III. The current roster are reserves, forced to start.
While true to some extent, factoring in the absence of two key players – Dario Saric and Joel Embiid – gave the team a huge margin of error. Why pull in expensive players to a team whose outlook is not good, just to raise the team from the worst in the NBA to a position of third or fourth worst in the NBA? The previous administration did flood the roster with young players. Due to the limits of an NBA draft system which awards just one first and one second round draft pick per team per year, the decision to synchronize the maturation of the team simultaneously with the projected stars placed a great deal of young players on the roster at the same time.
Without a platoon of veterans to cover the bulk of playing minutes, the young men of the Philadelphia 76ers were forced to start, yes. But those playing minutes brought players on the roster further along than sitting on the bench ever would. And with each game, the young men grew in experience.
Next season, without any changes, the entire roster has matured a full year. Not only that, but many of the first time NBA players are now familiar with the NBA as a whole, as well as with their teammates. That will have a tremendous advantage over a 2015-2016 roster that was not able to fully introduce themselves to one another until Carl Landry debuted for the 76ers on Christmas Eve. The team should arrive in full health, with a full compliment of 20 players to begin the off season training camp.
But most importantly, the team will know by the end of training camp who will start at the five, four, three, two, and one positions, and will enjoy that knowledge the entire season.
That will be a stark contrast to a team that began the 2015-2016 NBA season without a clear starter at any position. The roster was a blend of experimentation and try-outs, placing a new lineup onto the court on any given day. No player had a “this is your role” initially, with the exception of Jahlil Okafor starting at the center spot and Nerlens Noel opening the season at the power forward position. While the short cut to this step is the path the Philadelphia 76ers will elect – namely trading for or signing NBA players with clearly established roles in the NBA, the same impact to the team performance could be had simply by firming up the players with their responsibilities on the starting lineup.
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