Is this year's Sixers team the worst NBA squad ever?

[Moranis]

The whole sixers situation makes a guy think if you are tanking and not getting the best player in the draft it's probably not worth it. Philly can only do this 2 more years or the NBA will shut them down.

I don't think you need to get THE BEST player in the draft necessarily, but after three years of blatant tanking I feel like you should have at least a few guys who are exciting and who seem like they could probably play together. 

Like, if the Sixers were sitting here today with CJ McCollum (2013 #5), Aaron Gordon (2014 #3), Zach Lavine (2014 #12), and Jahlil Okafor (2015 #3), wouldn't that be an exciting team?  Wouldn't we be looking at them a lot differently?

Obviously it's really easy to cherry pick this stuff in hindsight, but if they weren't so determined to just go with the highest ceiling asset in every situation with no care whatsoever for the current product on the floor or how the players will fit together, they might actually have a team people would be interested in watching by now.

Thing is, if Saric had come over this year and Embiid hadn't been re-injured they might look like a very different team.  I would imagine Embiid's injury prompted them to take Okafor instead of drafting Mudiay or trading the pick.  How much different do you think of the team if the starting lineup is Embiid, Noel, Saric, Stauskas, Mudiay with Wroten, Covington, Thompson, etc. on the bench.  Isn't that a team that has the excitement factor?  Embiid's re-injury and Saric's failure to come over has greatly changed the course of the Sixers this year.

[PhoSita]

The whole sixers situation makes a guy think if you are tanking and not getting the best player in the draft it's probably not worth it. Philly can only do this 2 more years or the NBA will shut them down.

I don't think you need to get THE BEST player in the draft necessarily, but after three years of blatant tanking I feel like you should have at least a few guys who are exciting and who seem like they could probably play together. 

Like, if the Sixers were sitting here today with CJ McCollum (2013 #5), Aaron Gordon (2014 #3), Zach Lavine (2014 #12), and Jahlil Okafor (2015 #3), wouldn't that be an exciting team?  Wouldn't we be looking at them a lot differently?

Obviously it's really easy to cherry pick this stuff in hindsight, but if they weren't so determined to just go with the highest ceiling asset in every situation with no care whatsoever for the current product on the floor or how the players will fit together, they might actually have a team people would be interested in watching by now.

Thing is, if Saric had come over this year and Embiid hadn't been re-injured they might look like a very different team.  I would imagine Embiid's injury prompted them to take Okafor instead of drafting Mudiay or trading the pick.  How much different do you think of the team if the starting lineup is Embiid, Noel, Saric, Stauskas, Mudiay with Wroten, Covington, Thompson, etc. on the bench.  Isn't that a team that has the excitement factor?  Embiid's re-injury and Saric's failure to come over has greatly changed the course of the Sixers this year.

That is fair, although I think they're blithe disregard for any current or within-the-next-three-to-five-years concerns is part of why they were willing to draft Noel, Embiid, and Saric.  There were indications that all three would miss part of all of the first season after they were drafted, if not more. 

I'm not sure the Sixers would've taken Mudiay even if Embiid were healthy.  Their MO has been to take the highest ceiling prospect available regardless of current fit.  They had a healthy Noel coming off a pretty nice rookie season, after all.

[celticsclay]

The whole sixers situation makes a guy think if you are tanking and not getting the best player in the draft it's probably not worth it. Philly can only do this 2 more years or the NBA will shut them down.

I don't think you need to get THE BEST player in the draft necessarily, but after three years of blatant tanking I feel like you should have at least a few guys who are exciting and who seem like they could probably play together. 

Like, if the Sixers were sitting here today with CJ McCollum (2013 #5), Aaron Gordon (2014 #3), Zach Lavine (2014 #12), and Jahlil Okafor (2015 #3), wouldn't that be an exciting team?  Wouldn't we be looking at them a lot differently?

Obviously it's really easy to cherry pick this stuff in hindsight, but if they weren't so determined to just go with the highest ceiling asset in every situation with no care whatsoever for the current product on the floor or how the players will fit together, they might actually have a team people would be interested in watching by now.

Phosita, I feel like you are kind of making the same point I am here. They should be in a lot better position for their efforts than they are. I think the team you mentioned would be really exciting to watch and would still probably net another lottery pick this year.

[Moranis]

The whole sixers situation makes a guy think if you are tanking and not getting the best player in the draft it's probably not worth it. Philly can only do this 2 more years or the NBA will shut them down.

I don't think you need to get THE BEST player in the draft necessarily, but after three years of blatant tanking I feel like you should have at least a few guys who are exciting and who seem like they could probably play together. 

Like, if the Sixers were sitting here today with CJ McCollum (2013 #5), Aaron Gordon (2014 #3), Zach Lavine (2014 #12), and Jahlil Okafor (2015 #3), wouldn't that be an exciting team?  Wouldn't we be looking at them a lot differently?

Obviously it's really easy to cherry pick this stuff in hindsight, but if they weren't so determined to just go with the highest ceiling asset in every situation with no care whatsoever for the current product on the floor or how the players will fit together, they might actually have a team people would be interested in watching by now.

