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Philadelphia 76ers: The importance of the 2018 NBA offseason

By Harry Wahl

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 18: Ben Simmons #25 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers walk off the court during a time out in the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on January 18, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 18: Ben Simmons #25 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers walk off the court during a time out in the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on January 18, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images) /
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The NBA season may have just ended but it’s never too soon to look ahead to next year. Especially when this offseason will have many ramifications leaguewide and especially for the Philadelphia 76ers

When the 2017-18 NBA season kicked off last October, Joel Embiid only had 31 career games under his belt and Ben Simmons had yet to play his first game.

Fast forward eight months later and the Philadelphia 76ers have two generational talents and are one of the premier free agency destinations. “The Process” has come to fruition and the 76er faithful have their franchise cornerstones for the next decade. T

his is why this offseason means so much more for an organization on the verge of greatness.

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The Lack of a General Manager

In the rare chance you live under a Bryan Colangelo sized rock, let’s bring you up to speed on Philadelphia’s front office twitter scandal.

Colangelo was the president of basketball operations and general manager for the Philadelphia 76er until it was discovered that he was linked to burner twitter accounts that were openly critical of the previous administration and current players.

An internal investigation revealed that Bryan’s wife was behind the accounts in question but he was still released from his duties because loose lips sink ships. So where does this leave Philly? GM-less with less than a week before the NBA draft and start of free agency.

In addition to quickly filling one of the most important roles in the modern NBA, Philadelphia will need to rebuild trust with prospective free agents and current players alike that twitter scandals are a thing of the past.

The 76ers announced that head coach Brett Brown will be taking over as interim GM in the meantime which is good and bad if you’re a Philadelphia fan. The good news is that Brown has the best idea of his current team and what they need to get over the hump. The bad news? Brown has 14 days from the announcement of his new responsibilities to get ready for the 76ers 10th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Is he up for the challenge? Sure! Is this the best-case scenario for a team at a crossroads? Probably not.

Cap Space

The 76ers are currently in a cap space sweet spot because of the wealth of good rookie contracts on their roster. This, however, will not last forever and this blessing will quickly turn into a curse when Philadelphia has to give max level contracts to Embiid and Simmons.

Before that happens they have a brief window to add talent to the roster while they still have the cash to do so. The problem? Again they have inexperienced Brett Brown at the helm trying to help quell the sins of his predecessors.

Must Read: NBA Free Agency: Ranking the top 35 free agents of the 2018 offseason

With franchise changing talent available in LeBron and Paul George, the Philadelphia administration will need to convince prospective players that everything is alright in the city of brotherly love.

Make sure you watch closely because the events of the next few weeks will drastically affect the Philadelphia 76ers championship window for years to come.