The Philadelphia 76ers have determined that the off-season focus is to gather veterans to the club. But the team needs to redirect those plans in favor of the true roster needs: cohesion
It’s easy to draw simple conclusions about the Philadelphia 76ers and call it good. ESPN’s Stephen A Smith has been doing it for years, and getting away with it. Former Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl, standing in the midst of his own team’s utter futility, felt compelled to make public comments about the woes of the Philadelphia 76ers organization. The trouble with the unending forms of accusations and claims is that they are, factually correct. The Philadelphia 76ers have been a bad team for the past three years.
Most begin the claim by asserting that the Philadelphia 76ers have deliberately tanked for the past three years is fundamentally wrong, they then proceed to insert facts that are used to draw the misdirected conclusion. The priorities of the former president and general manager had nothing to do with the goal of “losing now”, and that is why the detractors never get it. You see, while the results are undeniable, the root causes are completely different and unique for this Philadelphia 76ers team.
In the current Sixers strategy, the team has taken the long way to the championship, and in the process have loaded up the team with high upside youth. It takes anywhere from four to six years for an NBA prospect to reach their full NBA potential. With the team slated to debut center/forward Joel Embiid and forward Dario Saric this season, the clock would be reset once more. If the Embiid/Saric pairing was the designed “core” of the team, then the Sixers would not be relevant for several more years.
That has incensed Philadelphia 76ers executive Jerry Colangelo:
Jerry C: "You can't wait forever to compete. That gets old after a period, and I think ownership needed a change. I kind of supported that."
— max (@MaxOnTwitter) May 12, 2016
And so, as feared, the team is about to undergo a complete overhaul of the roster. Jerry Colangelo, the man who was brought in as a consultant to advise the team, is now speaking for the ownership. Moreover, the message is loud and clear right now. The Philadelphia 76ers have draft picks that will be exchanged for a nearly equivalent value of NBA veteran players.
That is frightening unto itself, but there is more to fear. The objective is seemingly just to get older and more experienced, not necessarily better. The urgency is a pledge to restore the goodwill of the NBA faithful by making rapid and permanent changes (not necessarily improvements) to the roster. Let’s discuss what the rest of the NBA sees, and decide if these factors truly are contributing to the Philadelphia 76ers futility on the basketball court?
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