Philadelphia 76ers Off Season Grades

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (M) and number twenty-fourth overall draft pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (M) and number twenty-fourth overall draft pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (M) and number twenty-fourth overall draft pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (M) and number twenty-fourth overall draft pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

With the brunt of free agency over, and the 2016 NBA Draft in the books, it’s time to give the Philadelphia 76ers a comprehensive grade for the off-season effort

A month ago, we took the time to list out the Philadelphia 76ers team needs. The 2015-2016 was, in many way, an experiment of sorts.  The team searched for the right players, the right combination of players, who should start and who played better off the bench.  In the end, the team had little success  on a basketball court, but each player saw work – some with significant minutes – even in reserve roles.

So the season was not a failure when viewed towards the goal of inching the franchise closer to ultimate success.

While some would cite “everything” as an item for the team, we narrowed the search down to:

Veteran Point Guard, Shooting Guard, and Small Forward.

We didn’t just stop there.  Since we are never at a loss for words, we sought true fixes for the team.  Noting how well opposing team wings performed against the 76ers, we called for the team to fix the broken wing play on the team.    We noted that the team would need a veteran point guard this season from day one.   We also took note that the team needed  to address the roster cohesion, not just seniority, in the off-season.

So let’s avoid the marquis headliner names and focus on whether the team actually addressed the needs that we identified.   Using that as our measuring stick, let’s see how we’ve done:

Next: Simmons