Think about what they had in February of 2016 -- sure, a historically poor win-loss record, but also Embiid. And the pick that would become Simmons. A quality NBA starter, Robert Covington, on a Hinkie Special (and another NBA player, TJ McConnell, on one as well). Jerami Grant. Nerlens Noel, when he still had value. Jahlil Okafor, when he still had value. The draft rights to Dario Saric. The Lakers pick. The Kings pick. The Sacramento swap rights. A remarkable amount of valuable second-round picks. The financial flexibility to do anything they wanted. But now, things are barren.

The byproducts of incompetence

Embiid and Simmons are still here, obviously. Hopefully, they’re here for the long haul. What the hell else is left? Matisse Thybulle is their most valuable asset, and as much as I think we all love him, he’s a rookie who turns 23 years old next week and has limited potential for offensive utility. Josh Richardson, though quietly a disaster since returning from injury, is a good player. The problem is that even if he figures out how to fit well on this team, he’s going to command a payday after next season, and we shouldn’t expect to see ownership to stomach a potentially Warriors-esque luxury tax situation for a team that isn’t obviously championship caliber.

I know everyone is angry, but you have to admit it’s hilarious that after years of hoarding cap space in hopes of cashing in at the right time, the Sixers have almost $300 million future dollars committed to Tobias Harris and Al Horford.

The Horford situation is for the most part cut and dry, right? He’s a 33 year-old who is both aging poorly and a proving to be a flat-out terrible fit next to the team’s two centerpieces. He can still be of some use to the Sixers (or more elsewhere), but trading him is going to be a difficult venture for the Sixers. For now, he’s a $28 million cap hit and an unmitigated disaster on the court. And it’s only going to get worse from here.

Harris is where it’s a bit more tricky. We all talk on a regular basis about how bad the Horford contract is, but I don’t think anyone (other than AU) is spending enough time thinking about what this team paid to acquire and retain Tobias Harris. As if Landry Shamet and draft picks weren’t enough, the Sixers then handed Harris a five year contract worth $180 million, firmly cementing him among the league’s highest-paid players when he is… not one of the league’s best players. In fairness to Tobias, he is a good player who has had a fine season. And because I’m cursed with bad timing, Tobias has 14 points in the first quarter of the Knicks game as I write this (he ended with 34 - ed). But for someone who fetched superstar assets in a trade, and got a superstar contract, I’m not sure there’s a case that he’s more than just a quality starter. Quite honestly, I don’t think we’re far away from considering Harris to be immovable altogether. He’s a nice player, but man, $180 million dollars is a lot of dollars for a player who is just fine.

Note: For more on the disappointment of Horford and Harris, I would strongly recommend reading AU’s column from this week.

Let’s talk about how Simmons, thought of as an iron man, spent most of the season playing an absurd amount of minutes, culminating in a back injury that the Sixers attempted to shrug off, and in turn led him to a severe reaggravation that has his season in jeopardy. Let’s talk about how they led Embiid to the same fate with his gruesome hand injury -- Embiid hurt his finger, went to the locker room, came back in, and then GOT HURT AGAIN and CAME BACK INTO THE GAME AGAIN. Of course, this is not to forget all of the nefariousness that took place with Embiid’s knee in his rookie season.