Philadelphia 76ers: Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?

In the narrative of “Need Veteran Leadership” the question of the Philadelphia 76ers is whether they are on the right path or not.

Are we heading the right direction or not? Do we have what it takes or don’t we? Do we have pieces to build upon, or do we chuck everything and start from scratch?

It depends on your camp.

If you loved what Sam Hinkie was doing, the glass is half full. That optimism is born from the fact that the team, albeit the worst in the NBA in 2015-2016, had streaks of pretty good basketball play when the team was nearly up to full strength. You see the age of the roster, and the inexperience, and know that the biggest need for this team is time: time to play together and time to build experience playing in the NBA. You get that the team has plenty of young players who are on the same cycle. Whether they become true starters or simply productive reserves is not a decision that needs to be made today. You see two first round draft choices, delayed for two years, are arriving to join the team alongside up to four first round draft choices. That’s six new players, and from the first round are all expected to start in the NBA someday. For now, someday is not an urgent matter. From this moment forward, the slope continues to slope upwards for these Philadelphia 76ers. Winning games will come, because the team is winning everywhere else right now. The team has youth, good upside, great developmental organization (see how former players Michael Carter Williams and K.J. McDaniels have fared elsewhere in the NBA), a new facility, and has invested in practically every area of supporting an NBA player to excel. Now, the team simply needs to be patient and watch the players grown and develop into a championship caliber team. Players are fitted nicely, and with the arrival of a key player or two, the team begins to gel – much like the turn of fortunes when point guard Ish Smith arrived.

But there is another voice in the crowd. A voice that is embracing change, in fact demanding it.

More from Draft

If you are relieved that the team has FINALLY placed a “basketball mind” at the helm, you likely see the Philadelphia 76ers as a team with a glass half empty. This is not a team of youth, but a team of underachievers. You don’t see tomorrow in the light of hope, because the dark times of 10-72 have swallowed up all optimism like a black hole. Joel Embiid was a bust because he did not step onto a basketball court for two years. Dario Saric is a bust because he played for two years in Turkey, and is only now starting to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 2016 NBA offers little relief, because the team’s cupboards are bursting with young guys with potential, but far too few veterans. There are no leaders on the team who can take over the fourth quarter and maintain or claim a win. The roster is not just missing one or two pieces, because this group of young men gathered, not fitted, onto the team. This is a roster where pieces are missing pieces. Winning now is the goal, and the conclusion is that few on this roster can contribute to that goal. It’s come to the point where this off-season, the expectation is that ten new veterans will play for these Philadelphia 76ers.

Are you both right? It’s all a matter of timing.

We’ll talk about the career track of an NBA star, but for now let’s work with the Philadelphia 76ers team. Today, the team is virtually 50% 22 or younger. Raise the age to 24, and you find that covers 2/3rds of the team. Now about the veteran aspect of the team. 24 year old T.J. McConnell is coming off his rookie season. 22 year old Nerlens Noel has just finished his second year of NBA play. The half full crowd sees the best lying before this team, each player improving by leaps and bounds. But the half empty crowd looks at the team and wants to find an NBA elite player now, playing in his hey day. So it comes down to patience, the same patience that evaporated from the team to change the general manager, is now setting the course for the future.

Next: Meet the Philadelphia 76ers Coaching Staff: Lloyd Pierce

If you are a patient fan, you will be rocked. The Philadelphia 76ers hold the rights to as many as four 2016 NBA draft picks, and are a coin flip of ending up with either of the top two choices in this draft: Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons. But in this draft there are two, and the rest, and I’m not convinced that the Philadelphia 76ers are interested beyond the top two. If the Philadelphia 76ers end up at one and four, I think trading up from four for the second pick becomes a conversation the Philadelphia 76ers will have.

This is a Sixers team with a lot of potential, but look for much of the potential to be converted into production. At a point where the pieces would all begin to fall into place, it seems that the team will be resetting the roster to fit a new way.