Back in 1993, the Orlando Magic rocketed from their slotted #11 position to the first overall pick in the draft thanks to the NBA’s ping-pong ball lottery system.

Last night, the 76ers were not fortunate enough to see that Draft Lottery miracle repeated 20 years later.  As you know by now, the Sixers officially own the #11 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, which is exactly where the odds said they would end up.  The tie shunning Joshua Harris seemed about as thrilled as everyone else in Philadunkia nation with the outcome.

“We had a small probability of being super happy and a small probability of being slightly sad.  We’re neither.  We’re right where we were expected to be,” a weary and somewhat disheveled looking Harris commented.

To be honest, it’s not the most exciting draft position to be in, but after the jump, we’ll take a look at some facts about and ideas for the 11th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Continue Reading

It’s official.

After being introduced to both the media and the city of Philadelphia by owner Josh Harris earlier today, Sam Hinkie is now the President of Basketball Operations and General Manager of the 76ers.

Much has been said about Hinkie, whether it be on his tenure with the Rockets, his successful investment career, or his firm belief in analytics, but today he got to answer a few of Philadelphia’s questions for himself.  His remarks should only strengthen the support that the organization has received for this hire.

Hinkie put organizational culture at the forefront of his comments throughout the press conference.  From the get go, it was clear that Josh Harris and Co. were a big reason he accepted the position.  He stated the ownership group is “committed to building a basketball operation that is data-driven, strategic, and relentlessly innovative.”  Hinkie added that, before accepting the position, he spoke with both investors and competitors from within the basketball and investment realms to ensure that the franchise was headed in a direction he agreed with.

Continue Reading

The Sixers need a scorer.  It seems like a pretty simple sentiment.  In fact, there will be those that criticize this post as being too simplistic.

“Of course, every team could use a scorer.”

“We want a name!”

The point of this post isn’t to postulate about potential players, but rather to point out a decade long problem.

The Sixers have not had a legitimate go-to-guy since Allen Iverson was shipped to Denver, which happens to be about the same time that the franchise’s success stalled.

This is not a coincidence.

Every team that has found extreme success in the NBA over the past decade plus (Heat, Mavs, Lakers, Spurs, Celtics) have a clearly defined go-to-guy.  This is also not a coincidence.  The best NBA teams are well-structured and well-rounded, as a one man show rarely makes it very far (save for an ’01 Iverson and an ’07 LeBron James).

Continue Reading

The Sixers have been abandoned again.  It was another three seasons of wasted basketball instead of moving closer to the ultimate goal of a championship.  There were risks taken, hearts broken and blood vessels busted.

Yet, taking a trip down memory lane, what if I told you that the Sixers’ woes began way before the Andrew Bynum trade last summer?  What if I told you that if the Sixers had just taken my advice that they’d be in the hunt for an NBA Championship right now as you’re reading this?

Without tooting my own horn too much, I’ll just let you see for yourself…
http://philadunkia.com/?p=263

Continue Reading

According to a report over at Yahoo Sports by Adrian Wojnarowski, the 76ers have received permission to interview Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone as well as Utah Jazz assistant and former Sixer Jeff Hornacek for the franchise’s head-coaching vacancy.  According to Woj’s sources, “Malone is considered a serious candidate for the Sixers job.  The Sixers have been doing a great deal of research on Malone and getting excellent feedback”

Earlier this week, Dei Lynam of csnphilly.com fame posted a story in which her sources said the 7-6 have “contacted” Pacers’ associate head coach Brian Shaw about their vacant head-coaching position.  Obviously the Pacers are currently in the playoffs and hold a 3-2 lead over the Atlanta Hawks in their first round series, so it could be sometime before Shaw will actually interview for the Sixers job opening.

Now, I know the rumor mill is going to churn out a lot of these stories until the opening is filled.  Some of them will be accurate and others not so much.  And I am happy to see that the Sixers front office is doing their due diligence and interviewing a number of prospects.  Lastly, let me just say that I have nothing against giving any of these alleged candidates (so far) a look see.

Still, I have to ask, ‘Has anyone in the Sixers organization even sent Phil Jackson so much as a introductory text message?’

