The Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers should have broken through to the Eastern Conference Finals now, at least according to one NBA insider. ESPN expert Stephen A. Smith recently addressed Philadelphia's playoff shortcomings in the Embiid era and how things could have been different if the Sixers had kept Jimmy Butler around.

“If [Butler] had never departed from Philly & he was a teammate of Embiid, the 76ers wouldn’t be on this drought where they can’t get to a conference finals,” said Smith on ESPN's First Take. “They would’ve gotten at least to a conference finals by this point if they kept Jimmy instead of losing him to Miami.”

Stephen A. Smith of course is addressing the lone half-season Jimmy Butler spent in a Sixers uniform in 2019. That year, the team reached Game 7 of the second round before being dropped off by Kawhi Leonard courtesy of an all-time clutch jump shot.

Since then, the Sixers have returned to the second round multiple times, including reaching Game 7 again in 2021 and 2023, but have ultimately not broken through to the NBA's Final Four. Meanwhile, Butler's new team, the Miami Heat, have made it all the way to the NBA Finals two times since the multiple-time All-Star took his talents to South Beach.

It certainly isn't hard to envision a team with Embiid and Butler making it to the conference finals at least once, especially considering how excruciatingly close they were four years ago.

Still, hindsight is 20/20, and the Sixers have enough problems on their hand (most of them James Harden-related) in the current day to be busy reflecting on their past.