Last season saw the Philadelphia 76ers tank fairly hard in order to secure themselves the best chance at Andrew Wiggins and at worst at least land a lottery pick or two to help fast track their rebuild. It’s always a tough strategy to undertake as you aim to balance return on investment, maintain stakeholder happiness and appease fans who want to see wins.
However, if you can “sell” the “short term pain, long term gain” strategy, things should be fine. Until you get to the 2014 NBA Draft.
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The Sixers missed out on Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and took the injured big man from Kansas, Joel Embiid, who won’t even play this season. They then traded Elfrid Payton to Orlando for Dario Saric, who will remain overseas this season. Finally, to round out their “night of nights” they made safer selections with Jerami Grant and K.J. McDaniels to hopefully replace the loss of
Thaddeus Young.
Now you are selling a different message. Now you are asking people to put up with another year of horrible loss after horrible loss with a team that resembles a Summer League or D-League roster. It is safe to say that Sam Hinkie, Brett Brown, Michael Carter-Williams and the rest of the franchise have a huge task ahead of them this season.
For a team that failed to even win 20 games for the season (they went 19-63) after starting the season 3-0, the thought of facing another 82 games like that is … terrifying.
Philadelphia also traded away Evan Turner during the season and have also seen their leaders in points, blocks, rebounds and steals leave during the offseason. Thaddeus Young will now be anchoring the Minnesota Timberwolves frontcourt, while Spencer Hawes has found his way onto a contender — the Los Angeles Clippers. Michael Carter-Williams, who led the team in assists, will be back though, will plenty of added responsibility in his sophomore season.
There are a couple of shining lights for the franchise this season. Fans will finally be able to see Nerlens Noel in action and the second year from Carter-Williams could prove to be exceptional with more responsibility. This duo looms large as the face of the franchise this season but also for the future as well.
Noel is an athletic center who grabs boards, blocks shots, runs the floor well and finishes at the rim. Michael Carter-Williams is a talented point guard who sees the floor well, passes incredibly well and uses his length to get into passing lanes and spark transition buckets. The two together seem like a perfect match.
With the departure of Hawes and Young, there will be plenty of minutes on offer for the three young rookies (Noel is essentially a rookie having sat out all last season). Noel at the center spot (while Embiid tweets his brilliance from the sidelines!), Jerami Grant and K.J.McDaniels at either forward spot — the future looks very talented. However, for all the talent on this young squad, the stashed shooting guard and the assets for the future, the immediate season is going to be pretty tough going.
Strap yourself in Sixer fans. You are in for a pretty rough ride this season – but after last year you are already used to it. Just hope that at the end of this season, you can lay claim to 20+ wins, a star point guard and a center who was worth the wait. Then you can reap the benefits of Sam Hinkie’s “strategy.”