Many want the Sixers to wave the white flag on their season. It’s easier said than done.

Within the walls of the Sixers' Camden, NJ Training Complex, there is a bold confidence. A belief that, despite a 20-34 record, all they need to do is earn an invitation to the Play-In tournament.

While many of their supporters would rather see them say 'die' on this season, the Sixers seem to view the Play-In as a chance at a reset. Get in, and the record goes to 0-0. Stack healthy day on healthy day, roll the dice.

Their season has been and remains a conundrum. Their roster is a good one as long as the seven-foot staple is in the middle of it all. The problem is, he's barely been available.

Their strength of schedule the rest of the way is quite favorable, and the bottoming-out Chicago Bulls are the only team standing between them and the Play-In tournament. The problem is, the Sixers have no resume to stand on this season, constantly vomiting away winnable games against inferior opponents.

They've given you no reason for hope. Nothing to point to and say "I believe in this product". They're perpetually one bad step, one collision, one awkward landing, one anything away from being forced into submission.

And yet, they're 1.5 games out of where they need to be.

Ideal? Nowhere near. Reasonable given reality? Sure.

"Take it one step at a time. One game at a time. The Play-In is kind of built for a team like us. If we get in, I feel like we can make anything happen," new Sixer Quentin Grimes said on Tuesday. 

"So, I feel like once we get everybody healthy, get rhythm out there on the court, we're one of the more dangerous teams to look out for."

The team's messaging has been consistent all season - in one way or another, "just let us get healthy".

It's a weird predicament to be in. It's not necessarily something they can control. But, there's no reason to expect that they can cobble together even a week of clean injury reports.

Yet, their actions follow their messages.

They nabbed Lonnie Walker IV, arguably the best player not in the NBA, just before the NBA buyout in his contract with Lithuania expired. They gave him a two-year deal with a team option for next season.

It's a move that gets talent and athleticism on the roster to help right away and plans for the future.

They notably did not trade Guerschon Yabusele, perhaps the best comeback story in the NBA this season, at the deadline despite knowing there is a risk he could leave in free agency this upcoming summer.

They notably did trade Caleb Martin - who's been mired in an injury-filled season - for Grimes, who is ready-made for significant minutes on a serious team.

They cast off Reggie Jackson for the better and younger Jared Butler, who they then promptly signed to a two-year deal (with a team option for next season).

Their roster decisions have matched the sentiments they've expressed all along - they're not giving up on this season.

The truth is, as logical as it might be to throw in the towel, the protections on their first-round pick make it far from a guarantee that a tank mode would bear fruit.

Even if their odds of throwing a parade on Broad Street this summer are dramatically longer than their odds of keeping the pick are, they still have to justify the decision to a soon-to-be 31-year-old center with an unreliable knee and a soon-to-be 35-year-old forward with an item still unchecked on his basketball bucket list. They're key stakeholders in this endeavor, both of whom have valid reasons to want to see it through the roughest of seas.

It is the jobs of Daryl Morey and company to sell them on that shift in direction should they choose to pivot. But, it is also the jobs of Joel Embiid and Paul George to keep open minds in that dialogue.

If they're as competitive and prideful as the locals want them to be, that's a task that's easier explained than executed.

Want more Philadelphia 76ers news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for THE Philly Sports Newsletter here. 100% free, always.