Philadelphia 76ers fans were asked to “Trust the Process” during a multi-year rebuild. They could now be on the brink of another rebuild altogether. Here are six moves that hindered the success of “The Process.”
The 2012-13 Philadelphia 76ers finished 34-48 and missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Head coach Doug Collins resigned after the end of the season. Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, and Spencer Hawes were coming off their age-24 seasons.
Enter Sam Hinkie.
The 76ers hired Hinkie as general manager in May 2013. Hinkie was tasked with building the Philadelphia 76ers into a perennial contender. His plan was to acquire as many assets as he could (young players and draft picks) that would turn into one superstar player, maybe two.
Hinkie decided that the best way to carry out his plan was to tank, AGGRESIVELY. Hinkie stripped down the 76ers roster for consecutive years to land high draft picks. As Philadelphia began losing at a historical pace Hinkie stressed patience with his process. He basically told fans to “Trust the Process.”
Fast forward to 2023. The 76ers have made the playoffs in six straight seasons. They have won 50 or more games in four of the last six seasons, two of which were shortened due to the pandemic. The reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, is their franchise player. “The Process” worked to perfection, right?
Not exactly. It may be at risk of completely falling apart.
The Philadelphia 76ers might be the biggest “what if” in the NBA
Yes, the Philadelphia 76ers became a contender in the East but haven’t made it past the Eastern Conference Semifinals in six years, despite being the East’s No. 1 seed in 2021. Nick Nurse is the team’s third head coach in five seasons. Then, there’s the current roster itself.
They still have Embiid, at least for now. James Harden wants out and told the world that 76ers President of Basketball Operations Darryl Morey is a liar. Tobias Harris is a free agent after next season. Tyrese Maxey, the emerging 22-year-old point guard, is a restricted free agent.
Hinkie’s plan made sense but its execution was questionable at times. He resigned in 2016 leaving now former-76ers GM Bryan Colangelo, current GM Elton Brand, and Morey to carry out “The Process.” While the 76ers have had some success, things could have been even better in Philadelphia.
Here are six moves the Philadelphia 76ers may have botched “The Process.”
1. Trading Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for their first-round pick (6th overall) AND drafting Nerlens Noel (2013)
The O.G. move that started it all. Jrue Holiday was 24 years old and was just selected to his first NBA All-Star game. That’s the type of young talent most teams want to build around, right?
Not the Philadelphia 76ers. Instead of building around Holiday, Hinkie traded him to the Pelicans for the pick that turned out to be Nerlens Noel and a 2014 first-round pick (later traded to Orlando for Dario Saric’s rights).
The 2013 NBA Draft class wasn’t good. Anthony Bennett was the No. 1 overall pick that year if that tells you anything. Six-foot-11 Nerlens Noel, who lacked offensive talent, was said to go No. 1 before tearing his ACL during his lone season at the University of Kentucky.
Hindsight is 20/20 but this one is bad. Not only did the Sixers trade a 24-year-old All-Star point guard, but they drafted Noel when they could have drafted ANY of the following guys:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- CJ McCollum
- Rudy Gobert
- Tim Hardaway, Jr.
- Steven Adams
Any of these five guys could have worked out better in Philadelphia, but the Sixers passed on all of them. Noel turned out to be a bust and was traded to Dallas a couple of years later.
Holiday has been one of the better point guards in the NBA since leaving Philly. He’s averaged 18 points and seven assists per game while also being one of the league’s best defenders. Trading Holiday wasn’t a bad move. The 76ers drafted Joel Embiid a year later. But when you figure it was Holiday for Noel? Yikes.
2. Drafting Jahlil Okafor (2015)
Sam Hinkie had drafted Nerlens Noel in 2013 and Joel Embiid in 2014. There was no way that Hinkie was going to use his first pick on a center for the third draft in a row, right? Wrong.
Philadelphia drafted Jahlil Okafor out of Duke with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Okafor was looked at as a safe and the right pick at No. 3 – just not in Philly. He had a good rookie season, averaging 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game. Embiid emerged the next season and Okafor was benched.
Hinkie could have used the third pick and traded down to collect additional picks. He could have had Devin Booker or Miles Turner instead of Okafor. Heck, Hinkie could have then also drafted any of the following:
- Kristaps Porzingis
- Bobby Portis
- Norman Powell
- Kelly Oubre, Jr.
- Terry Rozier
Imagine a 76ers squad with Joel Embiid and Devin Booker. It could have happened.
3. Drafted Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz (2016)
Ben Simmons was seen as the sure-fire No. 1 pick in 2016. His talent and athleticism at 6-10 had some scouts labeling him as “LeBron 2.0.” There were questions about his shooting ability and attitude, but NOTHING like today. Still, Bryan Colangelo selected Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
Despite Simmons missing his first season with a foot injury it looked like a great move. Simmons debuted the following season and won the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award. He was then selected as an NBA All-Star for three straight seasons.
Simmons and Embiid formed a pretty good one-two punch. The young Aussie was consistent (16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and two steals per game from 2018-2021), but the Sixers and their fans wanted more out of Simmons on the offensive end.
He was a poor free-throw shooter. Teams would go to a “Hack-a-Ben” strategy in 4th quarters of games. It practically became breaking news whenever Simmons ATTEMPTED a three-pointer, let alone when he made one.
