In a case of cosmic coincidence, the Philadelphia 76ers face the Minnesota Timberwolves to earn their guarantee for an NBA Playoff spot today
The Philadelphia 76ers have played in the shadows of the Minnesota Timberwolves since the 2015 NBA Draft. The teams were both very bad in the 2014-2015 season. The Timberwolves had elected to trade 6-foot-10 center Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for top-pick Andrew Wiggins. The following year, the Timberwolves could score points, but the combination of young and old players was horrendous at defense. Simultaneously, the Philadelphia 76ers learned that 92.0 points per game does not win many games. Of that roster, only Robert Covington remains.
The infamous 2015 NBA Draft ensued. The Timberwolves added Karl Anthony Towns to their roster. The Los Angeles Lakers, with top-three protection on their first round pick, selected D’Angelo Rusell (surprisingly) with the second pick. With the third pick, the Philadelphia 76ers chose center Jahlil Okafor. And the fourth pick of that draft fell to the New York Knicks, who picked Kristaps Porzingis.
That fateful 2015 NBA Draft
That draft became the epicenter of so many subplots and NBA narratives. But the results on paper helped the Minnesota Timberwolves cause greatly. And for the long haul of the Philadelphia 76ers, not very well at all. And so it began. The historic failure of two NBA teams to the 2015 NBA Draft, and the unavoidable comparisons from that point going forward.
Buoyed by the roster boasting consecutive NBA top picks (Wiggins Towns), the Timberwolves improved dramatically. But the Philadelphia 76ers, still awaiting the return to the NBA for both Dario Saric and Joel Embiid, fell even further. The Timberwolves rose to 29 wins. The 76ers fell to ten wins and made a change in the front office. The random forces of the NBA Lottery which continued to push the 76ers pick to three abated. The Philadelphia 76ers landed a top-pick in 2016 and selected Ben Simmons. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected point guard Kris Dunn with their pick at five. The race to rebuild was on!