Continue Reading

After the 76ers announced their acquisition of a new D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers (a.k.a. “the Sevens” — insert laughter here), the Philadelphia Inquirer’s John Mitchell crafted an interesting story based off a discussion with team owner Joshua Harris while the two were down in Newark, Delaware for the “big” 87ers press conference.

In the article, Mitchell discusses a general theme that the Sixers will approach their head-coaching search diligently and steadily. However, the Inquirer columnist said that Harris and current GM Tony DiLeo will be the two men conducting the process.

“Harris, who doesn’t talk publicly about contract extensions, said that he and general manager Tony DiLeo, who has an expiring deal on June 30, are running the search.  And he noted that while they have yet to interview anyone, they have several candidates in mind.  In fact, Dei Lynam of csnphilly.com is reporting that the Sixers have already reached out to Pacers’ assistant coach Brian Shaw.

Whether DiLeo remains the general manager will be resolved in time.  But right now DiLeo is the basketball mind that Harris, who inherited Collins from the previous owners, is leaning on to fill the franchise’s most vital position.”

Now, it’s important to remember that the last time the Sixers hired a head coach, Ed Stefanski and Ed Snider were running the front office and spearheaded that job search.

Continue Reading

Here at Philadunkia it seems to be a consensus that the first item on the “Honey Do List” for Josh Harris and Adam Aron this off-season should be to find a new General Manager for this franchise.

It’s not that Tony DiLeo has done anything wrong, but it’s apparent that he was hand picked for the job by Doug Collins  last year and it’s time to wipe the slate clean from the DC era.  Removing DiLeo is especially important  if DC is going to have an active “consulting” role in the Sixers front office going forward as we will need a strong willed and independent thinker who can sift through Doug’s input and only use the sensible thoughts.

If the Sixers decide to look for a new general manager, the Philadunkia scribes have some suggestions for Harris and Aron as to who should receive job interviews.

After the jump are a few suggestions for a new 76ers General Manager.

Continue Reading

All good things must come to an end.

But, unfortunately for the 76ers organization and its fans, their immaculate 2012-2013 season came to an end before it ever began.

In August, the Sixers introduced their addition of Andrew Bynum — and, oh yeah, Jason Richardson — at the Constitution Center in front of a raucous crowd.  But, before Bynum could even get through hinting at signing a 5-year max extension, he stopped in his tracks.

Then, as all of Philadunkia was imagining Bynum backing down the likes of Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah and Tyson Chandler before turning them into a poster, the team announced that Bynum would be undergoing surgery on his knees and going to Germany.

We all know he would go on to never suit up in a Sixers uniform outside of a photo shoot.  We all know he participated in less practices than his jersey number, 33.  We all remember his parade of ridiculous hairdos and his romantic long walks on a freakishly expensive anti-gravity treadmill.  His season, and maybe his career in Philly, was over before it even had a chance to commence.

Continue Reading

On Monday night after the 76ers had lost their 48th game of the year, Spencer “Double-Double” Hawes was asked by the Sixers beat media about the final game of the season tonight in Indianapolis.

Hawes said, “It is just going to be good to get it over with.  With all the expectations we had coming in and then the way the season has gone it will be nice to take the positives going forward and flush the rest of it.  It was a tough year on everybody; us; the fans, anyone involved with the organization.”

Here at Philadunkia, we couldn’t agree more with Spence’s words and after the jump I compiled a list of items from the 2012-13 season that I am happy to see coming to an end.

 
Continue Reading

In addition to winning back-to-back games and further damaging the franchise’s 2013 NBA Draft Lottery position, the Sixers also stirred up a bunch of drama over the weekend.

First their were the reports based on “sources” that the 76ers ownership group was eager to have head coach Doug Collins simply walk away at the end of this season.  Of course those rumors / reports were later denied and discounted by other reports from “sources” within the Sixers organization.  Adam Aron stated that the Sixers wanted Collins back in 2013-14.  Collins himself refused to comment on any of the reports when pressed on the topic on Friday night in Washington, DC.

Then late last night, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports “broke” the worst kept secret in Philadelphia when he reported that Doug has informed Sixers ownership that he in fact intends to resign at the end of this season.  Yahoo is also noting that the Sixers ownership group and Doug’s lawyers are working on a buyout for the final year of DC’s contract.

So, DC  is out of here.  Which is something we said weeks ago would happen at the end of this season.

Our opinions on the decision after the jump.

Continue Reading