Philadelphia 76ers: Reasons For Optimism In 2015
By Cody Daniel
Man, oh man. What a year it has been for the Philadelphia 76ers and their ever-patient fan base that’s been forced to trudge along with the tank driven general manager, Sam Hinkie.
And I’m not just talking about the current season, which has produced a league-worst record of 4-26, but also rather, the entire year of 2014, where the Sixers lost 68 of their 82 games with a point differential in their losses of 1,140 points.
You don’t have to be the smartest to figure out that’s absolutely horrible. Of the Sixers’ 68 losses in 2014, 48 of them came by double figures, which shows that not only were the Sixers a bottom-feeding club, they struggled to even remain competitive in most games.
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But Brett Brown and his Sixers can now look back at some of their rock-bottom moments that came by way a 26-game losing streak, as well as the 17-game losing streak to begin this season.
Although there’s still a long, loss-filled road in the near future for Philly, the foundation is seemingly in place – it’s hard to be certain about anything with Hinkie in charge – and there’s reason to believe we may start seeing the beginning of what the vision was in Philly on the night star point guard, Jrue Holiday, was shipped off in exchange for the injured rookie, Nerlens Noel.
As you can see in the upcoming schedule, wins are still going to be hard to come by initially, but there’s a good opportunity for some wins with Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Indiana following Phoenix, the Clippers and Cavaliers.
This doesn’t really mean too much in the win column for a team that’s made it clear their focus isn’t on the present, but there is certainly some positives that can be taken if the Sixers can steal a handful games in January.
They’ve won four of their last 13, which is actually a good sign that one of the youngest team’s in the NBA is learning how to win a few.
Then as the season continues on, we can expect to see the rotation start to take better form around the seven or eight guys who give the team the best chance to win, rather than experimenting with any asset Philly can get their hands on to see who is worth a chance.
As of now, the Sixers really only have Michael Carter-Williams, Henry Sims, Noel, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Tony Wroten as solidified pieces in the rotation this season.
K.J. McDaniels and Robert Covington look to round out that seven-man rotation, but we’re still seeing guys like JaKarr Sampson, Jerami Grant and Furkan Aldemir get mixed in for some opportunities.
We can realistically expect to see at least two of the aforementioned post players start to see decreases in time, and my guess will be that Grant will continue on with some decent court time, due to his tremendous effort and athleticism.
Additionally, even though there’s the likely chance that it doesn’t happen for long-term thinking purposes, rookie big man, Joel Embiid, could potentially suit up sometime in the coming months and bring a much-needed spark to a desperate and struggling roster.
After the discovery of Embiid’s foot fracture in late June, the anticipated recovery time was said to be 4-6 months. That could have brought Embiid back on the court anywhere between October and late December.
Hinkie and the Sixers have made it very clear the long-term health and success is more important, but depending on how Embiid continues to progress, we may be fortunate enough to watch the prized rookie center see some time in the remaining four months of the season.
If that were to happen, then it’s clear that there would be a huge impact on this team from confidence and chemistry standpoint, as well as adding some much-needed interior talent and size.
But this scenario is only a possibility. What’s for certain is with the Sixers’ expected six picks in the 2015 draft, we will see on the court at the beginning of next season the product of another very early lottery pick, and potentially the Miami Heat’s pick on the court with MCW, Noel and Embiid.
The Sixers’ pick is expected to be the No. 1 pick — they should enter the offseason with the highest chance to obtain the coveted treasure — and the combination of these four or five guys the Sixers have decided to build around all being on the court at once to begin next season is reason enough to be extremely thrilled at what the near-future holds, especially considering how difficult the past year has been in Philly.
All of this, along with the anticipated development of McDaniels, the possible return of a fan favorite in Pierre Jackson, and a bevy of second rounders’ competing to fill out a nearly-sculpted roster points to brighter days in The City of Brotherly Love.
They probably won’t find themselves in the playoff conversation, but we might actually start to see some real, young talent across the board playing something that people will refer to as good basketball.
Hell, we might even see MCW cut down on his league-worst turnover rate, which would unquestionably make the life of Brown much easier.
There’s certainly reason to believe things are finally going to start turning around for the Sixers in 2015. Rock-bottom has, without a doubt, been reached and when you look at the current state of the 76ers, there’s absolutely nowhere else to go but up in the coming year.