The Philadelphia 76ers Are Good For The NBA

Nov 18, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; The Sixers flight squad holds a giant Philadelphia 76ers flag on the court to start the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. The Pacers won 112-85. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Factory

The Philadelphia 76ers cannot change the rules of randomness.  But they’ve set up a system to tweak the curve.  Pulling together experts in basketball analytics, nutrition, fitness, sports science and medicine, psychology, and constructing a state of the art basketball training facility.

Strategies of most teams up to now have been to focus on finding the superstar, and then once found, scramble to backfill a roster of supporting cast players rapidly to peak in that one or two year window where everything falls in place under the NBA salary cap.

The strategy of the Sixers is two-fold: while they shoot for the best and most draft picks in the NBA, they are also filling their roster with undrafted talent.  This has allowed the team to get quality minutes out of undrafted NBA players – players like the 2014-15 season from Robert Covington, who put up 13.5 points per game as he averaged 27.9 minutes per game.  It has also allowed the team to find the talented T.J. McConnell, whose 7.2 points per game, coupled with 6.5 assists per game, has been one of the few bright spots for the team in the early struggles of the 2015-16 season.

Yes, the team is suffering under the expectation of results: immediate and permanent results.  But long-term solutions take a long time to arrive.  In the meantime, the team is working to build a team mentality.  In fact, early struggles may actually benefit the team.

Next: United We Stand