The Philadelphia 76ers have been on a downward spiral since Pat Croce was forced out of the front office. You can call it the curse of the Bambino Philly style. This guy oozed energy and the fans loved him. He ate, drank, and slept Sixers’ basketball. He was the ambassador for basketball in this town and everyone gravitated toward him. Will this team ever get back on track?
Who or what led us to the current state that we are in? The answer is bad decisions and bad personnel in no particular order. Billy King left this team in disarray. It amazes me that this snake oil salesman can keep a job. Sorry. I forgot the Nets just hired him. Frank Vogel was an assistant coach here. His Pacers were one win away from the NBA Finals. The Sixers finally unloaded Chris Webber’s contract and they extended Andre Iguodala’s deal. Then they inked Elton Brand to a Webber-like contract. These two moves killed the salary cap and future growth.
Doug Collins saw the handwriting on the wall. He knew that the future was bleak for this team. Everyone thought Collins could get Evan Turner to be a force in this league. But with massive salary cap restrictions this team had few options moving forward. Spencer Hawes is a nice player off the bench but he is not causing big men around the league to lose sleep. Exit stage left.
Sam Hinkie came in to try to get this team on the right track. He quickly traded Jrue Holiday and the Andrew Bynum Project (the current version of Jeff Ruland) faded into the sunset. The Lakers held the Sixers up without a gun. Grabbing Nerlens Noel was a shock since he is coming off a major knee injury. Fingers crossed on that one. Michael Carter-Williams comes from the Syracuse basketball factory but his jump shot is not very good. He is a big body but how will he adjust to the NBA grind? Will Evan Turner continue his development into the player everyone expected? The guy I love is Arsalan Kazemi. Forget that he is from Iran. He can rebound, shoot, and play defense. He could be the next Vlade Divac minus the flopping. You heard it here first.
Which leads us to the next problem: Who is going to coach this team? Are we three years away from being three years away? They need Brad Stevens. But he was hired by the Celtics. Danny Ainge seems to be on life support but he got that one right. We were outwitted again for failing to have a clear plan. So who do we get for this long, arduous trek into mediocrity? Your guess is as good as mine. Where have you gone Hubie Brown?
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