Mar 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele (28) drives against Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Sixers' tank rolled on with a home loss to the lowly Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
Here's what I saw.
- Having Quentin Grimes be a high-usage lead guard to make your tank perhaps a little more subtle is also maybe the most productive way to go about your business. His limitations as a playmaker are clear. So while the Sixers experiment with giving him that much responsibility ahead of free agency, letting him freelance the offense so much does help them lose games because of the turnover risk that comes with Grimes having to make decisions off the bounce. Every wild shot, bad pass and mishandle of the ball sends the opposition the other way. As we know, the Sixers are basically allergic to defending in transition. You do the math. It's the perfect plan.
On a more cynical level, it also might give Philadelphia some negotiating power with Grimes this summer. Then again, all it takes is one team with nothing to lose throwing an outrageous offer sheet at him. If the Sixers match, you could argue it's just more crippling money on their books for a guy who would ideally serve as an explosive reserve. If they don't match, they'd have to deal with the optics of letting a diamond in their rough season go for nothing. Not that anything about this season suggests they care about optics.
On the other hand, you accumulate enough data points to know what his limitations are in an elevated role and you take that to the table when you do your business this summer.
In the meantime, he makes your trade deadline look better with each passing game and has no ability to win you games by himself. Sounds like a win-win.
- A 45-point first quarter for the Wizards. They looked like the Showtime Lakers. If the fans felt anything beyond apathy, they'd have doused the home team in boos. You know what might help? If someone would take a real defensive stance on the perimeter. Way too many upright bodies on the first line of defense.
- Washington is the second-worst three-point-shooting team in the league this season, so naturally the Sixers went flying at shot fakes. Stay on the floor, take choppy steps, get a hand up. Don't jump with reckless abandon.
- It might've ultimately helped their cause, but watching the Sixers actively opt out of even pretending to defend in the fourth quarter was nauseating. Unabated drives to the rim out of the ball screen with no one making the rotation on the back side, standing and staring as threes went up, it was a pickup game with one team totally checked out.
- I'd like to apologize to all of you for wasting your time with my Severance analogy in the last game recap. Had I been two episodes deeper into the show, my analogy would've gone up in smoke.
The Sixers (23-50) will host the Miami Heat (31-41) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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