From the 2013 offseason to the 2016 offseason, how does the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuild compare to the Brooklyn Nets’ rebuild?
Sam Hinkie was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2013 offseason before the draft and left the Sixers before the 2016 NBA draft. Hinkie’s strategy to improve the Sixers involved doing everything possible to draft the next NBA superstar, but what if Hinkie did the polar opposite of this approach? People that truly believe teams should do everything in their power to win now and are against spending a single season tanking to get the top pick in the upcoming NBA draft, should love the way the Brooklyn Nets rebuilt their team.
With the Hinkie era of the Sixers over and very little happening in free agency, now is the perfect time to compare the Sixers’ rebuild to other teams over the same three year span from the 2013 offseason to the 2016 offseason at the time I wrote this, so I’m not considering any Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor trades. This article will focus only on comparing the Sixers to the Nets, but if this is popular I can do future articles comparing the Sixers’ rebuild to the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, and any other teams that entered a rebuild during the 2013 offseason.
Next: The Nets from 2013 to 2016 Part 1
The Nets from 2013 to 2016 Part 1
The Brooklyn Nets finished the 2012-13 season with 49 wins and 33 losses and losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Chicago Bulls. While that was a huge improvement over their 22 wins and 44 losses during the lockout shorten 2011-12 NBA season, the Nets’ salary was $83,529,674 more than $25 million dollars over the $58,044,000 salary cap for the 2012-13 season.
The Nets’ inflated cap situation made it impossible for them to sign good free agents and they had no interest in trading high salary players in Joe Johnson ($19,752,645 in the 2012-13 season and $21,466,718 in the 2013-14 season), Deron Williams ($17,177,795 in the 2012-13 season and $18,466,130 in the 2013-14 season), and Brook Lopez ($13,668,750 in the 2012-13 season and $14,693,906 in the 2013-14 season), so they decided to do one of the worst and most one-sided trades in NBA history in a foolish attempt to instantly become championship contenders.
The Brooklyn Nets traded MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, unprotected 2014 first round pick, unprotected 2016 first round pick, unprotected 2018 first round, and the right to swap picks in 2017 to the Boston Celtics for Jason Terry, D.J. White, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett.
This trade led to the Nets having a salary of $102,928,076 more than $44 million over the $58,679,000 salary cap for the 2013-14 season. All of the Nets out of control spending lead to 44 wins and 38 losses, but they did manage to get past to the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs beating the Toronto Raptors 4-3 before winning only one game against the Miami Heat, in a series where half of the Nets’ losses were by double digits.
Next: The Nets from 2013 to 2016 Conclusion
The Nets from 2013 to 2016 Conclusion
Pierce left the Nets for the Washington Wizards as a free agent during the 2014 NBA offseason. The Nets entered the 2014-15 NBA season with most of the 2013-14 season’s starting lineup intact, but ended the season with one major departure. The Nets traded Garnett to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Thaddeus Young, so they ended the 2014-15 season without either player that was the main reason they gave up several first round picks less than two years earlier. The Nets finished the 2014-15 season with 38 wins and 44 losses and failed to get past the first round in the playoffs losing 4-2 against the Atlanta Hawks. While the Nets managed to cut salary with the departure of Pierce and Garnett, they still had the highest salary in the NBA and were more than $25 million over the $63,065,000 salary cap.
Deron Williams left the Nets as a free agent for the Dallas Mavericks during the 2015 offseason and the Nets waived Joe Johnson during the 2015-16 season. The Nets finished the 2015-16 season with the third worst record in the league, with 21 wins and 61 losses.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 1
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Part 1
Based on National and local media hatred of the Sixers’ tanking over the past three years, what would the Sixers look like if they tried to copy the Nets’ rebuilding plan? The Sixers using the Nets’ rebuilding plan would involve them spending a lot of money for players that are realistically attainable.
Ideally the Sixers would sign Chris Paul or Dwight Howard during 2013’s offseason if their goal is to spend money to win now, but the Sixers were not in position to sign a star after the 2012-13 season. They finished that season with 34 wins and 48 losses and the man they traded Andre Iguodala, Maurice Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, and a lottery protected first round pick for Andrew Bynum didn’t play a game and was an unrestricted free agent.
