On this, the eve of the second game of Jahlil Okafor’s two game suspension, it seemed as good a time as ever to discuss one of the most hotly debated topics in the city of Philadelphia: #TheProcess
Ah yes, the process, it’s practically become a punchline in and of itself.
The idea of the Sixers purposely losing in order to get higher draft picks seemed great at first, everyone was more than happy to comply with Sam Hinkie’s hair brained scheme. But here we are, in the process’ third season and everyone’s starting to get cold feet.
Things haven’t gone the way the fans had envisioned at all. I think back to draft night two years ago, sitting in a Buffalo Wild Wings with some friends and watching the Sixers select Joel Embiid. Seeing the Sixers get such a transcendent talent made us think we’d be out of the cellar in no time. We figured, another top draft pick and a couple free agent investments and this team would be in fighting shape in no time. We thought, in two years the Sixers would be competing with the best in the league. But nope, this team is still a joke.
Just because this team is worse more than anyone expected doesn’t mean the process hasn’t gone as Sam Hinkie envisioned. This was never meant to be a quick rebuild, Sam Hinkie’s plan has always been a seven year one. This team won’t be competitive on the court or in free agency until the year 2019.
This realization of how grand Sam Hinkie’s plan is has soured a lot of fans on the whole tanking philosophy. But not me. Naw, Im too busy watching Fury, while reading scouting reports on Ben Simmonds and Jamal Murray.
Seriously, all it took was breaking a little losing streak record and everyone was ready to give up on the process. All those Washington Generals comparison start to come true and all of a sudden everyone is over tanking. smh.
This city was over joyed at the sight of the Sixers earning their first win, but was I the only one who wanted to see them let up another fourth quarter lead?
People complain about how the Sixers have yet to come away with the number one pick, but really that all just goes to show how much of a crap shoot the NBA draft is. It’s a combination of suck and luck and the Sixers are trying to break the system by winning with the former rather than the latter. An 0-18 start might of been a little bit much, but whatever gets the job done.
The process works best when the Sixers are the absolute worst team in the NBA like they should be, but teams like the Timberwolves and the Knicks keep complicating things. Seeing the Knicks and Timberwolves actually develop, while the Sixers still learn how to play basketball does have me a little giddy about their draft prospects. In my eyes, 0-82 is more than worth it if it means you have a chance to draft the next Michael Jordan.
To me, the absolute worst state a team can be in is mediocrity. It means you’re not really good, but you’re not really bad, you’re just there. Mediocrity is just floating around, waiting for something better to come along. Mediocrity is a life of 7-8 playoff seeds and a lot of draft picks in the mid teens and that’s exactly where the 76ers were before Sam Hinkie arrived. Before Hinkie, the Sixers top need was to just get a superstar to lead this team. They tried to trade for one, but we all know how that 7’0 disaster turned out.
Yes, the process is ugly, like uglier than Tara Reid without any makeup, but it’s the safest bet for getting your hands on an actual superstar or something close. And hell, for all we know, the Sixers might already have one.
Fans also seem to have beef with the players the Sixers are taking and how they’re being handled, and to that I say, let the wizard work his magic. I have absolute trust in the players Sam Hinkie is going after. Sure, Kristaps Porzingis has been phenomenal for the Knicks, but you really think he’d be putting up those types of numbers in this city? I think Carmelo might just be spacing the floor a little bit better than someone like Nik Stauskas does. I am perfectly fine with settling for Jahlil Okafor.
Honestly, Im scared to know how this city would react right now had the Sixers ended up with D’Angelo Russell instead of Okafor.
Sam Hinkie has also overdrafted at certain positions, pretty badly I might add, but that’s what the process is, it’s taking the best player available and worrying about positions later because every player is a commodity and every player can get you some type of return.
When the Sixers first drafted Elfried Peyton, everyone was in an uproar about the prospect of trading then rookie of the year Micael Carter Williams. A little over a year later, both players have been turned into a top five pick and one of the best players in Europe right now and no one seems all that up set. Well the Bucks do, but that’s besides the point.
Sam Hinkie is the man responsible for bringing James Harden and Dwight Howard to the Rockets. I trust this dude because I know how hard it is to get a superstar and he managed to bring two to the same team.
The Clippers were the laughing stock of the NBA before Blake Griffin showed up and the Super Sonics were solid overnight before Kevin Durant could become a perennial MVP candidate. Both these teams were jokes before they drafted top tier talent, now they’re both two of the top teams in the west.
This is the superstar’s league, you won’t be able to survive in it unless you have some of the league’s very best. I don’t care how long it takes, how many wasted seasons pass by, or how many stockpiled resources have to be traded, this team needs to get a superstar by any means possible. This is the process of acquiring superstars, it may not be pretty, but in the end it’s always worth it.
And I’ll also say this about the Sixers, every professional sports team in this city may suck right now, but at least they’re the ones doing it on purpose.
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