To Fix Philadelphia 76ers, NBA Should Expand Draft

Jul 10, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D

D Minus And Counting?

The obvious objection would be “but what about the Developmental League”? Well the D-League could actually become more important. With the NBA teams now getting looks at players who may not quite be “NBA ready”, reassignments to the D-League team would become a valuable avenue. Similar to a practice squad in the NFL, the D-League would be incentivized to push for a larger roster to handle what would likely be an influx of more talent. The league could consider “protected” slots on the D-league team with certain contract provisions or league limits.

The developmental leagues are used by a handful of teams for their intended purpose, to give young men a chance to advance their game and build themselves a bona fide opportunity to play in the NBA.  There are 19 teams in the developmental league with an eventual goal of each NBA team affiliating with a team in the developmental league.

"“There’s no doubt about it, 30 for 30 is our number one priority.” D-League president Malcolm Turner told Aldridge"

To fill the goal of having a 30 team D-league, players will need to come from somewhere. By expanding the NBA draft, the D-league will find ample players being reassigned from their NBA affiliates to round out their rosters. The idea has been gaining traction for a while now, and was discussed by Hoops Habit’s Mark Vandeusen.:

David Aldridge of NBA.com has gone down this road in an article.

"And once every NBA team has its own D-League team, the assumption is there will be a need for more players to fill out those rosters — and the need to expand the Draft by at least a round, maybe two. “If everybody’s going to have a D-League team, that’s eight more positions that everybody’s going to get,” one longtime GM said over the weekend. “Maybe you go to five (rounds) the first year to allow everybody to stock the teams, and then the next year, you go down to four.” Another general manager proposed that players taken after the second round of an expanded Draft have so-called “two-way” contracts, similar to those used for some players in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Such contracts pay salaries based on whether the player is in the major leagues or the minors."

The only difference in my version is to expand the draft first. Bring young talent into the NBA. The influx of young talent will speed up the D-League expansion. NBA teams will want to retain young players who have caught their eye but are not yet ripe for the NBA.

ALSO ON SIXER SENSE:  Philadelphia 76ers Top 20 Performances Of All Time

All the while the tactics of Sam Hinkie become obsolete.  The Philadelphia 76ers will be compelled to sign veterans in the absence of true prospects with huge upside.  Veterans will come at a higher price, which will have a dominoes effect of shunting the Sixers willingness to absorb virtually any bad NBA contract for a draft pick.

It’s quite easy to do, if the problem actually is the strategy of the Sixers.  If it’s just a league misunderstanding the innovative process of Sam Hinkie, that’s another matter altogether.   We’ll know soon enough.  Regardless of the fortunes of this Sixers team, the ultimate success will be determined in the quantity and quality of the 2016 NBA draft for Philadelphia.