No legitimate superstar would even consider going to the Sixers after the 2012-13 season, so they would have to give superstar money and be willing to part with assets that should only be included in a trade for a superstar for an above average or formerly great but now declining player. A Sixers team trying to replicate the Nets would have re-signed Bynum despite how stupid that would be, because they could convince themselves that Bynum’s broken knees would magically heal and that he would suddenly be more committed to playing basketball than bowling, dancing, or anything that didn’t involve his actual job.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 2
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Part 2
The second major change would be the Jrue Holiday trade never happening. Jrue Holiday made the 2013 Eastern Conference All-Star team and averaged 17.7 points, 8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game during the 2012-13 season, and this version of the Sixers would try to sell him as the NBA’s next great point guard. If you replace Nerlens Noel’s rookie contract with Holiday’s contract, the Sixers would enter the 2013 offseason with a salary of $46.1 million and $12.3 million in cap space.
Left overs from the 2012-13 season would include Thaddeus Young, Kwame Brown, Lavoy Allen, Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, Arnett Moultrie, Jason Richardson, and Holiday (Bynum’s contract is not added into the $46.1 million salary, because the Sixers wouldn’t re-sign him until after they did all other free agency moves. The NBA allows teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players, so the Sixers would fill their remaining cap room with unrestricted free agents that played with a different team the previous season then re-sign Bynum).
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 3
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Part 3
The third major change would be the player the Sixers selected with the 11th pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Included in the Sixers’ $46.1 million salary is Michael Carter-Williams‘ rookie contract, but the Sixers probably wouldn’t take MCW in this scenario, because they already have a starting point guard in Holiday.
Based on the players picked after MCW in the 2013 draft, the Sixers would draft Steven Adams, Kelly Olynyk, or Shabazz Muhammad. While in hindsight the best choice would be Giannis Antetokounmpo (picked 15th) or Rudy Gobert (picked 27th), both players were viewed to have a higher chance of being out of the NBA in five years than being important parts of their teams’ future when they were drafted, so the three previously mentioned players would have been initially viewed as the better choice.
This version of the Sixers ended up drafting Muhammad, because based on this scouting report by sbnation.com, he would have been seen as having the most upside among three players despite glaring issue with his play style and the Sixers are committed to giving Bynum another chance to be their star and wouldn’t feel the need to draft his replacement.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 4
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Part 4
Using this list of 2013 offseason transactions and combining it with the Sixers adapting the Nets’ rebuilding plan, the Sixers make their biggest free agent signing since signing Elton Brand in 2008 by signing Josh Smith and adding much needed scoring by signing O.J. Mayo. Smith signed a four-year $54 million contract with the Detroit Pistons who had 29 wins and 53 losses in the 2012-13 season and Mayo signed a three-year $24 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks who had 38 wins and 44 losses that season.
Only the upcoming year on the contract is factored into the payroll for the $58.679 million salary cap for the 2013-14 season. Smith made $13,500,000 in the 2013-14 season and Mayo made $8,000,000 in the 2013-14 season. Since the Sixers had a better record than the Pistons the previous season, Smith signs with Sixers for the exact same amount he would of signed with the Pistons, but the Sixers must give Mayo another one million dollars the first year to out bid the Bucks who where the better team the previous season. Smith and Mayo’s contracts would count $22,500,000 against the cap, so the Sixers would need to do a trade to clear enough cap room to sign them.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 5
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 5
The Utah Jazz did this trade with the Golden State Warriors that involved the Jazz accepting $24 million in salary for two unprotected first round pick from the Warriors. The Sixers would need to outbid the Warriors in draft picks to convince the Jazz to take back enough salary to allow them to sign Smith and Mayo.
Trading first round picks would be more difficult for the Sixers than the Warriors, due to the Sixers owing the Maimi Heat a lottery protected first round pick for Moultrie and the Orlando Magic a lottery protected first round pick for Bynum. Making this trade with Jazz harder, is a rule that forbids NBA teams from trading their first round pick two years in a row.