Thing is, if Saric had come over this year and Embiid hadn't been re-injured they might look like a very different team.  I would imagine Embiid's injury prompted them to take Okafor instead of drafting Mudiay or trading the pick.  How much different do you think of the team if the starting lineup is Embiid, Noel, Saric, Stauskas, Mudiay with Wroten, Covington, Thompson, etc. on the bench.  Isn't that a team that has the excitement factor?  Embiid's re-injury and Saric's failure to come over has greatly changed the course of the Sixers this year.

That is fair, although I think they're blithe disregard for any current or within-the-next-three-to-five-years concerns is part of why they were willing to draft Noel, Embiid, and Saric.  There were indications that all three would miss part of all of the first season after they were drafted, if not more. 

I'm not sure the Sixers would've taken Mudiay even if Embiid were healthy.  Their MO has been to take the highest ceiling prospect available regardless of current fit.  They had a healthy Noel coming off a pretty nice rookie season, after all.

Mudiay was the highest ceiling prospect outside of Okafor.  I actually think they would have worked a trade to a team that wanted Okafor, like say the Knicks, and picked up a future 1st or some young player and moved back a bit and still ended up with Mudiay.  Had the Lakers not passed on Okafor, the Sixers would have taken Russell, even with Embiid's re-injury.

[Moranis]

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/111733/the-76ers-should-really-get-better-eventually

[jdz101]

Well this could have been awkward......

[Emmette Bryant]

From Zach Lowe

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14287780/how-much-patience-sixer-fans-nba-process

[MBunge]

Think about this.

Philly is lucky to be where they are.  If Noel wasn't injured, no way he lasts to the sixth pick.  Embiid would have gone #1 if healthy.  Which means if those guys had been healthy and the Lakers weren't run by a moron, Philly could be sitting here with D'Angelo Russel, Jabari Parker and one of Otto Porter, Cody Zeller, Alex Len, Ben Mcelmore or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Mike

[PhoSita]

Think about this.

Philly is lucky to be where they are.  If Noel wasn't injured, no way he lasts to the sixth pick.  Embiid would have gone #1 if healthy.  Which means if those guys had been healthy and the Lakers weren't run by a moron, Philly could be sitting here with D'Angelo Russel, Jabari Parker and one of Otto Porter, Cody Zeller, Alex Len, Ben Mcelmore or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Mike

McLemore, Russell, and Jabari wouldn't be such a bad trio of prospects for that Sixers team.  All three of those guys might very well look better in a more open system with no high-usage teammates to defer to. 

The Sixers would probably be a lot more fun to watch.  They'd still have Saric ready to come over in a year or two, plus a bunch of other picks on the way.

[Moranis]

Think about this.

Philly is lucky to be where they are.  If Noel wasn't injured, no way he lasts to the sixth pick.  Embiid would have gone #1 if healthy.  Which means if those guys had been healthy and the Lakers weren't run by a moron, Philly could be sitting here with D'Angelo Russel, Jabari Parker and one of Otto Porter, Cody Zeller, Alex Len, Ben Mcelmore or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Mike

Or maybe if Noel isn't available they don't make the trade and keep Holiday and since they have Holiday don't draft MCW (maybe Steven Adams).  They might not be quite as bad and not end up in the top 3 in the Wiggins draft.  Maybe they end up with Randle.  They aren't as bad and end up with say Winslow.  You see if you change one move there is a good chance the entire team is different.  Is a team centered around Adams, Randle, Winslow, and Holiday a championship team?  I don't think so, so they might very well be better off right now with the whole injury chain of events.

[LarBrd33]

From Zach Lowe

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14287780/how-much-patience-sixer-fans-nba-process

About sums it up here:

Philly's failure to this point also doesn't mean they are misreading the league's incentive system or that tanking is dumb. The best way to win a championship is to land a top-10 overall player, and study after study has shown that the best way to find such a player is to draft him. The fact that most tanking teams never win a title doesn't invalidate the strategy. Most teams of all stripes never win the title. Every team-building strategy is a low-percentage play if the criteria is getting a ring.

Embiid's injury and Okafor's juvenile crap aren't evidence that Philly has botched The Process. They are blips baked into The Process. A longer tanking timeline allows for both risks and setbacks. If the Bobcats miss on Anthony Davis, they're done tanking. If the Sixers miss on Embiid and Okafor, they're going to take their best [dang] shot at Ben Simmons. If you really have this kind of patience, you can afford some misses. That's the entire point of the strategy. One hit, and the long-term outlook changes.

Next year will be very interesting, because I don't think it's at all likely they will still be in "lose every game" mode.

[celticsclay]

From Zach Lowe

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14287780/how-much-patience-sixer-fans-nba-process

About sums it up here:

Philly's failure to this point also doesn't mean they are misreading the league's incentive system or that tanking is dumb. The best way to win a championship is to land a top-10 overall player, and study after study has shown that the best way to find such a player is to draft him. The fact that most tanking teams never win a title doesn't invalidate the strategy. Most teams of all stripes never win the title. Every team-building strategy is a low-percentage play if the criteria is getting a ring.

