2014-15 Record: 18-64
While 18 wins might seem pretty terrible, it was actually a little better than what Philadelphia 76ers GM Sam Hinkie would’ve preferred. His 76ers team entered the season with one goal: tanking. 17 game into the season, his goal was working just fine, as the team had failed to win a game, a goal made easier with the fact that Joel Embiid, the team’s No. 1 draft pick from the 2014 draft, was out indefinitely after recovering from foot surgery. The roster was gutted even more during the season, as Hinkie and Co. elected to trade away 2014 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams in a deal that left them with a future first round draft pick that’s 1-3 protected until 2018. And then, in a deal that left even more people scratching their heads, surprisingly good rookie (and soon to be free agent) K.J. McDaniels was traded away for Isaiah Canaan and a second round pick, leaving the 76ers with a whopping five second round picks in the upcoming draft. Philadelphia, with it’s new D-League level team, went on to lose even more during the final stretch of the season, and ended the season on a 10-game losing streak. Embiid even assumed the role of coach in the team’s final game of the season.
All according to plan.
That plan worked out about as well as it could, considering the fact that, despite their best efforts, there were actually several other NBA teams challenging the 76ers for the league’s worst record, leaving Philly with the 3rd overall pick this coming June after Tuesday’s lottery. A strange year indeed for the 76ers.
The Positives
Obviously, the biggest storyline of the season for Philadelphia was the play of rookie Nerlens Noel, who missed what would have been his rookie season last year while recovering from knee surgery. Noel began the season with solid play right out of the gate, and showed improvement in nearly every area as the season progressed, becoming an interior defensive force while upping his limited offensive game. Noel finished the season with averages of 9.9 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 1.8 SPG, 1.7 SPG, and a 46% field goal percentage, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. His 1.8 blocks per game was tops among all centers in the league, he led all rookies in blocks, and put up some incredible double-doubles throughout the season. Noel’s range however, is certainly limited. Although he showed steady improvement in that area as the season wore on, he still has quite a ways to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aOK9xUkAMg
In preparation for Embiid playing at the five spot next season, Noel was moved to power forward for the last stretch of the season, with some inconsistent results. Still, he was every bit as good as the team hoped, and still has a ton of upside left, especially on the offensive end.
A rather unexpected positive for the 76ers was the play of point guard Ish Smith, who was signed by the team in February shortly after he was waived by New Orleans after arriving via trade from Oklahoma City. Smith, who had previously played for seven teams in five years, came into Philadelphia averaging under 10 minutes a game for his career, and had started a total of eight games since 2010. With Carter-Williams out of the picture, Smith was thrust into the starting role shortly after arriving, and immediately began to flourish, developing a chemistry with Noel while making a living on pick-and-rolls and drives to the basket. Noel even went so far as to proclaim Smith as “the first true point guard I’ve played with.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6zd1cD_N9s
Smith came into Philadelphia averaging 2.6 points and 1.8 assists per game, and finished with averages of 12.0 points, 6.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 39% field goal shooting. Not bad for a glorified fill-in player. Smith is an unrestricted free agent this summer, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if the Sixers sign him (for the right price,) especially after his 2015 performance and vocal support of his teammates.
Draft Needs
This is a somewhat complicated thing to predict. Sam Hinkie has a pattern of taking the best player regardless of position, and then trying to figure out how to make it work. The 2015 draft finds the team in a different position from years past however, considering the fact that a top three pick in Embiid is yet to play, Noel’s emergence, and needs at point guard and small forward. Regardless of all this, most mock drafts have the Sixers going with a point guard with the 3rd pick, most likely either Emmanuel Mudiay or D’Angelo Russell. Depth at shooting guard and a reliable three-point shooter are big needs for this team as well, and with the plethora of second-round picks, Hinkie should be able to find a few gems that could help.
Future Outlook
Philadelphia can go two ways with next season. They can actually put a team on the court that can compete, leaving it intact and seeing what it can do in a wide open Eastern Conference, or they can blow it all up one last time in preparation for the 2016 draft, where they will most definitely have the Lakers’s first round pick, as it’s not likely that Kobe and Co. will finish low enough to attain a top three pick. Doing so would result in the Sixers having two first round picks, giving them one final opportunity to load up on young talent before finally making a sustained run of success that fans have been waiting for the last several years.
I’m not so sure that fans and the organization are willing to go through this one more time though.
Instead, I see a young and talented team with a front court of Noel and Embiid giving teams fits, with a Russell or Mudiay slicing through defenses, an even more improved Smith as a more than capable backup, and Tony Wroten pouring in points from the wing, flourishing with all the attention focused on Embiid, Noel, and Russell/Mudiay. Combine all that with Robert Covington’s solid play, an improved Jerami Grant, and this Sixers team could very well challenge for a playoff seed in 2015-16. I wouldn’t put it past Hinkie to make another surprising roster move before February, but the days of under 20 wins for this Philadelphia team appear to be over. With a team almost entirely comprised of draft picks from the last three seasons, the 76ers are about to enter a sustained period of success, much to the delight of the fans that have suffered faithfully through the last few seasons, believing in the process that Hinkie has enacted.
