Philadelphia 76ers: Grading The Offseason

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March 24, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) talks to center Joel Embiid (21, left) during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. The Kings defeated the 76ers 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Philadelphia 76ers remind me a lot of the Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones. While the rest of the NBA realm fights the most interesting, pertinent battles that capture our attention, Khaleesi Sam Hinkie (KhalHinkie?) is a world away, slowly gathering assets to one day stake his claim for the league’s Iron Throne.

The audience has simply been asked to remain patient for the glorious day when those baby dragons (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and rookie Jahlil Okafor) finally arrive and start tearing s**t up.

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In the meantime, however, we’ve been sitting through some painful subplots and a few consecutive seasons where very little progress is actually made toward achieving the ultimate goal: rejoining the contenders and battling them for supremacy of the realm. To drop the GoT metaphor for a second, the Sixers have been terrible for years now and that won’t change in 2015-16.

However, even with Embiid’s latest season-ending surgery serving as another cringeworthy side plot to distract us from the main story arc, Philadelphia did actually take some baby steps toward being a better team this summer.

This borderline D-League team is still fighting for a lottery pick next year, don’t get me wrong. But even as they play this long-term, all-or-nothing game, the Sixers did some good over the last few months. “Winter is coming,” but before it arrives, here’s a look at Philly’s summer with comprehensive offseason grades.

Next: The Draft