Embiid's injury and Okafor's juvenile crap aren't evidence that Philly has botched The Process. They are blips baked into The Process. A longer tanking timeline allows for both risks and setbacks. If the Bobcats miss on Anthony Davis, they're done tanking. If the Sixers miss on Embiid and Okafor, they're going to take their best [dang] shot at Ben Simmons. If you really have this kind of patience, you can afford some misses. That's the entire point of the strategy. One hit, and the long-term outlook changes.

Next year will be very interesting, because I don't think it's at all likely they will still be in "lose every game" mode.

How come you didn't include the stuff about them being horrible with players including cutting one when he was on the team bus? Or brown lamenting their only veteran this year is Landry, who doesn't have the same voice because he doesn't play. I thought those were pretty big insights into some of their significant issues.

[LarBrd33]

From Zach Lowe

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14287780/how-much-patience-sixer-fans-nba-process

About sums it up here:

Philly's failure to this point also doesn't mean they are misreading the league's incentive system or that tanking is dumb. The best way to win a championship is to land a top-10 overall player, and study after study has shown that the best way to find such a player is to draft him. The fact that most tanking teams never win a title doesn't invalidate the strategy. Most teams of all stripes never win the title. Every team-building strategy is a low-percentage play if the criteria is getting a ring.

Embiid's injury and Okafor's juvenile crap aren't evidence that Philly has botched The Process. They are blips baked into The Process. A longer tanking timeline allows for both risks and setbacks. If the Bobcats miss on Anthony Davis, they're done tanking. If the Sixers miss on Embiid and Okafor, they're going to take their best [dang] shot at Ben Simmons. If you really have this kind of patience, you can afford some misses. That's the entire point of the strategy. One hit, and the long-term outlook changes.

Next year will be very interesting, because I don't think it's at all likely they will still be in "lose every game" mode.

How come you didn't include the stuff about them being horrible with players including cutting one when he was on the team bus? Or brown lamenting their only veteran this year is Landry, who doesn't have the same voice because he doesn't play. I thought those were pretty big insights into some of their significant issues.

Brown is irrelevant and this season is irrelevant.   Brown is the ML Carr type coach you hire when you're trying to bottom out... so him lamenting a lack of vets doesn't really matter.   They don't want to win this year and he likely will not be the coach when they do.

[celticsclay]

From Zach Lowe

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14287780/how-much-patience-sixer-fans-nba-process

About sums it up here:

Philly's failure to this point also doesn't mean they are misreading the league's incentive system or that tanking is dumb. The best way to win a championship is to land a top-10 overall player, and study after study has shown that the best way to find such a player is to draft him. The fact that most tanking teams never win a title doesn't invalidate the strategy. Most teams of all stripes never win the title. Every team-building strategy is a low-percentage play if the criteria is getting a ring.

Embiid's injury and Okafor's juvenile crap aren't evidence that Philly has botched The Process. They are blips baked into The Process. A longer tanking timeline allows for both risks and setbacks. If the Bobcats miss on Anthony Davis, they're done tanking. If the Sixers miss on Embiid and Okafor, they're going to take their best [dang] shot at Ben Simmons. If you really have this kind of patience, you can afford some misses. That's the entire point of the strategy. One hit, and the long-term outlook changes.

Next year will be very interesting, because I don't think it's at all likely they will still be in "lose every game" mode.

How come you didn't include the stuff about them being horrible with players including cutting one when he was on the team bus? Or brown lamenting their only veteran this year is Landry, who doesn't have the same voice because he doesn't play. I thought those were pretty big insights into some of their significant issues.

Brown is irrelevant and this season is irrelevant.   Brown is the ML Carr type coach you hire when you're trying to bottom out... so him lamenting a lack of vets doesn't really matter.   They don't want to win this year and he likely will not be the coach when they do.

Wow way to let your agenda distort reality. Brown is from the coach pop coaching tree and is viewed as a talented coaching prospect around the league. If he is not there when they are better (if they ever are) he will be coaching somewhere in some capacity. Comparing him to M.L Carr who never coached anywhere before or after at any level shows a fundamental lack of understanding of coaching (or just an intentional misguiding on your part).

[PhoSita]

Wow way to let your agenda distort reality. Brown is from the coach pop coaching tree and is viewed as a talented coaching prospect around the league. If he is not there when they are better (if they ever are) he will be coaching somewhere in some capacity. Comparing him to M.L Carr who never coached anywhere before or after at any level shows a fundamental lack of understanding of coaching (or just an intentional misguiding on your part).

I think LarBrd is just focused on the fact that the Sixers clearly don't give a flying flip if they burn out their talented coaching prospect, or poison the well with half the agents around the league.  They're committed to tanking and getting elite prospects, plural.  That is actually all they care about.

Whether you agree with them or not, it doesn't appear to matter to them if Brett Brown is a casualty of this Process.