Unfortunately, Sam Hinkie is in a position to fail.  There is no other way to look at it.  He is a smart guy, but he isn’t that smart.  The Eastern Conference was underwhelming this year, but in the NBA things go in cycles.  Over the next 4 years, there is no realistic way for the 76ers franchise to taste the kind of success that the fans of the organization are clamoring for.

The 76ers cupboard is bare, similar to the Eagles, Phillies and Flyers.  The only thing more disappointing than what is going to happen the next few years is the shock and confusion over what is plain to see for the trained basketball eye.

After the jump, I’ll go ahead and rank how the franchises in the Eastern Conference will perform over the next 4 years.  The criteria involves a wide range of elements — Championship Equity, Room to Improve, Salary Cap Factors and Fan Expectations, etc.

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On Tuesday night, the 76ers were officially locked into the 11^th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.  The Sixers also have selections in the second round at #35 and #42.  So there are some very important decisions to be made for this franchise come the end of June.

With a high first round pick and two second round picks stashed in their pocket (the 35^th pick came to Philly via the New Orleans Hornets)the 76ers could do several things.

First, Sam Hinkie and company could package a combination of picks to move up in the Draft or combine them with a player in a deal as well.  However, the Sixers could decide to keep their second round picks and add some young, inexpensive and talented (a.k.a. low risk/high reward) pieces to their roster.  This was the preferred thinking of the Houston organization that Hinkie recently departed, so odds are he could be leaning in this direction.

Which brings up the question, “What kind of players will be available at 35 and 42 in the 2013 NBA Draft?”

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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.

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There seems to be a lot of different opinions regarding how the Sixers should handle the 2013 off-season.

Some of Philadunkia nation thinks that the organization should still plan to build around Bynum, while a large percentage of people don’t want to see him anywhere near this team or city again.

Then there are those who feel that the Sixers actually aren’t too far away from contention and could compete with a couple tweaks.  However for every one with this view there are at least two others who feel that the team needs to be  completely blown up.

The only thing certain now after the disappointing season that was for the Sixers, is uncertainty.

The hiring of Sam Hinkie is the first stride on a long staircase the Sixers are facing this summer.  Finding a “basketball guy” to support Hinkie’s analytics, selecting a head coach, making draft picks, and filling out the roster with free agents are all still left on the agenda.  With a new regime in town it is difficult to tell exactly how any of this will turn out.

With that being said, the smart thing for the Sixers to do this summer is — as little as possible.

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“Hope is a dangerous thing.  Hope can drive a man insane”

That quote from Shawshank Redemption holds true for 76er fans, now more than ever.  Hope is all that is left, I guess.

Seriously, sit back and think about the Philadelphia 76ers for a moment.  Not much, right?  Maybe Sam Hinkie pulls a rabbit out of his hat, a bunch of other things go right and certain guys elevate their game in 2013-14.  Still, how much will that help?

$12,000,000 in cap space is just enough to do something stupid, but not enough to pull off a miracle.  Between Turner, J-Rich and Kwame; the 76ers have more than 25% of their roster as dead weight.  Even getting players at their true value won’t be enough to do anything but keep the team in an awkward spot.

Our man Bynum looks ready to screw the franchise for the next 5 years by being Shawshank quote incarnate.  If not Bynum, it will be some other player.  Let’s just hope that Hinkie’s advanced analytics inform him that he should avoid the players I am write about after the jump.

(WARNING: LOOK AWAY NOW if you really like OJ Mayo…)

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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).

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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

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Early Tuesday afternoon, ESPN’s NBA Draft Insider Chad Ford reported that UNLV freshman forward Anthony Bennett will be out four months after surgery on his rotator cuff in his left shoulder that is expected to go down today.

Agent Jeff Schwartz confirms Bennett will be out up to 4 months.No draft workouts or summer league for Bennett

— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) May 7, 2013

 

That timetable will sideline him for the NBA Draft Combine and likely all of Summer League as well, but he will be scheduled to return for training camp.

Bennett will now join Nerlens Noel and Alex Len as the crop of talented big men that will enter the 2013 NBA Draft injured. Noel’s torn ACL might have knocked him out of the top pick in the draft and Len’s ankle surgery will also likely hurt his draft stock, too.

So, if Noel, the one-time shoo-in for the No. 1 Overall pick in this year’s draft, can have his stock lowered by a devastating injury, why can’t Bennett’s stock drop as well?  Could it drop enough so the 76ers have a chance at drafting him?

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One day after the Brooklyn Nets failed to defeat the Chicago Bulls on their home court in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Bill King and company announced they would not retain interim head coach P. J. Carlesimo.

Carlesimo took over the reigns of the Nets in their opening season at the Barclays Center after the team fired Avery Johnson on December 28.  Brooklyn went just 3-10 in the final month of 2012 under Johnson.   After assisting Johnson, Carlesimo came into the head coaching role and let his players play freely and their natural games.  Brooklyn responded and finished the rest of the season 35-19.

Brooklyn’s improvement under PJ wasn’t completely due to his stellar coaching.  A significant portion of Brooklyn’s success over the last 54 games was because the Nets finally got healthy and Deron Williams suddenly played the final 50 games of the season like a franchise point guard.

Still, Carlesimo does deserve some of the credit for the Net’s turn around and with the 76ers currently in need of a turn-around of epic proportions, shouldn’t Josh Harris, Adam Aron and Tony DiLeo at least explore the option of bringing in Carlesimo to fill the head coaching vacancy?

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The other day, I wrote how the 76ers should approach building a real contender by tanking and trading for superior but injured players.   Today, we will assume that their are enough parts in place to build something.

Like a hostile takeover of a corporate entity, cutting the dead weight is an obvious first step.  From there we will look at some undervalued assets around the league, similar to what was done in (A plan for 13-14).

What to do with “The Enigma”, Evan Turner?  It’s quite simple actually.  Whomever the GM for the Sixers is, he needs to call ET into his office on a weekday morning.  From there, they should ask, “Evan, if we can trade you to another team, is that something you would be interested in?”

The obvious answer will be yes.  The next move is to pick up the phone and call every single NBA team.  It will certainly be a humbling experience for Mr. Turner.  A combination of quick hang ups, laughs and outrageous demands (give us your lottery pick, is Thad coming too, We will give you Beasley/Bargnani/Ellis for ET, we require all the tea in china etc etc) will make it obvious to ET that the NBA truly has no interest in his services at $6,700,000 for the 2013-2014 season.

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