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Philadelphia 76ers Minor Assembly Required

By Bret Stuter

Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Fields Are Sown, Folks. The Philadelphia 76ers Will get better. Only Minor Assembly is required

The Philadelphia 76ers are the best 10-72 team in NBA history. Yes, that’s right. There is no defending what happened on the basketball court in the 2015-2016 season, but the results undermined the ever increasing quality of talent on this roster. In the 2016-2017 season, the pieces will slide into place. Some will be delivered to the team via the draft, some will arrive from last year’s roster with a more focused role in the 2016-2017 season, some will be replaced, and a small amount will arrive from transactions of President Bryan Colangelo.

It all comes down to minor assembly required.

Of course, that’s not how you hear it.  Nor will it be how you will hear it. The Philadelphia 76ers are poised for improvement, but the message playing over and over is how there is a huge shift in fundamental philosophy, a conversion of losing to winning.  With the picks, the talent begins to arrive.  With the cessation of gathering picks, salary cap space used to absorb bad NBA contracts will now be used for potential free agents.  The message will not match the reality.

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It has nothing to do with “a winning mentality”.  That is a tired cliche’ that suggests that the 2015-2016 team stepped foot onto an NBA basketball court intending to lose.  The Philadelphia 76ers have repeatedly shown the staunchest effort late into games. They compete. They want to win.  The team has always had that.  It’s simply a matter of austerity, of running with less today to put a little aside for tomorrow.

But that’s not the dynamics of this team any longer.   The team was accumulating picks prior to the 2016 off season.  Now the team will use those picks.   But where, and what effect will those picks be used?

Let’s look at the current roster and remove current free agents Ish Smith and Elton Brand.

Now let’s say the Sixers take Ben Simmons, and finally introduce Dario Saric and Joel Embiid to the NBA. Guess where that leaves the current roster? At 15.

Let’s not go down the path of “who” for this article, but let’s make a presumption that the team will acquire veterans (either by trade or free agency signing) for the back court. As a result, the team has swelled to 17 after a net pickup of two players (assuming a one for one for the 24 and 26 picks of the NBA draft).  Add three more camp bodies to get to 20.

Now here’s the point where it gets fun. Load the rookie trio of Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Ben Simmons in your starting front court, and load the two veterans into the back court to start.
That’s your new starting line up.  There’s a line up that is good for 30 wins.  Pencil in Jahlil Okafor, Carl Landry, Jerami Grant. Robert Covington, and T.J. McConnell as your first backups.  With that roster (assuming that the rumors of Nerlens Noel‘s exchange for Jeff Teague plays through) of starters and backups, the team will be capable of winning games in this NBA. Not quite .500 ball, but somewhere in the 30-40 game win range.

That’s enough to generate interest in the free agent market.  Progressing from a 10 win to a 30 plus win team will convince NBA free agents to sit up and take notice.  Of course the headlines will tout the expertise of Bryan Colangelo.  But apples fall from trees planted years ago.  Don’t fall for this like an apple from a tree.

Next: What Philadelphia 76ers Rumors Mean For Current Guards

This Philadelphia 76ers team only needs minor assembly.  The heavy lifting was done by the other guy.