The Philadelphia 76ers have had a lot of chances to go deep into the playoffs during the Joel Embiid era, but probably no better chance than in 2019.
The Sixers had a lot of terrific pieces on the roster. Embiid and Ben Simmons were continuing to grow as young players at the time, they had a legitimate closer in Jimmy Butler, they had a sharpshooter in JJ Redick, and they had do-it-all Tobias Harris.
Then, the Kawhi Leonard shot happened. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on the road against the Toronto Raptors, the game is tied, and Leonard gets a miracle fallaway shot from the corner to drop after what seemed like a million bounces on the rim.
From there, the Raptors went on to win the title, Butler and Redick left the Sixers in free agency, and Philadelphia brought in Josh Richardson and Al Horford to replace them. The Sixers still have yet to get past the semifinals.
Redick hopped on “Fresh 24 with Zoo” with Marc Zumoff and he discussed whether the Sixers would have made the finals and whether Butler would have stayed: