Smile, Philadelphia 76ers have 3 championship pieces on roster

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Why so many picks?

To assemble the core and complimentary players, the team must begin to congeal during players’ rookie contracts. Only then can an NBA team truly afford to pay all players under that ceiling. But that means increasing the number of draft picks beyond two. In fact, the number of picks must land on or near six per year. No team “hits” on all draft picks.

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And it’s rare indeed for a team to find the caliber of player described as “three NBA elite players”. Some players are very good. Some players are good fits. But to find an elite talent whose skillset compliments those of the other core players is a very rare find indeed.

Better odds

So the only way to improve the odds is simply to improve the frequency. But improving the frequency does nothing for the team if the list is sequential. Doing so risks finding right support pieces and discarding them, never to find another. So assembling a championship team becomes akin to a scavenger hunt. A list of players with specific skillsets is agreed upon.

Then, the team sets about searching for all players simultaneously. Even undrafted prospects like Robert Covington or T.J. McConnell become valuable pieces to that eventual NBA Championship team as supporting cast members. But the real story is finding three elites. And once you’ve found them, to have all the pieces ready to take them to the top.