Philadelphia 76ers In Danger Of Being Out-Tanked
By Cody Daniel
When you think of the Philadelphia 76ers, you think of a young team that’s building towards the future and expecting wins to be at a premium for the time being, or in other words; tanking. This dates back to when the Sixers saw their star point guard, Jrue Holiday, get traded away on draft night for a high-upside rookie that wouldn’t play a single minute last season in Nerlens Noel.
Up to this point, the tanking process for Sam Hinkie’s Sixers has been pretty tremendous. After accruing a nice handful of talent that could sprout into stardom down the road, the Sixers look to be a half-season and another star-caliber lottery pick away from starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together in Philly.
But a problem has arose with the recent landscape changes in the NBA: the Sixers might be in danger of being out-tanked.
Yes, as crazy as that sounds, the Sixers aren’t being viewed as the bottom-feeders of the NBA anymore. In ESPN’s latest power rankings, Marc Stein ranked Philadelphia No. 26, ahead of Boston, Orlando, Minnesota and New York.
Orlando has seen their fair share of struggles lately, winning only three of their last 10. But the Magic are a team that’s proven in short bursts that they can compete, and with the most talent available between the rosters the Sixers will be competing for that coveted No. 1 pick, Orlando should be the least of Philadelphia’s worries.
Minnesota is one of only two teams that have fewer wins than the Sixers, as their win on the road in Indiana last night gives them six on the season. There’s no question the Timberwolves are far from a playoff team, but the main concern with them this season has been injuries in key positions.
Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic have all played less than 10 games this season, and as you can expect, missing those guys isn’t going to help place too many wins on the schedule, just as it doesn’t help that Minnesota is stuck in the historically talented Western Conference.
But with Rubio, Martin and Pekovic all having the possibility of returning to the court in the next couple weeks, things could turn around a bit in Minnesota, which is why Philadelphia should be more fearful of their conference rivals and their recent efforts to join the Sixers in their pursuit of the top pick.
A few weeks ago, Boston had Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green still available on the roster. After shipping Rondo off to Dallas with Green following suit and heading to the West after joining the Memphis Grizzlies, the stockpiling of picks that came in return points to one thing and it’s an early lottery pick for the Celtics.
They still have some key pieces that will help them at least try to compete regularly, with guys like Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, but the Celtics are soon going to see what it’s like to be terrible and will be right in the mix of being gifted with a top-three pick in the upcoming draft.
But public enemy No. 1 for the Sixers has to now be the new-look New York Knicks with Phil Jackson starting from ground zero.
For a multitude of reasons, the amassed variety of talent in New York just hasn’t been able to mesh and find ways to win. As a result, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were shipped to Cleveland as part of a three-team trade. With two of their most talented players no longer in town, it will become even more of a struggle for the league-worst 5-35 Knicks to find wins.
Unlike the Knicks, the Sixers compete on a nightly basis and usually have some fun doing so. The players are actually trying to win, but management simply hasn’t made that possible on a consistent basis with the talent available.
But as shown with three wins in their last five games, competing will result in some wins, which is exactly why folks in Philly should be nervous about no longer securing the top pick.
Of course, it all comes down to luck in the end during the draft lottery, but with Philly being a team that’s showing a steady flow of improvement, while conference foes, Boston and New York, have slammed the reset button, the second year of the tank may not provide the most desirable result after the ping pong balls fall.