The NBA Draft Lottery has become a national holiday for passionate Sixers fans along with the NBA Draft itself. The Philadelphia 76ers 2014-15 season once again served as a stepping stone towards what seems to be another chaotic offseason for GM Sam Hinkie.
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Storylines such as “Point-JaKarr”, where JaKarr Sampson at 6’9″ is your primary ball handler, a lethal stealth tank to open the season at 0-17, and continuous roster shuffling highlighted another rebuilding year for the team.
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These three examples should warrant the worst record in the league and best potential odds to land the No. 1 overall pick. However, a magician is at the helm for Philadelphia. Brett Brown has arguably the toughest job in the league coaching the Sixers. Watching the passion and energy he brings on the sidelines and during interviews is promising for a coach in the thick of a rebuild.
The Sixers, despite trading their most productive asset in PG Michael Carter-Williams at the trade deadline to Milwaukee, finished with the third worst record in the league and second worst in their division.
Carter-Williams had been heavily evaluated and scrutinized as a player whose stats were believed to be padded due to the system. Brown reflected on the relationship with his Rookie of the Year:
"“I will say I had a fondness and attachment for [Carter-Williams] and the excitement I’ll have watching him grow in this league, and he will grow,” said Brown, per Dei Lynam of CSN Philadelphia."
While Carter-Williams helped the Bucks land the No. 6 seed in the East, Philadelphia acquired a valuable and idealized asset for the rebuild. The gem of the Steve Nash trade that sent the two-time MVP to the Lakers in 2012 changed hands to a team that could eventually reap the possible benefits it offered.
A first-round pick top-five protected in 2015 and top-three protected in 2016 from LA allowed Hinkie to jettison the emerging talent.
The historic franchise finished fourth in the lottery standings to end the 2015 regular season. The pick currently has a 17.2 percent chance to convey this season. The Sixers would need two teams to jump L.A. However, they ideally don’t want the Heat to be one of them.
Hinkie acquired a second protected pick that has ended up in the lottery after sending the versatile Thaddeus Young to Minnesota for Miami’s first-round pick last August. Protected top-10 protected, Miami fell one win short of tying Brooklyn, which would have fallen to No. 10 in the lottery losing to Orlando in their season finale, Indiana and Utah.
The unfortunate seeding for the Sixers has Miami at a 91 percent chance of retaining their pick.
Brett Brown, after the season concluded, voiced his opinion on players that don’t play the season that are drafted by the Sixers. In the instance of lottery protection, the context remains the same. He wants talent to play for the team. Losing Carter-Williams brought over a non-performing asset that isn’t a talent Brown can mold right away.
All U Can Heat
The ideal Sixers scenario would be winning the lottery, having L.A. land at No. 6, and Miami dropping one spot to No. 11. However, at less than 0.3 percent, the possibility of an unfortunate scenario are far more likely. The Sixers chances of falling are high and the protected picks are most likely going back to their respective teams.
Would that be a buzzkill for a team looking to acquire as much young talent as possible? Definitely. Would it be an impactful blow to the rebuild of the organization? The answer has yet to be determined. No one can accurately predict whether Los Angeles gets back to the postseason or if Miami’s pick pans out his rookie year.
All U Can Heat
While the optimism will probably have to wait until 2016 for fans to see a major influx of young talent once again for the team, the picks could possibly increase in value or be a valuable asset for Hinkie to utilize.
Getting a wing like Duke’s Justise Winslow or international sensation Mario Hezonja with the Lakers pick would be ideal for the team, but the odds currently are in the Lakers favor. The silver lining of an unfortunate result is the development of guys like Robert Covington and Jerami Grant who could be fixtures in the team’s rebuild.
Fans will hope to see the Sixers receive three picks next Tuesday when the lottery concludes, but the the team is assured one pick. One that will be valuable in the 2015 NBA Draft and ideally turn into a player that joins Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid as the faces of the franchise.
Next: LaMarcus Aldridge: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations
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