Philadelphia 76ers President Bryan Colangelo focus on winning today

Bryan Colangelo may be squandering Philadelphia 76ers assets in efforts to reinforce team bench in time for playoff run.

The days of the Philadelphia 76ers losing most of their NBA games is no more. No matter which side of the fence you sit, both sides agreed that this team could compete for an NBA Championship soon. The fact is that the Philadelphia 76ers placed Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, Ben Simmons, and soon-to-be-into-service Markelle Fultz on the same team within a short span of time.  Four young gifted players. One NBA team. Two years.

And as a result, good things will happen.

Sam Hinkie’s doing

After all, all indications were that Joel Embiid could be a transcendent NBA player. So far, he is delivering on all cylinders.  Dario Saric, committed to play for two years in the Euroleague, did arrive to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. And in doing so, fills the role of stretch four better with each game played.  Ben Simmons, that 6-foot-10 rookie who plays the point guard role for this team, has already passed the rookie record of triple-doubles set by the great Magic Johnson, and there are 15 games remaining.

These were all onboard or on their way by the time Bryan Colangelo took over. Even down to the 10 win season which netted the team the top-overall pick in that 2016 NBA Draft. And for that matter, the third pick of the 2017 NBA Draft was due to the pick-swap negotiated by former team president Sam Hinkie. So the current status of this team is 95 percent in place due to decisions current team president Bryan Colangelo had nothing to do with.

Saving the best for last

And Markelle Fultz will deliver an NBA debut which will rival that of both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. After all, this is noth the first time the Philadelphia 76ers have benched their top-pick for nearly an entire season. As a matter of fact, the only player since the 2013 arrival of Nerlens Noel to NOT be benched for a full season was Jahlil Okafor. And that did not end the way the Sixers had hoped.

Still good things are happening. And it’s all due to the fact that this team has been patient, cast a wide net, let young players grow, and timed their development to arrive to this point in time.  At the very least, four of the five starters on the Philadelphia 76ers were home grown. And if not for the delay to Markelle Fultz, this team starting five are Philadelphia-drafted.

Delays to the court allow extra coaching and maturity

The pattern of highly touted rookies redshirting a season for the Philadelphia 76ers has some enviable side effects. The delay allows coaches to work extra time with the player. Joel Embiid surely benefitted from it. Ben Simmons did as well. Right now, Markelle Fultz is getting the extra time. And for all the talk of busted shots, muscular imbalance, and scapular pain, he looks ready to go. In fact, he looks better and more comfortable than ever.

But that is the gymnasium.  How he translates on the NBA basketball court on game day is the real test. Unfortunately the answer will wait.

Reason this team chose Markelle Fultz

Markelle Fultz may have hit a speed bump on his way to a long and successful NBA career, but once he takes the floor, the how and why of his arrival will be immaterial.  The Philadelphia 76ers chose to trade up for Markelle Fultz because, with a narrowing scope of exactly what type of player the team needs, Markelle Fultz buried the needle on all characteristics.

Even when we tried to debunk the “we need this guy”, we ended up concluding that we need this guy.  In short, despite being the top-rated player in the 2017 NBA Draft, Markelle Fultz is the one player the Philadelphia 76ers needed on this team from his skillsets, not his ranking.

Fultz needed now

And there are reasons the Philadelphia 76ers need him now.  He is a top-pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. His absence from the basketball court delays his NBA impact.  And the team drafted him to fill a void, a void which continues with each game he sit

The short gist of this is that the Philadelphia 76ers simply have no player who can be counted on to manufacture their own shots short of Joel Embiid. That fact is not lost on NBA teams. Some simply cannot do much about it. But teams in the NBA Playoffs will certainly have enough talent to do so.  Still, despite the upgrade he brings to this roster but stepping onto the basketball court, he is young. And young players run a conservative path to the NBA basketball court.

Conservative approach young players, aggressive with veterans

The team has several patterns going on this year, patterns which are quite telling indeed about the unspoken philosophy of this team. We know this team is ultra conservative when it comes to the younger players. We know the team has been very conservative in managing the playing minutes of Joel Embiid. And last year, the team was also very conservative in how they managed Ben Simmons benching for an entire season.  This year, that same conservative perspective will likely keep Markelle Fultz on the bench for the rest of this season.  Young players. Conservative approach.

Look at the players who do not get much playing time, despite the ineffectiveness on the basketball court of other players. The team gets points and defense out of Justin Anderson, but Anderson does not get many playing minutes. Jerryd Bayless and Amir Johnson got the lion’s share of minutes, despite the ineffectiveness of either to score.

