How Many Veterans Do Philadelphia 76ers Need, Mr. Colangelo?

If you don’t know the destination, you never realize when you’ve arrived. So How Many Veterans Do Philadelphia 76ers Need, Mr. Colangelo?

Right now, the message broadcast about the Philadelphia 76ers is that the teams to to balance its youth with veteran leadership. But that’s where the message has ended, and made so many nervous. How many veterans are enough?

On a fifteen man roster, and a five player starting line-up, you certainly want a blend of age and youth. But do you want a starting five made of seasoned veterans, with youth confined to the bench and coming in as relief, or do you place some youth on the firing line of starting, accelerating their maturing process, and place the veteran on the bench to act as a mini-coach and sounding board as the young man takes his lumps and learns lessons the hard way?

Until now, the Philadelphia 76ers have been decimated on the basketball court as they have opted to promote youth to the NBA starting lineup almost exclusively. With so many young players on the roster, they were given painful lessons in the NBA. But with each missed play, with each poorly executed shot, with each bad decision to pass or take a shot, the team matured. In the end, ten wins were all this roster could muster. But there were signs the roster could play much better. Although the line-up was constantly changing, the team had periods of basketball lucidity. When the roster swelled with healthy players and point guard Ish Smith arrived, the team played pretty good basketball. But the team flirted with center Jahlil Okafor at the four, and then a wave of injuries hurt the team.

In our season estimations, we had projected the team could focus on the back court and call it good. Perhaps, if the market is right, the team could target a two-way small forward. So at a minimum, the team is likely in the two – three veteran range. But we checked the history of Bryan Colangelo, particularly in his assuming a similar role with the Toronto Raptors. In that off-season, the Raptors DID get the first pick of that NBA draft, but ended up switching 9-10 players out from the previous year.

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We have even examined the thought process of Bryan Colangelo in another recent article, where he discusses how he is petitioning the league to raise the minimum age to enter the NBA. The man is, in his own words, concerned about young men entering the NBA:

"“We are generally dealing with underdeveloped players, both physically and emotionally, and the more opportunity for them to grow and develop as young men and as basketball players will benefit both the evaluator and the athlete alike.” – Bryan Colangelo"

And so, a general manager who has some bias against young players has taken over the youngest roster in the NBA. What’s likely to happen? No, scratch that. The better question is how often is an exchange of a young player for a veteran likely to happen? If the Toronto Raptors are the example, then fairly often. The Raptors were coming out of a 27-55 season. The Philadelphia 76ers are coming out of a 10-72 season. If Colangelo wants to wipe the roster clean, I daresay he will find the Philadelphia 76ers ownership receptive.

With no clear message from younger Colangelo, Bryan, we revisit the message from older Colangelo, Jerry, back in January 2016:

"“The reality is, and I’ve come to understand this, that Sam has really done a great job of accumulating assets,” Colangelo said. “If you look at the trades, you look at the draft picks that’ve been accumulated, it’s all there in place. Now it’s a matter of when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets, or any of those assets. So as I look at the board, if you will, I see some things that could happen sooner rather than later. That’s because if somebody gets healthy, if the player from Europe comes in and is part of the rotation, and we will have a very high draft pick and then using some of those assets to do other things to consider, be it free agency, be it a trade, whatever, this thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand. So I think this is not a situation where, gee, when are we going to come out of this or when are we going to be able to compete? I think that could be sooner than later.” – Jerry Colangelo"

Now that we know A little more about the context of “when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets”, we can try to make some educated guesses. A very high draft pick, a player getting healthy (Joel Embiid) and the player from Europe (Dario Saric), and the “accumulating draft picks”. There’s not much mention of the existing players on this roster because I don’t believe either Colangelo weighs their presence too heavily. In a scenario where Bryan Colangelo wants to work along the same railroad tracks as he had laid in Toronto, the most likely player to be built around could very likely be center Jahlil Okafor.

In this scenario, the team would focus on building a team around the young man’s very impressive post game. But Jerry Colangelo, forever the statesman, threw this bone to the “Trust The Process” camp:

"If he’s (Joel Embiid) healthy, he’s a got a chance to be a real difference maker in my opinion. That’s the upside talent that’s there. Then you have to look at different pieces and how they complement one another and what you need, and you don’t get anything for nothing. If you want to go out and be active, you have to give up something.”"

In either case, if the core of the team is set up around Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid, then the roster spots come into focus. Dario Saric’s perimeter shooting and passing game compliment the core. Robert Covington, Isaiah Canaan, T.J. McConnell, Richaun Holmes and even Jerami Grant can all play supporting roles for that core. That places the team’s shopping list at seven -whether by trading draft picks or picking up players from free agency.

Next: Philaelphia 76ers Flattop Broadcast Episode 9

Whether the team shops for three, seven, or fifteen new players this off-season, the reality of the changes ending up larger than first hoped for is beginning to form. In the end, the team will be the best roster available in the opinion of new team president Bryan Colangelo. How many pieces of the Hinkie era will be retained is something we will remain focused on this off-season. But the hope of staying the course is fading now, and we haven’t begun to shop yet.