Luckily, the Nets’ rebuilding blueprint shows that a team can trade an unprotected draft pick one year and give the other team the option to swap their pick with the team that traded their first round pick in the previous draft for the upcoming draft. This allows teams to work around the not being allowed to trade picks two years in a row rule and ensure they will never have a good first round pick in the foreseeable future, if they are really committed to being the best team possible in one off-season. The Sixers will trade two unprotected first round picks and two pick swaps that could be used in any draft the Sixers are forced to keep their pick.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Part 6
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Part 6
This means the Sixers would trade their 2014 first round pick to the Jazz if they miss the playoffs, but will trade that same pick to the Heat if they make the playoffs and will still owe the Jazz a first round pick that will now be a 2016 draft pick. If the Jazz will only receive the Sixers’ 2016 pick if miss they playoffs after the 2015-16 season, but will trade that same pick to the Magic if they make the playoffs and will still owe the Jazz a first round pick.
That pick will become a 2018 draft pick in this scenario and the Sixers will give the Jazz another first round pick in 2020. The Jazz would have the option to swap first round picks with the Sixers in 2015 and 2017, so if the Sixers win the lottery in 2015 and/or 2017, that pick will go to the Jazz. The Sixers will pick wherever the Jazz were slotted to pick before they changed spots with the Sixers.
While the first round pick the Sixers owe the Heat and the first round pick the Sixers owe Magic will eventually turn into two second round picks if the Sixers miss the playoffs several years in a row, the first round picks the Sixers owe the Jazz will never turn into two second round picks and the Sixers will be forced to give the Jazz two first round picks eventually.
Along with two first round picks and pick swaps, the Sixers will send the Jazz Jason Richardson ($6,204,250), Kwame Brown ($2,945,901), and Arnett Moultrie ($1,089,240). Combining Richardson, Brown, and Moultrie’s contracts for the upcoming season with the Sixers’ $12.3 million in cap space makes a total salary of $22,539,391 and gives the Sixers just enough cap space to sign Smith and Mayo.
The Sixers then re-sign Bynum to a contract similar to the one he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2013 offseason and you can read this article by Mike Prada for details on the unusual contract.
Next: What if Sixers Copied the Nets Rebuild Conclusion
What If the Sixers Copied the Nets’ Rebuild Conclusion
The Sixers would enter the 2013-14 season with a starting lineup of Jrue Holiday at point guard, O.J. Mayo at shooting guard, Evan Turner at small forward, Josh Smith at power forward, and Andrew Bynum at center.
This is a roster that should make both national and local media figures that hated what Hinkie did to the team proud. No one can look at that roster and all the draft picks that were sacrificed to make it and accuse the Sixers of “kicking the can down the road” or refusing to “land the plane.” While this version of the Sixers would avoid the extreme criticism and would win more games than Hinkie’s Sixers, they would be a complete train wreck, would probably never make the playoffs in any of the three seasons after this team was put together, and would leave the Sixers as a franchise in a significantly worse position than they are today.
Holiday missed several games due to injury during the 2013-14 and 14-15 seasons, Bynum only played 26 games during the 2013-14 season and hasn’t played in an NBA game since, Smith’s production instantly declined once he left the Hawks and he hasn’t been the same player since, and Mayo was part of a Bucks team that was worse than the Sixers during the 2013-14 season and is now suspended for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
Next: Which Team Has the Brighter Future
Which Team Has the Brighter Future?
From the 2013-14 season to the 2015-16 season the Nets won 103 games out of 246 games regular season games compared to the Sixers 47 out of 246 games regular season games, but I can’t see how anyone could say the Nets have a brighter future than the Sixers.
The Nets should have had the third pick in the 2016 NBA, but they traded that pick to the Celtics, and the Celtics can swap first round picks with the Nets in 2017 and the Nets will give their 2018 first round pick to the Celtics. The Sixers own their own draft pick, the Los Angeles Lakers’ top 3 protected 2017 first round pick that turns into an unprotected first round pick in 2018 if it doesn’t convey in 2017, the option to swap first round picks with the Sacramento Kings in 2017, and an unprotected first round pick from the Kings in 2019.
Looking at the Nets’ roster for the upcoming season, Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin might be their best players and Lopez appears to be the only player capable of making an All-Star game. Compared to the Sixers’ roster that has potential NBA superstars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid with good players in Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, it’s possible the Sixers are a better team during the 2016-17 season and seem to be a lock to be the better team by the 2017-18 season.
Next: NBA Rumors: 76ers' Nerlens Noel Nearly Nabbed Raptor's Ross
While many fans would likely prefer their favorite team choose a rebuilding strategy somewhere between the Nets doing every to win now and the Sixers doing everything to win later, if forced to choose one of the two strategies, I can’t imagine why anyone would choose the Nets.