The Kansas City Royals took themselves on an incredible trip last year. Could this be the same for the Philadelphia 76ers soon?
The Kansas City Royals took themselves all the way to the World Series last season, when not many truly expected them to be that good before the season began. Years ago, they were projected to be pretty good because of their excellent prospects in the farm system, but still, we all had our doubts.
The Royals shut us all up pretty quickly last season as they had a great run in the playoffs. They were unable to win the World Series, but man, were we impressed. The Royals were destined to lose to the San Fransisco Giants anyway, since it was an evenly numbered year.
Watching this team, and their journey last year to the big Series, I’m reminded of the Philadelphia 76ers. The youth is clearly a prevalent factor.
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The Royals team isn’t star studded by any means. Full of youthful prospects, some had their doubts, as I mentioned above. Fans always seem to have doubts when teams don’t have older, veteran players with more experience, but the Royals were able to prove those doubts wrong, at least for a season.
After building up an intense slew of great minor league prospects who could someday become great players, they utilized them to their advantage. They didn’t use them directly, however, they used them by trading them away.
In 2013 the Royals traded for some great pitchers in return for four prospects from the MiLB
I’m not saying the Sixers are the exact NBA replicas of the Royals, but I can’t help but be reminded of a youthful team that has an opportunity to leverage that youth into making themselves a great competitive team.
Obviously things are different in the NBA. The farm system isn’t near as in depth as the MLB’s, and prospects are rarely able to be traded for big name stars. But that doesn’t mean the young guys on the Sixers can’t contribute, and give the Sixers a competitive edge down the road in a more direct manner.
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As they’re developed, and get better, they can do more for the team, or have an improved value in the trade market for the team to pick up other players around the league. I’m not a fan of having guys on the team with the intention of just eventually shipping them out, but they also do add a factor of attraction to big name free agents if the team is playing well.
Last season, the Sixers average years of experience was under two complete seasons. It was obvious that they were young, but to be that young, having nine rookies on your team, that is incredibly youthful. I know that I’ve said it before, and I’m almost certain I will end up saying it again, but youth only lasts so long. It develops, and turns into something more usable, with more knowledge and experience of the game.
It’s definitely nice to have assurance that young teams can work well in professional sports, even if it is a different league.
Whether these players increased value is used as a trade leverage, an asset to free agency attraction, or simply used in games to win, they can all improve and offer something to the 76ers. The plans aren’t identical, and the leagues they play in are completely different, but I can find plenty of similarities between the Sixers and Royals. Here’s hoping their plan works as well as the Kansas City Royals’ plan did.