out flat last night and couldn’t get his jumpers to fall.  He did bring his usual hustle however with three swipes and a couple diving saves for loose balls and extra possessions.
	Evan Turner, SF 33 MIN | 6-15 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 5 TO | 14 PTS | -12 Evan Turner played 33 minutes, but it was 33 seconds in the 4th quarter which sealed a Bobcats win and continued Turner’s tumultuous season for the Sixers this year.  On a mid-court inbound with the team down 84-83 and a timeout left, Turner nearly committed a five-second violation and lobbed the ball right into Gerald Henderson’s hands for a fast break dunk down the other end.  Back breaker. Game over.  It came right as I was going to give him credit for scoring six points with under four minutes to play…Go figure.  “The Enigma” strikes again.
	Spencer Hawes, C 33 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | -6 Hawes played physical the entire game, but was out-bodied by the Bobcats’ Josh McRoberts who pulled down 16 boards and had a couple huge slams.  By design or not, Hawes also shouldn’t have launched a three to try to cut a five point deficit to two with under 20 ticks to play.  Didn’t the 76ers sign Dorell Wright for that reason?  That was painful to watch.
	Jrue Holiday, PG 37 MIN | 2-24 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 8 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 5 PTS | -10 From an offensive, defensive and leadership standpoint this was by far the worst game I’ve seen from Jrue Holiday in a Sixers uniform.  His shot was off all night in historic fashion, shooting 2-of-24 from the field for just five points.  According to Basketball Reference, Jrue is the first NBA player in at least 28 years to take 24-plus shots and make two or fewer.  The last Sixers player to shoot this bad from the field was Allen Iverson who shot 2-of-21 vs. the Knicks in 2004.  Outside of his shooting, his defense was equally as terrible on Kemba Walker.  More on this after the jump…
	Damien Wilkins, SG 33 MIN | 7-14 FG | 6-8 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | -7 Damien Wilkins played a hell of a game and deserved to get this win.  He opened the game scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first quarter and ended the game with an efficient 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting while pulling down nine boards. He scored eight-straight in the third including a pretty runner off the glass.  By my standards, he’s shown enough to deserve a new contract in the offseason.
	Arnett Moultrie, PF 9 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | +1 Moultrie was again given the Collins treatment.  He pulled down three offensive boards and added four points in just nine minutes of burn.  That obviously wasn’t good enough to deserve more minutes. Apparently, this guy couldn’t have done anything to stop the hurt that was put on by Josh McRoberts. Unreal.
	Dorell Wright, SF 19 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | +12 Rocking the red Iverson arm-sleeve, Wright was the most consistent scorer for the Sixers outside of Damien Wilkins in this game.  He knocked down four threes and kept the game close with back-to-back trey’s in the 4th.  Somehow he only got 19 minutes of PT and wasn’t given the three which was instead handed to Spencer Hawes at the end of the game.  Good coaching Doug…
	Lavoy Allen, C 19 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +8 Too much playing time for Lavoy, although he did have a nice tip-in and held his own on the blocks. Benefit of the doubt on this one.
	Royal Ivey, PG 16 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-1 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +4 No words….
	Justin Holiday, SG 7 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -1 It was nice to see the Jruth’s brother score his first NBA bucket with a 20-footer to start the second quarter.  After a failed alley oop attempt to Jrue shortly after, Justin was pulled by Dougie for the rest of the game.  This move must’ve affected Jrue as he went beyond not buying a bucket the rest of the game.  He couldn’t have even been given a bucket from the free stuff section on Craigslist.  It was that bad.
	Nick Young, SG DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Swaggy couldn’t have attempted some of Jrue’s shots?  After Jrue went 1-of-10, you needed him to shoot 13 more misses?  I’m not saying that Nick would’ve been the answer but when he’s hot, he’s hot and he could’ve at least gotten a chance in this game.
	Doug Collins There’s nothing like building a team up with three straight wins, to coaching them out of a win against the worst team in the NBA.  Hopefully the Sixers are devastated as a team and will start losing some necessary games for a decent lottery pick, instead of trying to pursue the pipe-dream of a playoff spot.  This loss stings even more, as the Bucks lost to the Timberwolves last night 107-98. Keep up the “great” rotations Dougie.

After the Jump…Six Things We Saw

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With a few games remaining and the making playoffs a reality for Doug Collins only, focus on free agency has most assuredly been on the mind of everyone involved with the 76ers.  The draft lottery is just that this year, a lottery.  Free Agency is a much different animal altogether. 

Everyone has a varying opinion on what the Sixers will do this offseason.  From Andrew Bynum to Al Jefferson to Joel Przybilla, each would have a varying effect on the future of the franchise.  Assuming the 76ers decide that tanking isn’t an option in 2013-14, here is what should transpire during free agency. 

No trades or stretch clause are factored in, otherwise I’d trade the whole roster for Andre Drummond and Ryan Anderson.

So, next year’s team currently consists of Thad, Jrue, Hawes, J-Rich, ET, Lavoy, Moultrie, and Kwameeeee.  Throw in the 76ers projected lottery pick and the team has about $13,000,000 to work with this offseason.  The team needs a bit of everything and will take some smart moves to build a playoff team. 

After the jump, I present the plan for what I’d do this offseason, if tanking in 2013-14 isn’t an option…

 
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