The 76ers' season won't end when the clock strikes midnight tonight. But their chance to use a medical exception worth about $4.2 million will disappear.

The seven-game western swing that begins tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Lakers won't make or break the Sixers' season. But it might point them in one direction or the other.

Some holiday.

As the Sixers head west, they find themselves living under a cloud of uncertainty. At this point last season, en route to the NBA Eastern Conference championship, they were 18-8, triggered by a spectacular 10-0 start. Now, they're 11-15 and have won just three of their last 11 games.

It remains unclear whether the Sixers will, in fact, use the medical exception granted by league authorities when Matt Geiger retired because of continuing problems with his knees. The Sixers have had a $4.5 million mid-level exception available all along, and haven't used that, either.

General manager Billy King, as a matter of policy, declines comment on prospective personnel moves. But two things are clear: The Sixers haven't identified a player they can reasonably acquire who could make a significant difference, and they are wary of allowing their payroll to rise to a level that would cause them to pay an inordinate amount of luxury tax.

The Sixers' current payroll is already more than $57 million; the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax is expected to kick in at about $52 million or $53 million.