Philadelphia 76ers: The 2018 NBA offseason summary and recap
Looking back at what the Philadelphia 76ers did right and wrong during the 2018 NBA offseason, including the draft and free agency
After years of telling fans to trust the process, the process finally started to show the results that Philadelphia management had imagined when they began tanking for picks.
The 76ers went 52-30 and earned the 3-seed in the Eastern Confernce. After beating the Miami Heat in five games, the 76ers would run into some growing pains in the next round. The Boston Celtics were able to exploit the 76ers youthfulness and eliminated the 76ers in five games.
For Philadelphia, the 2017-18 season showed a glimpse of how good the team could become and the 76ers entered the offseason with cap space and the 10th overall pick in the NBA draft.
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The 76ers attempted to land marquee free agents such as LeBron James, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard but they were unsuccessful on all three. James went to the Lakers, George stayed with the Thunder and Leonard was traded to the Raptors.
After missing out on those three, the 76ers turned their attention to Wilson Chandler and traded for the forward without losing a player in the process. Then in the NBA draft the 76ers selected Mikal Bridges out of Villanova.
Bridges would later be traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for the 16th overall pick Zhaire Smith from Texas Tech and a 2021 first-round pick via the Miami Heat. Smith figures to be a solid perimeter defender and the 2021 first-rounder could be a lottery pick depending on what happens to the Miami Heat between now and the 2021 NBA draft.
Next. Detroit Pistons: The 2018 NBA offseason summary and recap. dark
The Philadelphia 76ers outlook is promising especially if Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid continue to get better and stay healthy. Philadelphia should be considered among the favorites to make it out of the East and into the NBA Finals. As usual, though, they will enter the season with the huge question mark of can Embiid and Simmons stay healthy?