The proclaimed process originated by 76ers fans and Sam Hinkie is starting to pay dividends. Let’s take a look at where the process is currently
It really all started when Sam Hinkie made the first string of deals. In 2013, the Philadelphia 76ers made a trade with the Pelicans which would see them acquire a Nerlens Noel and a future first-round pick.
The 76ers would also acquire current starter Robert Covington via the undrafted free agent pool. This was the first of many deals in Hinkie’s tenure. Then in 2014, things really heated up.
During the 2014 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Joel Embiid with the 3rd overall pick. Now, if you are new to the NBA, you may think this was the best thing ever, but it wasn’t always thought of like that.
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Embiid had a troubled and riddled injury history that would continue into his NBA career, so he would miss the first two seasons of it. Hinkie would then go on to select the aforementioned Dario Saric as well.
This was after they traded the extra pick they received in the Pelicans deal to the Magic. Orlando would get Elfriid Payton, the 76ers would get the No. 12 pick and a second rounder.
In 2015, the 76ers would select another big man with their third top five pick in a row, this time Jahlil Okafor from Duke. Okafor would have a quality rookie year and become exactly what we expected.
He had a really high floor, (very low potential to suck), but a low ceiling (very low potential to be an All-NBA player). At this point, it was obvious the 76ers were stockpiling talent.
The stockpile would get even bigger when Sam Hinkie would fleece the Kings of everything they had of value besides Boogie Cousins. As seen in the graphic/tweet below, the Kings would send Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry in a salary dump to the 76ers for two players who will most likely never seen NBA time in Arthuras Gudaitis and Luka Mitrovic.
The catch was, this isn’t all. The Philadelphia 76ers would get the rights to swap picks in either 2016 or 2017 AND a future first-round pick which will be in this year’s draft, an insanely loaded one at that.
https://twitter.com/ByNickGonzalez/status/824670426378936320
So, now, after all that wheeling in dealing, Sam Hinkie would be fired for obvious reasons, as bright as the team’s future seems, the 76ers suck, and that is blunt. That wasn’t before his impact was left.
The Philadelphia 76ers would draft Ben Simmons with the No. 1 pick in this past draft and are loaded up to take two All-Stars in this year’s draft. And for one, the 76ers are actually, well winning. Philly is the 14th seed in the Eastern conference, much different from their usual last or second to last, and are only one win away from surpassing their win total from last year.
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The 76ers are in no position to win this year or next year, possibly not even in two years, but their future is very bright. With players like Dario Saric, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons headlining the future along with trade assets and quality pieces like Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas and Nerlens Noel, Philly fans have a lot to be happy about.