The rebuilding has started in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia made a very surprising trade on draft night when they gave away the face of their franchise in PG Jrue Holiday to begin the process of ushering in a new era in the City of Brotherly Love. The 76ers are starting from scratch in hopes to build a legitimate contender; here we’ll look more into the first step of their rebuilding process.
Free Agency
The 76ers are serious about tanking this year. They could be the favorites to finish with the worst record in the league right now, but that’s arguably their goal. Philadelphia made no significant acquisitions in free agency this summer, while allowing two large contributors from their team last year (Nick Young and Dorrell Wright) walk. Bench players Royal Ivey and Damien Wilkins also will not be returning. For the occasional NBA team this free agency term would earn them an F, but Philadelphia is putting all their marbles into the Andrew Wiggins race and in order to do that they did exactly what they needed to in free agency. Philadelphia has a good blueprint in place, new GM Sam Hinkie knows what he is doing. I’ll still give them a solid grade for the free agency term.
Free Agency Grade: B-
Trades
Philadelphia made arguably the most prominent trade of the offseason on draft night when they traded their best player right out of the blue. The 76ers sent Jrue Holiday to New Orleans in exchange for the sixth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and New Orleans first round selection in the 2014 NBA Draft. I love the move. The 76ers weren’t likely going to be a playoff team with the core they had in place, but they also weren’t going to be bad enough to land an elite, franchise-changing prospect. They were in no-man’s land. The most vital piece in rebuilding is compiling as many draft picks as possible and this landed Philadelphia two very valuable picks. No doubt this was a great trade for Philadelphia. Philadelphia also made some other minor moves acquire young prospects Tony Wroten and Royce White, though White already made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Trade Grade: A
Draft
Once Philadelphia acquired the sixth overall pick they spent it on Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel who many expected to be the first overall pick. Noel will be entering the league with a ton of concerns surrounding his health, weight and his overall offensive game, but he is loaded with potential. Noel could become one of the best post defenders in the league if he puts it all together. At sixth overall in this weak draft he’s well worth the risk, and a great selection by Philadelphia. The Sixers also had the 11th pick, and with the trading of Jrue Holiday they selected Syracuse product Michael Carter-Williams. I wasn’t as high on this pick; I think German Dennis Schroeder will be better in the future. Nonetheless MCW is still a very interesting prospect. Thanks to his length he also can become a great defender and he’s also a good floor general with excellent court vision. Like Noel he also has a lot to work on offense, but the potential is undoubtedly there. Philadelphia now has a great start in their rebuild with a young PG and big man already in the fold.
Draft Grade: A-
Summary
I am obviously a big of Philadelphia’s offseason. Sure, trading away the face of your franchise hurts but Holiday was not a franchise-changing talent like Andrew Wiggins or Julius Randle could possibly be. Not only will Philadelphia be in prime position to land a top-5 pick in the loaded 2014 draft, they will also be owed a 1st round pick by New Orleans which could realistically be another top-20 selection. It’s going to be interesting to watch the Philadelphia core grow over the next few seasons, and I definitely believe they’re off to a very good start in building a true contender in Philly.
Overall Off-Season Grade: B+
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