Six Reasons to be Excited about the 2015-16 Season

Mar 18, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown walks out of a timeout huddle during the second half of a game against the Detroit Pistons at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 94-83. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

6. Taking the next step in the rebuild process

At the conclusion of the 2014-15 campaign, I wrote a piece talking about how the season was a success for the Sixers. With a finishing tally of only 19 wins it seems irrational to call a season a ‘success’, but in the Sixers sense(pun 100 percent intended), it truly was. The team was able to secure another lottery pick, add to its slew of assets, and develop their young players.

In 2015-16 the same kind of goals will be sought after for the Sixers. I would expect the wins to improve this season, possibly in the 25-30 range, but for the third season in a row wins are not a top priority for the Sixers. The team will again have its top priority focused on player development, but to a greater extent. Each season the Sixers have increased the amount of NBA talent on their roster and will look to have a more stable roster this upcoming season. Eyes will be on a number of players, including Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas, Hollis Thompson, and JaKarr Sampson to see how they improve their games and try establish themselves as legitimate pieces in the Sixers rebuilding effort.

It can be expected that the Sixers will be at the top of the lottery again this season, which will add another young, promising player to the team. Philly also owns the first round picks of the Lakers (top three protected), the Heat (top ten protected), and the Thunder (top 15 protected), as well as the right to swap picks with the Kings. It will be a lot of fun, and sometimes dreadfully painful, rooting for those teams to finish as close to their protections as possible. The Sixers could end up with a total of four first round picks in the 2016 draft.

This will be the third year of the rebuild, which is when expectations arise in seeing real growth and a firm nucleus of young players. If the Sixers continue to play hard and develop their young players, then their rebuild will take another step forward in the 2015-16 season.