The Eventual Bright Future of the 76ers

By Dante Nelson | Jun 28, 2014

We want Andrew Wiggins! Winless for Wiggins! Heck, the Philadelphia 76ers went winless for 26 games. So, when the Sixers were slotted with the 3rd pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, many fans were looking for the Sixers to move up. They wanted Wiggins, right?

Not exactly.

Look, I’m not going to get into all of the reports. I can only go by what Hinkie did. Sam Hinkie essentially grabbed two guys in the lottery who would, hopefully and eventually, become something special for this team.

There are plenty of fans that are feeling some kind of way. Like me, they were going into this draft looking for the franchise player who would help establish the core of players that would contend.

Joel Embiid and Dario Sacic are two guys who the Sixers may not see play for them for a long time. Embiid is slated to be out for 4-6 months. Nerlens Noel was also slotted to be out until December of last year. We know how that worked out. The Sixers are in no rush. They assembling a set of players and assets. Embiid may not see the court this season. They certainly won’t be rushing him. Why rush him? We’re not trying to win.

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Like many people, I was hoping that this upcoming season, we would have a group of guys to get behind and to start building a nice group of role players to surround the core. From what I got from the draft, it looks like we’re in for another long season.

BUT…

We need to put things in perspective. The Sixers have something that fans have been asking for, for a long time: A plan.

All of the years of mediocrity appear to be gone. If we’re being honest, the Sixers were in such a bad state when ownership and then Hinkie showed up, that Hinkie’s been spending most of his time cleaning up that mess. In the process, we’ve seen many players come and go if only to take a look at them and also meet the salary cap floor.

But, there is a plan. They said early on that this would take years to complete. If you thought that the Sixers would be ready to contend only after one or two seasons, then you didn’t quite understand what Hinkie was talking about.

Think about this too: The Sixers established a D-League team. Now, they have a place where they can send down players who can still learn the team’s system, even if they’re not playing for the Sixers. The Sixers control that. It’s a very powerful tool. And don’t forget about the practice facility. They control that. The things they can do in there…they can build it to better suit NBA players. That can only help.

The Sixers, from the top to the bottom, are building something that they are hoping will keep them a high class organization.

We may not see it now, but this is the eventual bright future of the Sixers. Just like when you’re growing a plant. You put the seed in the ground. Days, weeks, can go by before you see a sprout. You may think it’s a waste of time, but, things are happening out of your eye. The seed is doing its thing; we just have to wait it out.

Before the new ownership, we weren’t doing anything. There was no plan. It was a “keep this team afloat and maybe something will happen”. It wasn’t working. Hinkie understood this and decided to go a different way. Can we fault him for that? Can we fault him for not willing to continue a strategy that really hasn’t gotten the Sixers anywhere since Iverson was traded?

The Sixers are on the right track. I’m excited. No, I’m not excited about another year of crappy basketball. I’m really not. I’m not gonna lie and say I’m dancing in my birthday suit about it. Still, sometimes the things hardest to wait for are worth it the most. Something like that.

I’m gonna end that train of thought there. There is something I would like to tell you all.

When I first started writing for FanSided and The Sixer Sense, it was on June. And now, three years later, I am announcing that I am leaving the network.

I spent time as a staff writer, got a promotion to editor, and then got demoted to staff writer. I’ve blogged along with many great people. I’ve watched this network grow so much in my short time here. But, it’s time for me to go. I won’t get into the why here; I’ll save that for my personal blog. But yeah, my time has to come to an end.

I want to say that the future is not only bright for the team, but it’s also bright for this site. The passion from the bloggers on the staff currently and even before is awesome. They care about this site and giving you quality content, just as I am. We’re growing at a rapid pace. I intend on sticking around this network for a while.

Could I return as a staff writer? Maybe. Right now, it’s just going to work out. This has been one of the hardest things for me to do in my writing/blogging career. Though my blogging career didn’t start here, this has been a major part of it. Let me tell ya, I didn’t realize I had any talent or desire to write until 2010. Yup, this is all relatively new to me. So, thanks to FanSided for bringing me on.

Thank you to the writers I’ve stood alongside with. You guys, and gal, made me feel like I’m not the only fan of this team at times.

Thank you to you, the readers. You make sites and networks shine brightly with comments and such.

You better stick around on this site. It’s going to make other Sixers blogs step their game up.

Yup, it’s a bright future for the 76ers and The Sixer Sense.

You can follow me on Twitter, or like me on Facebook.

Otherwise, for what could be the last time*, I’m Dante Nelson signing off. See ya at the Sixers’ championship parade(s).

*This probably isn’t my last post to be published. The site is working on a little something and I have a post in that series. But, this post is literally the last thing I have written for the network.