In the final quarter of the NBA regular season, the discourse around the Philadelphia 76ers is not what anyone would have expected in October. Following a strong offseason that saw them land Paul George, expectations were that they’d be in the mix to compete for a title. However, due to various factors, that is not the case with a little over 20 games to go.

Sitting at 21-38 on the year, the Sixers find themselves out of the playoff picture in 11th place. They aren’t completely out of it in theory, as they only trail the 10th-place Chicago Bulls by two games for the final spot in the play-in tournament. Even though a postseason berth is still in arm’s reach, many are calling for the Sixers to go in a different direction.

It’s evident that the Sixers aren’t going to compete for a championship this season. In light of this, many fans and analysts have called for them to tank and secure a high draft pick. The tricky part of this is that they have to fall within the first six picks. If their selection lands beyond that, it will go to the OKC Thunder as part of the Al Horford trade.

Following the news that Joel Embiid will miss the rest of the season, the Sixers’ pick situation has been a major talking point around the team. Among the latest to give their thoughts on what they should do is Lou Williams. He implored his former team to shut all the top players down in the final weeks of the season.

”The 76ers, they gambled, they had him out there on the floor,” Williams said. “It just didn’t pan out for those guys this year…Getting him out of that lineup I say you shut everybody down now and give yourself a chance at the lottery and see what you can do there.”

After picking up a win over the Golden State Warriors over the weekend, the Sixers are on the fence of keeping or losing their pick. They now hold the seventh-worst record in the NBA, but are neck-and-neck with the Brooklyn Nets.