The 76ers are the NBA's scariest losing team

When the NBA's annual Christmas extravaganza tips off Monday at Madison Square Garden, it will mark the 76ers' first Christmas appearance since 2001, as Philadelphia continues its transition from The Process to the NBA's Team of the Future.

The limitless promise of that future and the Sixers' recent years of futility, however, have somewhat masked what could be a team to be reckoned with in the present, led by an already transcendent big man in Joel Embiid and a do-it-all (except shoot) point-forward enjoying one of the best rookie seasons ever in Ben Simmons.

"I think it's scary for the league," said Trevor Booker, Philly's most recent addition. "Those guys are All-Star talents, to go along with Dario (Saric) - special talents on this team that can really dominate the game right now," Booker added, stressing the last two words to emphasize the opportunity at hand.

To Booker's point, when Embiid and Simmons share the court, Philadelphia boasts a net rating (+9.3 per 100 possessions) that trails only Golden State's (+11.6) and Houston's (+10.0) so far this season, and it's not like the supporting cast is lacking, either.

The Sixers employ one of the game's elite 3-and-D wings in Robert Covington, an all-time shooter in J.J. Redick, and a dynamic young forward in Saric - a trio that seems to perfectly complement Simmons and Embiid.

Redick, who signed a one-year deal with the Sixers after qualifying for the playoffs in each of his first 11 seasons with the Clippers and Magic, likes his team's chances - not in two or three years, but four months from now.

"I think there's a legitimate opportunity for us to not just make the playoffs, but to be a really tough out in the playoffs, because of our personnel," Redick told theScore after a loss in Toronto. "I look at this team as a now opportunity rather than a future opportunity."

Come playoff time, there will be no back-to-backs to limit Embiid, and both he and Simmons are already good enough to take over any Eastern Conference series that doesn't include LeBron James. The catch, of course, is that the Sixers need to get there first, which is far from assured.

Saturday's loss to the Raptors - Philly's fifth straight defeat - dropped the Sixers to 14-18, which already has them needing to dig themselves out of a hole in the surprisingly competitive East, where nine teams boast winning records.

"Everybody knows that in a couple years, we'll be pretty damn good, but right now, I think we're better than our record," Saric said, something head coach Brett Brown echoed after his team's latest loss.

"You go back and look at the results, and it's five-point games and four-point games, three-point games," Brown said. "You win in overtime, you lose in triple-overtime. It's not like we're getting blasted. We're there."

Whether they've deserved a better fate or not, the fact remains that the Sixers have an uphill climb if they're to snap a six-year playoff drought. Saturday marked the start of a five-game road trip to close out 2017 before they kick off the new year with 13 of their first 16 games in 2018 coming against teams that currently own winning records. Add it all up, and most projection models see a ninth- or 10th-place finish.

If they're going to overcome those odds, the Sixers will need to get healthy and stay healthy. Embiid missed three straight games with a back injury before returning Saturday, Redick has missed the last two with a hamstring injury, and No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has been sidelined for two months with a shoulder issue.

"I just think when we get on all cylinders health-wise, I like what I see," Brown said. "I feel in my heart and in my head that we're trending in a forward position. It's just not noticeable because it hasn't been associated with winning. You just hope to not lose T.J. (McConnell) for three games, or Covington for three games, or J.J. or Jo for four, you know? It adds up for us, and the wiggle room and margin for error isn't there."

No one embodies the Sixers' health concerns quite like Embiid, who's played just 55 games since being drafted with the third overall pick in 2014, and whose longest stretch of NBA availability was appearing in 10 consecutive contests last month.

When you're yo-yoing in and out of the lineup like that, it's almost impossible to be at your sharpest, meaning the Sixers not only have to deal with keeping Embiid on the court, but also with getting him back up to game speed each time he returns from another absence.

"I was definitely tired," Embiid said of his lackluster performance in Toronto. "I don't think I could play more than three minutes at a time. It happens. You miss a couple games, you get out of shape, and then you've got to come back."

In addition to taking care of their bodies, Philly's youngsters will need to figure out how to take care of the ball sometime soon.

For the second straight year, and the fourth time in five seasons under Brown, the Sixers are the NBA's most turnover-prone team - coughing it up on an astounding 17.6 percent percent of their possessions. That mark would rank 329th out of 330 teams over the last 11 seasons (besting only the 2014-15 Sixers), and the difference between Philly's 30th-ranked turnover rate this year and the 29th-ranked Knicks is equivalent to the difference between New York and the 11th-ranked Pistons.

"It starts with me and Ben," Embiid said after he and Simmons combined for eight turnovers against the Raptors. "We always have the ball in our hands so we have to do a better job."

If it means Embiid and Simmons are on the court together, the Sixers will gladly accept the turnover issues for now, knowing full well that the duo is already good enough to mask a lot of their own flaws and the team's deficiencies.

If they can keep their stars on the court and keep enough of the ball to optimize their talent and return to the playoffs, the Sixers may well find themselves back in Toronto come spring, where they already have at least one believer.

"They're scary good. I don't see them as struggling. I see them as scary good," Raptors head coach Dwane Casey told reporters before Saturday's contest.

When asked what made a losing team so frightening, Casey responded with an incredulous look. "Did you see Saric the other night, and how he kicked our butts?" Casey asked, referring to Dario's near triple-double against the Raptors earlier in the week. "They've got a lot of talent over in that locker room that's scary."

That talent will be front and center on Christmas Day, and for years to come, which probably outweighs any issues of the present for Sixers fans. But if this team can find its way to the postseason, those fans may soon realize what veterans like Redick and Booker already seem to know - the future is now.