State of the Sixers: With NBA Playoffs Out of Reach, Time To "Go Young"

We now interrupt this 24/7 coverage of Allen Iverson's personal troubles to give you actual news related to the Philadelphia 76ers...

After a 15-point blowout at the hands of the Charlotte Bobcats last night, the Philadelphia 76ers stand at 23-41 as of today, with 18 games left to play in the regular season.

To put that in perspective, the next closest team in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls, has a 31-32 record. The Bulls are currently the East's ninth seed (the Raptors hold the eighth seed currently, at 32-30).

That puts the Sixers 7.5 games out of the ninth spot with 18 games to play...and ninth doesn't even qualify for the playoffs.

Mathematically, they're all but done.

That's why they need to "go young," and they need to go young as hard as they can. Yes, this could be considered a politically correct way to say they should tank the season...because it is.

Despite getting on a semi-hot streak right before the All-Star break and nearly screwing up their chances at a great lottery pick, the other NBA bottom feeders have won enough games to set up a mad dash to the finish to lose the most games (yes, very similar to the little league episode of South Park in which the kids try tanking).

As of today, there are only three teams in the NBA with records far below the Sixers'. They won't catch the Nets, Warriors, or Timberwolves in the lottery jockeying, but they've got six or seven other crap teams all side-by-side with them.

Detroit and New York are 22-42.

Indiana is 21-43.

Washington is 21-42.

Sacramento is 22-43.

And the L.A. Clippers are 25-40.

In the next month, the Sixers could slot themselves with the fourth-worst record, guaranteeing themselves no worse than the seventh pick in the NBA Draft, or they could end up with the 10th-worst record and get bumped into the same early-teens position they've had the past few seasons.

This season, more than any in recent memory, they have no incentive to continue playing their best players. If some of the reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer are true, the players have already mentally checked out, saying "sayonara" to Eddie Jordan on the way.

Regardless of what happens with Jordan (please fire him, though?), the Sixers have one move and one move only in these last 18 games if they've truly got the big picture in mind.

Play the youngest players, and use these final 18 games to give them active rotation minutes. See what you have on your hands; see who's worth keeping and who's worth trading next year.

Granted, Sixers management would likely be reluctant to enact such a plan. They're concerned with ticket sales and attendance for these final 10 home games of the season, and tanking doesn't draw out fans.

But without Allen Iverson, will the Sixers really be drawing huge crowds the rest of this season? They're already doing a pretty good job getting themselves blown out and having fans boo them/leave by the third quarter (see: vs. Charlotte) on their own.

Now it's time to kick it into second gear.

The best example of the ideal minute distribution, from this point forward, came from the loss against Indiana on Tuesday. Guards Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday got 36.4 and 36.2 minutes, respectively, and poured in 11 and 21 points in return. Jason Smith, Jason Kapono, and Rodney Carney all played double-digit minutes.

And when presented with a spot in the starting lineup and 42 minutes of play against Toronto over the weekend, Thaddeus Young poured in a career-high 32 points in the win over the Raptors.

Here's what the Sixers should do:

First, let Sammy Dalembert take the rest of the season off. Let the big guy go to Haiti, his native country, and continue helping out with earthquake relief. The Sixers don't need him playing 20-25 spot minutes every night when they've got another seven-footer in Smith whom they should be evaluating closely.

Second, give Jodie Meeks more burn. If he's getting crushed off the dribble, so be it. If he's too small to body up other point guards, and he's getting backed down over and over, that's good to know—gives them something to work on with him in the offseason.

The Sixers can't be viewing themselves as a one-year project at this point. This team's too straddled with bloated contracts to be viewed as a legitimate contender, so it might as well go for the one thing it can control—a high lottery pick.

The last time the Sixers drafted in the top 10, they picked Andre Iguodala at No. 9 back in 2004. While the Sixers have been trying to shove a square peg (Iggy) into a round hole (the first option on the team), he's still the most talented player on the roster.  

He's also the most valuable trading commodity, as the trade deadline chatter appeared to confirm (that changes next year, when Dalembert becomes an expiring contract, ready to be traded).

With Dalembert theoretically on the first flight back to Haiti, bump Elton Brand over to center and give Young the starting power forward spot.

Best-case scenario (for Sixers management): Young continues to post career numbers and they realize that he's a legitimate option for their long-term power forward. Worst-case scenario: He drops off suddenly and they realize he's either a small forward or they've got to trade him.

Speaking of trades, Jason Kapono needs to get more minutes. I've said this all season, and I'm definitely not the only writer to be saying so. The guy's making $6 million this this season, and he's averaging 13.4 minutes per game.  

Kapono won two All-Star three-point shootouts. The Sixers are near the bottom of the NBA in three-point shooting. And Kapono continues to ride the bench. Even if he couldn't defend an AAU player, they should be putting him in and letting him stretch the defense a little bit, to simulate what a real offense would open up for his teammates.

They should use these last 18 games as a legitimate chance to investigate which players fit into their long-term plans, and which players they need to cut.

They need to drive up the trade value of a guy like Kapono, who's becoming an expiring contract after this season.

They need to let Sammy go back to Haiti, to give them zero interior presence, and even less of a chance to win (which thus gives a better shot at a higher draft pick).

I'd be hard pressed to find a fan thinking optimistically about the rest of this season. There's no need for the team to pretend anymore. I don't want to hear Brand talking about how talented the team is, and how they'll keep fighting.

If the team was that talented, it would have shown some fight 30 games ago.

Now, the Sixers should lay down for the rest of the season, get the taste of losing fresh in their mouths, and begin re-calibrating for next season.

And maybe, just maybe, they'll get a high draft pick to forward their progress next season.