On June 25, 2015, many Sixers fans and basketball fanatics were awaiting the moment when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called star Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell as he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers. However, that vision did not come into fruition when the Los Angeles Lakers selected Russell with the second overall pick. Instantly, basketball analysts and experts labeled the Sixers’ rebuilding process as taking another step back. Little did people know that Philadelphia found a hidden gem selecting Duke center Jahlil Okafor with the third overall pick. Selecting Okafor was a wise choice from Sixers management due to Okafor’s low-post skills and being a safety net in wake of the Joel Embiid injury.
Fast forward to when the season starts. For the second consecutive year, the 76ers sport a 0-14 record, making an NBA record. Soon the optimism from the beginning of the season that fans had developed was slowly diminishing. There have been games where the Sixers lost by a possession or two, and there were games in which they lost by double digits. Even with the additions of Nik Stauskas and Okafor, the team is struggling immensely.
Okafor has looked strong but certainly needs more development. His scoring ability is off the charts, but his rebounding and defensive game needs work. Nerlens Noel has looked strides better than last season, even developing his jump shot, a feature most NBA minds never thought he would accomplish. Stauskas hasn’t quite been the 3-point sniper that the fans had hoped for, but good 3-point shooters always find their way out of slumps. Hopefully, Stauskas can do the same.
First off, the Sixers are without major key players, such as Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall and Carl Landry. Without Wroten and Marshall, the point guard crop consists of TJ McConnell and Isaiah Canaan. With Marshall in the lineup, he brings exceptional court vision, great facilitating and above average 3-point shooting. With Wroten in the lineup, the team will have an excellent spark plug off the bench who can successfully attack the rim. Landry is a veteran who can provide veteran leadership to this young team.
The Sixers are last in the NBA in points per game and first in turnovers per game. For casual basketball fans, they are probably wondering why people have high expectations for the 76ers and their future. There are multiple reasons for Sixers fans to get amped about the direction the franchise is going. They feature perhaps the best young frontcourt consisting of Noel and Okafor. Looking into next season, the Sixers will have three talented big men in Joel Embiid, Okafor and Noel. Not to mention former Euroleague MVP Dario Saric will sign with the 76ers next summer. Saric’s arrival has been long awaited and is certainly something for Sixers fans to be excited about. In addition, the team boasts quality players such as Jerami Grant, Robert Covington, Stauskas, and Wroten.
The main feature that can accelerate the Sixers’ rebuilding process is the plethora of draft picks the team has for the 2016 NBA draft. They have their own draft pick and the Lakers’ draft pick, which will both be the top five picks of the draft. Then the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder will both convey draft picks to the Sixers from prior trades. Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has a knack for building a team through the draft. As current history shows, the past two NBA champions, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, have constructed their roster through the draft. It is a very successful method. When you factor in the incoming four players in the draft along with the current roster, the team will have 12 quality players.
In addition to the incoming draft picks, cap space can accelerate the rebuilding process. To elaborate, the 76ers have more than $25 million in cap space which is more than any other team in the league. With the NBA reaching a new TV deal, the salary cap, is increasing dramatically. Next summer it is even estimated that the Sixers will have about $47 million in cap space. The 2016 free agency list contains some very intriguing names. The cream of the crop for this free agency class is Kevin Durant. Realistically, the Sixers should start off signing a modest name. Realistic free agents the team could pursue are Dion Waiters, Nicolas Batum, Jeff Green, and Harrison Barnes.
There is a lot to look forward to next season. This season could be the last season in which the phenomena called “tanking” ends. Tanking is deliberately becoming a bad team in order to get a high draft pick. The ideal team the Sixers could model themselves after is the Milwaukee Bucks. In the 2013-2014 season, the Bucks finished with the worst record. The following season, they won 41 games and made the playoffs. It is highly likely that the Sixers can make the playoffs next season. With the Brooklyn Nets beginning to rebuild, the New York Knicks currently in flux, and Boston Celtics heading towards mediocrity, a sixth through eighth seed is within the team’s vicinity. The process is slowly working out to be in their favor.
Garbiel Smith is a fourth-year communication studies major. He can be reached at GS783203@wcupa.edu.