Philadelphia 76ers: It’s a New Day

After three years spent at the cellar of the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers are finally headed upward.

The Philadelphia 76ers haven’t made the postseason since the 2010-2011 season. The team hasn’t even been relatively competitive since 2012. Since ’12, the team hasn’t really achieved a modicum of success, as the Sixers underwent a nationally lampooned tanking process.

Parody accounts titled “Did The Sixers Win?” would satirically post ‘no,’ and analysts alike held no punches when discussing the Sixers.

The city of Philadelphia and Sixers fans as a whole have endured it all, though, as the drudgery that accompanies being a bottom-feeding team was neither sugar-coated nor fabricated. The team even went as far as making their marketing campaign for the 2015-2016 season “Together We Build.”

The tumultuous down period known as “The Process” began on draft night back in 2013.

The Sixers decided to take a gamble by attempting to restart by building from the ground up. Essentially, Philadelphia was willing to risk everything for a chance at true, unadulterated greatness.

The team cut ties with All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday in exchange for Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel, knowing Noel likely wouldn’t see the court during the 2013-2014 season. The story was the same a year later when the team took Kansas center Joel Embiid.

Last year, the team added another big building block by taking offensively gifted Jahlil Okafor with the third-overall pick.

After accumulating three talented big men, the Sixers finally have the top pick in the draft, and it really is the culmination of a process which will ultimately span across four drafts.

For many teams, regardless of the sport, a first-round draft pick is simply a first-round draft pick, meaning for most teams, one player or one addition won’t do too much. But for the Sixers, after building this team up from what was essentially nothing, picking first overall this year is going to be the inception of a new day.

While the Sixers could theoretically go in one of two directions with the top pick — it’s still unclear whether the team favors LSU’s Ben Simmons or Duke’s Brandon Ingram. I, personally, would want the team to select Ingram. But either way, the Sixers will be getting a game-changing player, so it’s hard to complain with either outcome — there is no denying obtaining the top prize for being subpar is going to help transcend the current state of this team.

To truly understand the magnitude of having the top pick, it’s imperative to look back in history at the last time the Sixers picked first. The most recent occurrence came in 1996, when the team selected Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson with the first pick.

Before the Iverson pick, the Sixers hadn’t had a winning season since the 1990-91 campaign. Iverson helped turn that team into a contender, helping the Sixers reach the playoffs five consecutive times spanning from 1998-2002.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but things are changing for the better in Philadelphia, and you can believe that. Nabbing the top pick is just the first step in this new, more positive process.

If we’re being honest, getting the No.1 pick just once wasn’t going to completely complete the overhaul in Philly, either. Acquiring assets over the years, both the big ones (Noel, Embiid) and the smaller, under-the-radar ones (Robert Covington, Richaun Holmes), has been paramount to the development of the team’s nucleus.

Although Sam Hinkie’s tenure in Philadelphia ended suddenly, the work he put in and the moves he made has helped the overall future of this team. Whether you like or support Hinkie’s methods or not, you have to acknowledge the fact that he had the proper, logical long-term sight.

After two straight years of picking third overall, ultimately being unable to pick both Andrew Wiggins and D’Angelo Russell, whom fans had their hearts set on, the Sixers finally caught a break, as they were awarded the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft.

Head coach Brett Brown did a tremendous job outlining just how important picking first overall is going to be for this team.

“The city has endured a lot over the past three seasons,” Brown said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. “I felt like we were doing the right things all along the way. We were never skipping steps. We put in good days. Our process was questioned. At times fair enough… I feel like we have been rewarded for the patience and perseverance, especially the city’s perseverance.”

I’ve previously gone on record in the past saying the Sixers have a bright future. I likened the Sixers to watching a trailer to a movie other people may hate, but you, as a Sixers fan, will end up loving. Well, the production is over, and the feature-length film is about to begin.

This is a team that displayed desire and effort last year. Coach Brown did a tremendous job getting his players to showcase passion on the floor. They may not have been the most talented players, but it was clear they wanted to compete. They just needed some more talent.

For the first time in years, Sixers fans have something they can be certain about. This year, things will be different.

According to overseas reporter David Pick, Croatian sensation Dario Saric — whom the 76ers selected with the 12th pick in 2014 — is expected to America to join the team, and he’ll add some much-needed talent at the forward position.

According to coach Brown — and even Embiid himself — Embiid, who has all of the potential in the world, is expected to be ready for the start of next season. That means the big man with a spectacularly unique skill set will be healthy for the first time in his short professional career.

He drew comparisons to NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon upon entering the draft, and he’ll be entering his first year with a massive-sized chip — and perhaps a pitcher of Shirley Temples — on his shoulder.

But perhaps most importantly, the young, hungry roster, the returns of key players and the addition of a top prospect makes Philadelphia basketball relevant, and far from a joke. This is not a basketball wasteland, as was the case a few years ago.

Picking first this year has a good chance to incite a domino effect.

With a highly touted prospect joining a young, exciting core with a well-minded, respected coach, free agents may be more inclined to sign with the Sixers. That exorbitant amount of money the Sixers have at their disposal to offer free agents may be even more appealing now that Philadelphia is no longer basketball purgatory.

Furthermore, although the Sixers didn’t get the Lakers’ top-three protected pick from this year, Los Angeles owes Philadelphia more picks in the future, so the good fortune doesn’t stop. The Sixers also have the right to swap picks with the Kings, by way of the Nik Stauskas steal of a trade.

Amazingly enough, regardless of how soporific the Sixers’ play was at times, the Philadelphia fans never lost their passion. But that’s Philly in a nutshell.

During the team’s home loss against the Golden State Warriors, the Wells Fargo Center was sold out, and you could feel the authentic, vibrant energy from the stadium flow through your television set. A casual onlooker would’ve thought the Sixers were battling for a playoff spot with the way the fans were reacting.

The positive energy translated to the Draft Lottery viewing party, too.

A raucous crowd converged to watch the unveiling of the draft placements, and the reaction the crowd made was reminiscent of the noise fans make when their team wins a world championship.

This Philadelphia 76ers team may not make the playoffs next year. But rest assured the winds of change are passing through the City of Brotherly Love in full force. The fans are ready to embrace a winning team, and they have been for years. The only difference is the Sixers finally seem to be making the positive steps to making a squad which can do so.

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The foundation has been built, the questions from a year ago are now solutions and a game-changing player will be joining the Sixers come June 23. Optimism and positivity are now clearly associated with the Sixers, who have been ever-so-gloomy over the past few years.

It’s officially a new day in Philadelphia.