Philadelphia 76ers: Does Tuesday Mark End of Era?

The Philadelphia 76ers may be ushering in a new era on Tuesday when the NBA Draft Lottery takes place, or has that already happened?

The Philadelphia 76ers fans that have stuck around over the past few years are some of the most dedicated in all of sports. These fans, many who have “trust the process” all but tattooed on their bodies, have stuck through three of some of the worst basketball seasons of all-time.

Fans have fallen in love with basketball players that may never play a game on another team, and players that will not matter in the long run, even for the Sixers. Why? It’s all about the process. It’s all about the radical journey that leads up to winning a title — that is, if everything goes according to plan.

Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan, though. The plan’s curator, Sam Hinkie — the now former president of the team — would tell you just that. Hinkie established a tank environment and sent away players like Michael Carter-Williams in the hopes that future draft picks would help the team win.

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Going into this season, the team had a new rookie to boast in Jahlil Okafor, as well as sophomore Nerlens Noel to be excited about. They also had new wing Nik Stauskas, acquired in a trade during the offseason and exciting players like Robert Covington and Jerami Grant.

Still, the team would go on to win just 10 games this season. Whether that was according to plan or not, we may never know.

What we do know, however, is that Jerry Colangelo being hired as “Chairman of Basketball Operations” was not in the plan for Sam Hinkie. Hinkie is not one known to share power — he was the team’s president and general manager for his entire time with the team — and for many fans, a red flag came up as soon as Colangelo, a polar opposite to the young executive in Hinkie, was hired.

Jerry would eventually admit that he “kind of supported” the ownership wanting a change in Sam Hinkie, and then gave them an alternative — his son, Bryan Colangelo.

The NBA Draft Lottery is on Tuesday, and this was going to be the most important night of Sam Hinkie’s rebuild. Hinkie is not with the team anymore, so for some, the lottery is a tribute to his time with the team. For others, the lottery signifies the end of the Hinkie era, and the beginning of the Bryan Colangelo era.

Although this is the first big event to take place for Philly without Hinkie, I think we should forget not about the big picture. And what the big picture shows is is that since that press conference in mid-December, the Hinkie era was done.

Hinkie did attempt to work with Jerry, and share his powers, but it didn’t work out. The Hinkie era ended without warning for many of us, and the lottery is a sad reminder of that.

Still, moving forward, with this era that was ushered in late in 2015, there is hope. The team has a possible four first round draft picks this year, and can do with them what they please.

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The dedicated fans will stick around to see what’s next. Sam might have had a solid plan and a successful leadership if he was allotted the time to see it through, but he wasn’t. Sometimes life doesn’t go the way you want it to.

Let’s embrace the future. The first real Sixers situation under the new era takes place on Tuesday.