Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid’s Future Fit in Tank City

“Sam Hinkie has a plan.”

This is the mindset Philadelphia 76ers fans have when it comes to the incredibly strange way their general manager has assembled their team in the last few years. Generally, the thought is that he’s dealing with rough waters now so that his team is stronger in the future, even if he doesn’t make it to see the future with the franchise.

Most others, however, aren’t so nice with their explanations for the Sixers’ woes lately. Plain and simple, they’re tanking. It’s not exactly hard to see. A lot of it isn’t Hinkie’s fault, though. How was he supposed to know that Andrew Bynum would’ve basically given up after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers? He did and all of Philly’s eggs were in his basket. His injuries and subsequent parting with the franchise sent the team into a downward spiral. Odd to see it that way, but it’s true.

Without Bynum to be a piece to the future, the Sixers have had to do things “unconventionally.” Essentially this requires Philly to not spend money on players that can help them win games now (they’re bordering on missing the salary cap floor, which is meaningless overall but still makes a point), using their last two first round picks on young, talented centers who combined (likely) won’t play a single minute in their rookie seasons and have now stashed another draft pick overseas (another first round draft pick) who can’t come to the NBA for at least two years.

There’s a lot going on here without anything actually going on. It’s confusing to some, but most see what it is. It’s tanking at its finest and it may just be something that can work, but won’t see any results for a number of years.

We’ll finally see what Nerlens Noel has to offer this year after missing last season recovering from a torn ACL he suffered while still with Kentucky. Michael Carter-Williams led all rookies on most major categories last year and took home the Rookie of the Year award. Philly has a chance to do something, well, odd. Should Noel perform as most expect him to and takes home the ROY award, that’d be two-straight ROY winners on a team that (possibly) finishes with one of the worst records in the NBA in each of those years.

All a bit confusing, right? Well, that’s where we’re at with the Sixers. MCW was their guy last year, Noel will be their guy this year, and another rookie (who’s expected to miss the season this year) will get the call next year.

Joel Embiid’s draft stock had one of the biggest fluctuations of the 2014 draft class. Entering his first and only year at Kansas, few knew of him. He was just some big guy who was on Andrew Wiggins’ team. Instead of playing an understudy role player, Embiid became a star with his growth throughout the season. His production and overall body of work was so impressive that he started earning credit as being a potential No.1 overall draft pick.

Everything was falling into place for Embiid until it was revealed just a week before the draft that Embiid’s foot injury was worse than anticipated and he needed to have surgery, one that would keep him out of action until around Christmas. Whether or not Embiid plays at all this season remains to be seen. Noel could’ve played a bit last season but the Sixers decided it’d be better if he fully recovered for the future rather than risk reaggravating it and losing him even longer.

In Embiid, the Sixers have begun the building of the NBA’s new Twin Towers. Already having Noel, a lengthy 6’11” center with great leaping ability, and adding a 7’0″ center with long arms and developing foot work to the mix, Philly may have something going for them, though both players have to continue to develop and not regress. It’ll be a competition between the two when both are healthy at the same time, which will, eventually, give the Sixers an edge and athletic ability no matter who ends up playing where.

All of this, however, really depends on when Embiid gets healthy and if Philly will play him this season when he gets there. Based on how Hinkie has been building the 76ers, Embiid likely won’t see the court this year. That could potentially help them wins games later in the year and that would take them out of the first pick race for the 2015 draft. There’s still a chance Philly leads the race for last place by about 20 games or so (purposeful hyperbole) that they can afford to play Embiid and see what happens.

Through this, Embiid’s role in Tank City, Pennsylvania will come in the future. He’s part of the bigger picture for the Sixers as he’ll be a cornerstone piece to whatever Hinkie is building towards. Just through college play, Embiid is a better overall player than Noel because of his offensive skill set. Noel can be the defensive presence and swat away shots while Embiid plays the dominant offensive scorer in the post.

Hinkie may be confusing with his strategy, but overall it makes sense and Embiid is going to be a big part of this picture Sam has been painting in his office when he should be making moves to get better.