Finally, some finality.
After months of evaluating remaining schedules and hypothetical draft odds, the Sixers' two-month tanking effort is over. With their 124-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, the Sixers cemented their standing in next month's NBA Draft Lottery. Here is what stood out from their penultimate game of the 2024-25 campaign:
Sixers secure fifth-worst record in NBA
The Sixers have gone above and beyond in their tanking efforts over the last two months, with their victories during that period few and far between. Each loss has mattered for the Sixers as they try to safeguard their top-six protected first-round pick, which will belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it falls outside of that range. And with their latest defeat, the Sixers have secured the No. 5 slot in the NBA Draft Lottery standings. That does not mean they are guaranteed to hold onto their pick, but the Sixers will have a far better chance of seeing their season net some sort of reward now than they would have if they had nabbed an additional handful of victories.
Now that they are locked into the No. 5 slot, we can say this much definitively: the Sixers will have a 64.0 percent chance of keeping their first-rounder, and they will have a 10.5 percent chance of winning the lottery and having the chance to select presumptive No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Here are their odds of landing each pick within their range of outcomes:
| Draft Pick | Percentage chance |
| 1 | 10.5% |
| 2 | 10.5% |
| 3 | 10.6% |
| 4 | 10.5% |
| 5 | 2.2% |
| 6 | 19.6% |
| 7 | 26.7% |
| 8 | 8.7% |
| 9 | 0.6% |
Now, it is up to the ping pong balls.
Sixers play with eight available bodies
To call the Sixers' available rotation on Friday "light" would be an understatement. Head coach Nick Nurse went with Jared Butler, Lonnie Walker IV, Ricky Council IV, Marcus Bagley and Adem Bona as his starting five, which left him with a bench of two-way guards Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Jalen Hood-Schifino, plus 10-day big Colin Castleton. The Sixers just barely met the eight-player minimum for this game, and that's because of a slew of injuries. In addition to the five players ruled out for the season, the Sixers remained without veterans Kyle Lowry (hip), Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and Andre Drummond (toe), while Justin Edwards once again sat due to a rib contusion and Quentin Grimes was sidelined because of a shoulder sprain. Even two-way forward Alex Reese was out with an injury.
While the Sixers only had eight players available, the Hawks had nine players in their rotation in the first quarter alone, with another four healthy options around if needed. Once again, the Sixers probably outperformed average expectations given their lack of manpower early on, but was clearly overmatched against an Atlanta team that actually needed a win to help solidify their standing as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Among the standout performers were Bagley, who knocked down four triples prior to intermission, and Bona, whose activity around the rim remained impressive. Additionally, Walker continued to provide the steady scoring that has helped keep the Sixers afloat offensively, while Butler led the way for the Sixers in the opening frame with a pair of triples and acrobatic layup in transition:
Jared Butler doing Jared Butler things! pic.twitter.com/pDcFI3fcJb
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 11, 2025
Nurse spoke highly of Walker before the game, mentioning the Reading, PA native's only subpar games have come when dealing with a pair of difficult transitions: one from a stint of a few months in Lithuania back into the NBA, and one after returning from an absence caused by a concussion. Walker has a $2.9 million team option in his contract for 2025-26.
Odds and ends
Some more notes and takeaways from this one:
• The Sixers announced shortly before Nurse's pregame press conference Friday evening that Joel Embiid had undergone left knee surgery on Wednesday. Nurse said he did not have many details to provide regarding the surgery, other than that it went well. Embiid will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
• The final two-way update of the season: Reese is dealing with an Achilles issue, so he was ruled out for Friday's game regardless. Hood-Schifino was already going to be available for Friday's game and Sunday's season finale, but with so many of their players on standard contracts sidelined, the Sixers had no choice but to also activate Dowtin for his final appearance of the season to meet the aforementioned minimum. This was likely going to happen either way after Dowtin scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Sixers to a win in front of his family. Dowtin will not be available on Sunday, but Reese and Hood-Schifino will be.
• An amusing note on Grimes: he figures to be eligible for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, with more than 65 games under his belt and more appearances off the bench than starts. Grimes has started in 24 of his 27 appearances for the Sixers, but only started in 12 of his 47 games with the Dallas Mavericks prior to being traded. It is difficult to imagine Grimes receiving genuine consideration for the award, as his torrid stretch of play has come exclusively as a starter in Philadelphia, but he does qualify to win the award, and his overall statistical profile may be better than anyone else who can say the same.
Up next: The Sixers' final game of the season will come on Sunday afternoon, when they play host to the Chicago Bulls.
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