Sep 28, 2015; Galloway, NJ, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward
(7) during media day at Stockton Seaview Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
We Didn’t Start The Fire
The NBA has made a valiant attempt to even the playing field by restricting the amount of money that a team can spend on its players. If a team underbids, they lose the player to a competing team. If the team overbids, they are stuck paying an overpriced amount to an under-performing player for the duration of that contract.
The Philadelphia 76ers have given the NBA a third option. By fielding a team of inexpensive but hopeful players, the Sixers have given teams an opportunity to cast overpriced veterans and their punishing contracts to the Sixers: for a price. That price usually comes in the form of NBA draft picks. They absorbed JaVale McGee‘s contract to get the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first round draft pick. The same Sixers absorbed the contracts of Jason Thompson and Carl Landry in order to obtain the 2018 first round draft pick of the Sacramento Kings and coveted player Nik Stauskas. They even absorbed the contract of Gerald Wallace from the Golden State Warriors for the right to swap a first round pick with the Warriors.
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For a team that has grown to be hated by fans of virtually each team in the NBA, we are providing a necessary service – and blazing a new path in the process. Has this team plenty of work to do yet? Of course. But innovative thinking is good for professional sports, and the Sixers are innovators. That’s why the Philadelphia 76ers are good for the NBA. When we start winning, and we eventually will, I won’t be surprised to find a number of teams following the path we are burning right now.