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Veterans? Pedal-to-the-metal approach

When the team had a chance to offload Jahlil Okafor, the team jumped at the chance. But it was not just a player for player swap. The team packaged Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a second round pick for the temporary rental of power forward Trevor Booker.  And weeks later, as the Atlanta Hawks bought out both shooting guard Marco Belinelli and power forward Ersan Ilyasova, the Philadelphia 76ers signed both.

Signing Marco Belinelli was simple to do. Despite injuries which benched both Furkan Korkmaz and Markelle Fultz, the team carried the open roster spot since the early December 2017 trade.  Nearly ten weeks passed before the team’s roster returned to a permanent 15. When the team elected to sign Ilyasova, they had to vacate a roster spot. This time, the team cut Trevor Booker, the same player the team had traded two players and a pick for. Picks are simply not that easy to come by in the NBA. Both Belinelli immediately found themselves in the team’s rotation.

2018 NBA Draft status?

The reason this is a topic now as the Philadelphia 76ers race to their first playoffs since the 2011-2012 season is the 2018 off-season.  The fact that the team is sitting on six picks for that 2018 NBA Draft is already quite the dilemma.  Two first round picks and four second round picks would indicate that this team is building for the future.   But is it?

FanSided

In the actions of recent transactions, the future is now.  However you see the team, whether you believe the team is winning tomorrow or today, the front office is set on winning today.  I believe the team needs to back up center Joel Embiid as soon as possible.  Doing so means that the team would recall Anzejs Pasecniks from the Euroleague for the 2018-2019 season. But the comments on that story made me rethink. What if Bryan Colangelo aims once more at veterans?

Free agents in 2018 offseason are a compelling argument

One player named is Atlanta Hawks reserve center Dewayne Dedmon, a 7-foot-0  245 pound center who has NBA experience and has a player option to remain with the 28th place Atlanta Hawks for his last contract year. And it makes sense in several ways. Colangelo keeps players overseas as assets (or trading chips) as he signs another wave of veterans to the team for short-duration contracts.

Related Story: Philadelphia 76ers need C Anzejs Pasecniks for 2018-2019 season

In the 2017 NBA Draft, the team emerged with six picks. Two were sold outright, three were stashed overseas, and the top-pick of the draft was effectively redshirted. That same pattern happened in the 2016 NBA Draft, with one stashed overseas, the top-pick redshirted, and the 22nd pick has been in semi-limbo with the team.  Is there any reason to expect a sudden change in the track record?  If all things hold (as they appear to), the team will sell two picks, and draft four international players to be stashed in the Euroleague. The additions to the 2018 team will consist of recalling a player or two from the Euroleague and signing free agents.

Colangelo free agent patterns

With these Philadelphia 76ers flirting with a top-4-seed in the NBA Playoffs, will Colangelo truly bring more young players to this team? The more I ponder that, the more I can convince myself that he won’t. Two years ago, Jerry Colangelo indicated that the Philadelphia 76ers were three years away from becoming “very competitive”.  And explaining further, he stated “that means not just making the playoffs,”  Just two years ago, that bar was set.

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When Bryan Colangelo first arrived to the Sixers, I did an indepth look as to his free agency tactics while leading the Toronto Raptors. Curiously, the same names that appear in the Raptors article now appear with the Philadelphia 76ers. Amir Johnson and Jerryd Bayless have both found their way onto two team rosters where Colangelo did the hiring.

Scary parallels

The patterns from the Toronto Raptors are already beginning with the Philadelphia 76ers. In both cases, Colangelo’s deals are done. If they work out, great. If they don’t, it’s cut at a deep discount and try to find the next deal yielding good upside. While some may scoff, the value committed by the team to get Trevor Booker, two players and a pick, only to waive the player in 10 weeks seems, unwise. While the deal was not a free agent signing, we have the Jerryd Bayless signing for three years which does fall into the “bad signing” category. In fact, of all free agents signed, only that of J.J. Redick, albeit for one year and $23 Million, has been a solid get for the team.

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As the Philadelphia 76ers grow into the team designed by the mad architect Sam Hinkie, the presence of players like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, Markelle Fultz, and even T.J. McConnell, limit the scope of players needed to compliment this young core. But will Colangelo be able to add the right pieces? So far, he has been more impressive on draft night than free agency. But his pattern appears to lean heavily into the free agency market. While J.J. Redick is a great fit, his contract may not be easily extended. The Philadelphia 76ers, thanks to the young talent already assembled, are heading to the playoffs this year.  But that could change everything regarding the team’s approach to the NBA Draft going forward.