Philadelphia 76ers Fans Ask: How Much Longer?
By Bret Stuter
The Philadelphia 76ers fans have plenty of hope for the team this year. But now ask the logical question, when can this hope become pride?
Picking first in the NBA draft immediately gives the fans of that team three emotions: disappointment in the team’s past, as only the worst teams have a true opportunity to select first in any given NBA draft, hope for the future, as each draft has a potential franchise player waiting to be selected by the right team with the right ability to find him, and anxiety in the time awaiting the time needed for a bad team to emerge as a good team.
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Today, right now, the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers are immersed in the anxious period. Too optimistic, and you fall into the hype crowd, or “Homers”, with little integrity. Too pessimistic, and you fall into the “Negadelphia” crowd with not much positive. But what is the right mix?
While each fan must determine the comfort zone for themselves, it’s never wrong to look at the history of the team, and of other NBA teams, to determine how long, if ever, a turnaround happens?
Let’s focus on the past ten NBA teams initially, and once we’ve learned what we can from that experience, we can seek out the team’s own history with the draft at the number one pick.
In the 2015 NBA Draft, the first pick was made by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the selection was Karl Anthony-Towns (a.k.a KAT). Towns is a center in the NBA, and joined the Timberwolves already engaged in somewhat of a rebuild with the trade of Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins. We had discussed the parallel track of the Sixers to the Wolves recently, and pointed out that the Timberwolves are projected to flirt with .500 by season’s end.
The Timberwolves rose from just 16 wins to 29 wins this past year, based largely on the presence of KAT and the improvement of Wiggins. Can the Philadelphia 76ers make the jump to the neighborhood of 30 wins this year?
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