Julius Erving Wants to See Sixers Run it Back With Ben Simmons

The last time the Sixers won an NBA title, Julius Erving was donning the Philly threads. Now, the city of Philadelphia is impatiently waiting for the Sixers to end the drought during the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons era.

For the last few years, the Sixers have been viewed as strong contenders in the Eastern Conference. Ever since they started making the playoffs again in 2017-2018, the 76ers have had their fair share of favoritism from the media.

However, they have yet to figure out how to get past the second round of the playoffs. After moving on from Brett Brown, hiring Doc Rivers to become the team's next head coach, and adding Daryl Morey to the front office to become the President of Basketball Operations, many believed the Sixers could find a way to become championship bound in 2020-2021.

But the second-round woes came about once again as the Sixers went seven games with the Atlanta Hawks and found themselves eliminated after dropping the do-or-die Game 7 matchup in Philly a couple of months back.

After going four-straight seasons making the playoffs and not getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Sixers are ready to shake things up by trading the three-time All-Star, Ben Simmons. Although trade talks have halted lately, and the Sixers are more likely to have Simmons on the roster when training camp arrives than not, many still expect to the 76ers to move on.

However, Julius Erving believes the Sixers could run it back once more. According to Jasmyn Wimbish of CBS Sports, Erving thinks that adding the right pieces and giving Rivers another year to coach the trio of Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Simmons could give the Sixers better results in 2021-2022.

"So it's been a long drought in Philadelphia, our fans are eagerly awaiting for the team to get over the top. There's a lot of controversy with the Ben Simmons situation, but it seems like the team is staying pat with their big three of Joel [Embiid], Ben [Simmons] and Tobias [Harris]. I think if they add pieces, get another year in with Doc Rivers, because you know last year was his first year on the job with the Sixers. Sometimes you need time with people to really know how to bring out the best in them."

Optimism from the legend is great, but the Sixers are more than likely going to stick with their plan of shopping Simmons around for another All-Star caliber addition as they should. Simmons might be a multi-time All-Star who is locked into a long-term deal, but he hasn't shown enough improvement in his offensive game to warrant the Sixers keeping him on board for another playoff run.

You know the saying on insanity; doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It would be silly for the Sixers to believe that Simmons will make a drastic change in a few months after gaining four seasons of evidence that his offensive style doesn't mesh well with the team when the postseason rolls around.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.