Philadelphia 76ers Will Save Jahlil, Duke Fans

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Nov 9, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; The Philadelphia 76ers logo on the warm up shirt of center Jahlil Okafor (not pictured) prior to action against the Chicago Bulls at Wells Fargo Center. The Bulls won 111-88. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Means National Budget Association.

In collegiate basketball, speed is relative. The team itself can be entirely made up of first or second year talent, the head coach is also the head recruiter, and the team is facing two seasons. First season is the regular season. But the real season is the second season, the NCAA invitational tournament. In one season, a player’s entire NBA career can be projected, planned, and laid out. The stakes are very high. Win and you’re in – the money. Lose and you’re out – of the money.

So the perspective in college is winning and yesterday. The basis of long term planning is giving a player some looks at a new position because the starter of that position has declared for the NBA draft.

But in the Philadelphia 76ers time frame, time is slower. We don’t measure time by a second hand on the clock, but by months on the calendar. How many months will Tony Wroten Jr. be out? How many months until the 2016 NBA Draft? You see, we contract with players for three or four years at a time. Players who arrive in the NBA will not step into a new uniform and take over the game like the NCAA. In the pros, they need teamwork.

The NBA has governors in place to keep the pace of teams in check. First of all, they have a salary cap. The NCAA has no salary for players, so teams can load up with the nation’s finest talent without penalty. In the NBA, to load up on the finest talent, you would need to pay top dollar to that team. Those top dollars run out quickly in an effort to field a 15 player roster. So you balance a team with top tier talent and round out the roster for value players. To win championships, you need both components. To synchronize both components, you must budget your time, your money, your draft, and your free agency.

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