Philadelphia 76ers: What To Take From The 3-0 Start

After wins against the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards, many expected the Philadelphia 76ers to somewhat crash back down to earth against a Chicago Bulls team that are projected to be one of the best in the association.

That isn’t what we got when both teams met inside the Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers continued their recent good from and once again shocked the world to knock off Derrick Rose’s Bulls team, 107-104. An incredible night in Philly was capped off when rookie Michael Carter-Williams’ behind the back pass found Spencer Hawes, who pump-faked past Joakim Noah and sent a dagger through Tom Thibodeau’s heart with a cool jumpshot to put the game beyond doubt.

This Sixers team were projected to be one of the worst in league history. Were we wrong about this team; are they perhaps a little better than we thought? Or is this just a bit of red-hot form and the 76ers will still struggle to win double-digit games?

Amongst the madness, just what can we take from the first three games?

Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes are definitely movable assets

It’s admirable of three of the more senior players to really go out there and outwork other teams for 48 minutes, when you look at the pieces Sam Hinkie has surrounded Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes with. It would have been easy for the trio to just sit back and watch this team and their young players get run over. Not for these three, and it will certainly benefit them and the Sixers in the long run. They are all possibly on the trade block sometime in the future, and all three look very movable at this moment in time.

Michael Carter-Williams Will Win Rookie of The Year

Is this a little premature? Probably. But what the heck. The 2013 NBA draft class has hardly had an inspiring start to life in the league, and it looks as if the former Syracuse guard is going to run away with it. He’s averaging 20.7 pts, 4.7 rebs, 9.0 assists and 4.3 steals through his first three games. And while this won’t be the same come February, the seeds have been planted for Michael Carter-Williams to not only win ROY, but to progress and in a few years become an all-star caliber talent.

Brown has been a breath of fresh air.

(NBA.com photo)

Brett Brown Is Going To Be An NBA Coach For Years To Come

After sitting through years of Doug Collins’ offense, having a coach that will actually run plays; tell his team to shoot threes and drive to the hole is refreshing. Brown is bereft of much talent in his new job, but that doesn’t mean he can’t draw the most out of what he does have. He’s outcoaching some really experienced coaches and he’ll certainly be around the league – being successful – for many, many years to come. It also tells us how poor Doug Collins’ offense was, but that’s a story for a different time.

Sam Hinkie Will Be Happy

A lot of people have tried to paint the narrative of Sam Hinkie being somewhat upset at the 76ers winning games. There’s no ounce of that being true, I’m sorry. There’s no chance Hinkie isn’t giddy about just how good Carter-Williams has looked, or how much Evan Turner’s trade value has increased. Tanking season hasn’t quite begun yet, it’s only November.

The Sixers Will Still Most Likely Be Terrible

Despite the 3-0 start, this team still lacks an NBA caliber rotation. The Sixers will lose the element of surprise soon enough, and teams will start keying in on Michael Carter-Williams and co.. Sure, they might win 20 games this season, which is more than we all had expected, but they will still be a pretty bad team regardless. And hey, the team with the worst record never wins the draft lottery!

Final Thoughts

What an opening week it’s been for Sixers fans. Savor it, remember it and treasure it. When the Sixers are losing 20 games in a row in March, these will be the type of memories to claw onto.

The story of the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers has been a very refreshing one so far. After calls to stop the weighted lottery to avoid teams “tanking”, the 76ers have come out and shocked everyone by beating three teams that are playoff-caliber, two of which are considered title-contenders.

Whatever happens from now until the end of the season, the Sixers’ 3-0 start will always be something worth remembering. It’s the coolest story in sports at the moment; the 76ers are the team the watch at the moment.

Now who would have thought that before the season?

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