Rebuild Restructure Stage Two: Kill The Draft
It’s more than one player this year. In fact, it could be four. Four players plus two players means this team could have no less than six personnel decisions to make. Who remains? At this point there are few certainties.
But make no mistake. This is not a shotgun draft for the Philadelphia 76ers. This cannot be a “let’s just pick some upside guys and hope that some of them succeed”. This is an important off-season for the team, and likely the time frame for the team to find that one superstar if he is not currently on the roster. In fact, the team is likely banking on two players from the Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid triad to assert themselves as some of the best players in the NBA rather quickly. But to do so, two of the three will either need to score on average somewhere on the order of 26-29 points per game (PPG), shoot at better than 60% accuracy, block over two shots per game (BPG), or rebound over 11 times per game (RPG). Ideally, he would be able to excel in multiple categories.
Right now, Jahlil Okafor is 17.1 PPG, shooting 49.4%, BPG 1.2, and RPG 7.4. That’s excellent for a 19 year old rookie. Nerlens Noel is at 10.8 PPG, shooting 53.3%, BPG 1.6, and RPG at 8.2. That’s not bad for a player who has While neither is likely to achieve the 26-29 points per game, either could achieve the other ranges. So the team could have two of the three spots filled already- if they could co-exist on the court together.
The other wild card on the roster is rehabbing Joel Embiid. While he has been out of basketball for two years, his upside is such that many expect his performance to be the best of the three bigs. Which player will he compliment? Does he have an ability to assume the power forward role in a stretch four capacity, and allow Noel and Okafor the opportunity to focus on establishing themselves at center? Can he enter the league with stats that exceed either that of Okafor or Noel? That’s been the million dollar question, and one that none of the Philadelphia 76ers decision makers are comfortable enough to gamble on, one way or another.
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So who is the elite players in this draft? Well, the most obvious player is the phenom of the 2016 NBA draft, the Louisianna State University wonder Ben Simmons. His offense is already among the best of the NBA, and he’s young enough to improve as time goes on. Defense is certainly an area he needs to focus, but that could come during his first year in the NBA. The big question is not if he has a chance to succeed in the NBA, but at which position?
If the Sixers look at a pure player, then the impact of Duke University Blue Devil point guard Brandon Ingram is tough to ignore. While he may not be a day one elite, his skill set is focused to the back court, an area of tremendous need on the Sixers team right now. The team could also use a latter positioned selection in the first round to select a player like Oklahoma Sooner Buddy Hield, or Gonzaga University Bulldog Kyle Wiltjer, a front court player who could slide to small forward in the Sixers lineup.
In any case, to hit the mark set by Jerry Colangelo, the team needs to hit on a player with a rapid ascent. To achieve the top spot in the NBA, the talent found by the Sixers must truly take on a role of superstar within their second year on the team. That’s not much time. So there is another answer. If the team can identify a player with a steady ascent, and at a skillset which is rare in the NBA, they can use that player as a wager to trade with another team to bring in one from the elite ranks.
But that strategy needs great player development, shortage in the league, and a team willing to do the trade. So what other alternatives exist? Free agency. And that’s why this team may need to bolster the office personnel. That’s simply an area they have not explored in recent years, and even if proficient at one time, they are most certainly out of practice.
Next: Stage Three: Assemble Winners