Is Seven The 76ers’ Magic Number For A Championship?
By Josh Wilson
Seven has recently become a very prevalent number to the Philadelphia 76ers. No, not just because it’s a part of their name. Seven is the amount of years involved in a plan that will (supposedly) put the team in contention for a title. Yes, a championship title.
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I know how far out that sounds right now. 18 wins last year and we’re thinking about a title? But seven years is a very long time. In seven years, lots of things can change for a basetball franchise. Seven years ago for the Sixers, they were certainly better than they are now. They finished their season with a record of 40-42, and even made the playoffs that season.
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Let’s look at the Golden State Warriors, this year’s championship winners, seven years ago. They were just skimming above .500, and didn’t even make the playoffs that year. Seven years did them well, as they were able to become one of the league’s most dominant teams with only 15 losses and tons of win streaks along the way to their title this year.
Now, information has come out from one of the team’s all time legends. Julius Erving (better known as Doctor J), informed Sirius XM radio that when the team was acquired, they told him they had a seven year plan to make themselves contenders for a title.
"“I think the talk was about seven years. I think it’s still on that same timeline.”"
What’s interesting about the way Doctor J. phrased this is that he said he still believes it is the same timeline. I’m no math major, but if you add all of that up, that puts the Sixers current plan to compete for a title at 2019, not too far out of the way.
Before you become a contender for a title, you typically are a presence in the playoffs first. Heck, before the Miami Heat went on a majestic run of four straight visits to the finals, they were still in the playoffs before that, getting knocked out in the first round for two straight years.
Teams don’t just show up to the playoffs for the first time in seven years and contend for a title. That means they should be looking to make it into the playoffs, at the very least, within the next few seasons.
Based on the current status of their roster, I think this is something they might be able to do. They’ve got first round draft pick Jahlil Okafor, who is young but ready to go. Nerlens Noel (although he needs to beef up his offense) is poised to be one of the best big men in the league, and Nik Stauskas fits perfectly with the team’s vision of young players who are on the cusp of greatness.
Sam Hinkie is known for making questionable moves with the team, but now some of them are really starting to make sense. Of course, we won’t know how well the season is going to go until it actually begins, but most of us are incredibly optimistic for what the future holds.
This seven year plan may just have been what happened. And even though the team traded away players like Michael Carter-Williams, and things didn’t seem to be going according to the plan, it’s possible that there’s a method to all of the madness.
As Business Insider put it, it’s tough to imagine a team going from a lottery team to a championship team in a few short years, but looking at the potential of these players, seven just could be the Sixers lucky number.