Then, there was the wide-open dunk he passed up in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semis against the Hawks. That led to an off-season and training camp full of drama. The 76ers then traded Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden, which was a GREAT move for Philly considering the circumstances.
Still, I look back at the 2016 NBA Draft and wonder what could have been. Colangelo could have ANY of the following guys instead of Simmons at No. 1:
- Brandon Ingram
- Jaylen Brown
- Buddy Hield
- Jamal Murray
- Domantas Sabonis
If that wasn’t bad enough, Colangelo also had the No. 26 pick in that year’s draft and selected Furkan Korkmaz. He could have had any of the following instead:
- Pascal Siakam
- Dejounte Murray
- Malcolm Brogdon
Imagine how deep the Philadelphia 76ers COULD have been. Again, they had opportunities.
4. Traded for the No. 1 overall pick AND selected Markelle Fultz (2017)
Danny Ainge held the cards ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft. His team owned the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick that year from the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade, which became the No. 1 overall pick that year. The Lakers owned the second pick. The Philadelphia 76ers had the third pick.
Most draft experts expected the first pick to be between the University of Washington’s high-scoring combo guard Markelle Fultz, 6-6 UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball, and talented Duke swingman Jayson Tatum. Ainge wanted Jayson Tatum the whole time.
He knew how badly the Sixers wanted Fultz. Philly needed a guard. Ainge also knew that the Los Angeles Lakers would get killed if they didn’t take UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. “Trader Danny” then struck a deal that would make the late-Red Auerbach proud.
He traded the No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers for the No. 3 pick and Philly’s first-round pick in 2019 (Romeo Langford). The Sixers took Fultz, the Lakers selected Ball, and Ainge got his guy in Jayson Tatum at No. 3.
Most draft experts thought Fultz had the ability to be a perennial All-Star. Fultz was said to have suffered a mysterious shoulder injury four games into his rookie season that kept him out until the last ten games of that year. It looked like Fultz had a case of the “yips” and lost his ability to shoot the basketball.
Fultz played in only 33 games over two seasons in Philadelphia before being traded to the Orlando Magic. Jayson Tatum helped lead the Celtics to within one game of the 2018 NBA Finals in his rookie season and has been a perennial All-Star since.
The 76ers may have ended up taking Fultz if they stayed at No. 3 anyway. Or, they could have selected a different guard – like DeAaron Fox OR Donovan Mitchell.
5. Selected Villanova’s Mikal Bridges with the 10th overall pick and traded him to Phoenix (2018)
Michael Carter-Williams won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2014 while with the Philadelphia 76ers. Some thought he could be the Sixers’ long-term answer at point guard. Sam Hinkie thought otherwise and traded MCW to Milwaukee as part of a three-team trade in February 2015.
Hinkie was right about MCW. That trade also landed the 76ers the Phoenix Suns’ first-round draft pick in 2018, which turned out the be 10th overall. Philadelphia had come off their first playoff appearance in “The Process” era and had a chance to get a young lottery pick.
They did just that in selecting Villanova and hometown kid Mikal Bridges. This was a gift from the basketball gods. It was looked at as a great move AND a great story for the 76ers – for about five whole minutes.
Brett Brown was acting GM for the 76ers during that draft in between the Colangelo Twitter-firing debacle and Elton Brand being hired as GM. Instead of keeping the young 3-and-D wing, Brown and the 76ers chose to trade Bridges back to Phoenix for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round pick (Tre Mann).
Bridges went on to make an NBA Finals appearance with the Suns and is now a budding star for the Brooklyn Nets. Smith is currently out of the league and Tre Mann now plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
6. Electing to sign Tobias Harris to a max deal instead of Jimmy Butler (2019)
Somehow, the Philadelphia 76ers managed to trade for both Jimmy Butler AND Tobias Harris during the 2018-19 season. Philly ran out a starting lineup in the 2019 NBA Playoffs of Embiid, Simmons, Butler, Harris, and sharp-shooter J.J. Redick. They. Were. Deep.
The 76ers were finally poised to make a run at the NBA championship. It looked as if “The Process” had worked. Philadelphia won 51 games that season and was the East’s three-seed. They made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and battled the Toronto Raptors in an epic seven-game series capped by Kawhi Leonard’s memorable game-winner in Game 7.
Jimmy Butler was set to become a free agent and was seeking a max deal. Tobias Harris was also set to be a free agent who was seeking a max deal. The 76ers had to choose one or the other. They couldn’t afford both. Elton Brand chose to sign Harris and let Butler walk.
Harris has been solid in Philadelphia ever since and it could be argued that he has been under-utilized in the offenses centered around Embiid. Still, Harris isn’t the player that Butler is.
Jimmy Butler has helped lead the Miami Heat to two NBA Finals appearances in the last four seasons. Philly still hasn’t passed the East semis. Making matters worse, Butler’s Heat eliminated the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2022 and let the 76ers know they made a mistake.
Fans of the Philadelphia 76ers were asked to “Trust the Process.” Their team became a contender in the East, but they could have been a juggernaut. WARNING: Sixers fans may want to look away here.
In conclusion, the Sixers could have basically had…Giannis instead of Nerlens Noel AND…Devin Booker instead of Jahlil Okafor AND…DeAaron Fox OR Donovan Mitchell instead of Markelle Fultz AND…Mikal Bridges AND…Jimmy Butler.
Speechless? Yeah, me too.