NBA Draft Part 2: The disappointment that is the 76'ers

Last week I talked about the NBA draft and left out one team, today I will be talking about what I believe to be the worst franchise in all of professional sports right now, the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76'ers were at one time a very proud, very efficiently and well run team. They've had stars like Wilt Chamberlin, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson and most recently, Andre Iguodala. They've had coaches like Doug Collins and Larry Brown. They've had multiple All Stars, former MVP's, many playoff appearances and three NBA Championships, the last one coming in 1983. But recently, something stinks in the "City of Brotherly Love". Sure, one year of tanking in the modern NBA seems to have some sort of rhyme or reason. You can get a transformative player that will turn your team from also ran to playoffs, a la the New Orleans Pelicans and Anthony Davis. But, what the 76ers are doing is disgusting and a travesty to the NBA. It's embarrassing for their fans too. Most 76er fans that I know are diehard and these last 5 seasons have been unwatchable. They're putting a product out on the court that would be hard pressed to beat a D League team and they're charging top dollar for their tickets. Maybe that's why the arena is almost empty when I happen to see them on League Pass. Sam Hinkie, the GM and President, is a disgrace to his job. He needs to be stripped of all management duties and GM responsibilities. He is single handily running this team into the toilet. They're painful to watch. They're so bad. This all points directly to the players that the GM signs and drafts and trades. He is the one putting the roster together. He is the one making all the decisions and his recent history is atrocious. His draft choices are mind boggling. Three years ago he took Nerlens Noel in the lottery. At the time you thought, okay he's coming off a torn ACL, but at the end of his Freshman season he was coming on as a scorer and he was an excellent rim protector. But, there was the torn ACL, whoever took him in the draft had to have known that he would miss the entire season. Hinkie had to know he wouldn't be available to play until the 2014-2015 season. How much of a bummer is that for a fan? You have to wait an entire season to see, what you hope to be, is your future star at the center position. That sucks.

All was not lost though in that draft. They selected eventual Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams. The next season, after tanking hard, hoping to get the number one pick in the draft, Andrew Wiggins, they lost the lottery and  got the third overall pick. So, they miss out on Wiggins, but they drafted his college teammate, Joel Embiid. Only a couple problems with that lottery pick, he plays the same position as Noel and he too was coming off a serious foot injury. Picking him to pair with Noel sounded like a decent strategy at the time, who wouldn't want two great rim protectors that you could mold into offensive stars? But, Embiid was another red flag because of the foot injury. No one really knew how serious it was, but he too ended up missing his entire rookie season and new reports say he may have to miss this upcoming season. So, two high lottery picks in two years that have to miss entire seasons before they hit an NBA floor. What a disgrace to the fans and the team. Also, during the 2014-15 season Hinkie traded reigning Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, to the Milwaukee Bucks for draft picks. He traded away the only viable NBA player on his roster so he could acquire more draft picks. AKA, you fans just have to trust in Hinkie's foolish process, because one day, long after he will be fired, this team may resemble something that, at the very least, looks like an actual NBA team. Hinkie is a complete MORON.

Last week's draft takes the crap cake. The 76ers were in the lottery again, because that's the only place this team can get a win, and they ended up getting the third overall pick again. Sounds good, because they need Guards and Wings, and there was a plethora of them in this draft. Pick one was Town's, the center from Kentucky and pick two was Russel, the guard from Ohio State. Okay, one guard is off the board, but you still have Mudiay(China), Winslow(Duke), or a real reach at third overall, but a guard nonetheless, Booker(Kentucky). So, with at least three really good guards still on the board, who do the 76ers take, a 6'10 power forward/center from Duke, Jahlil Okafor. It's hard for me to say this, but I actually feel sorry for a kid from Duke. What a terrible situation to get drafted into. Okafor was tops on a lot of people's pre draft lists, some making him the consensus number one overall prospect. But, the 76ers were the one team in the lottery that didn't need a big man. They drafted two in the last two drafts! What do they need another big man for?! Did I miss something watching the entire NBA turn into a space and pace league this season, that all of the sudden, you need three lumbering big men, two who can't score and one that doesn't play defense and treats conditioning as a volunteer choice? This league is turning into a fast paced, helter skelter type game and slow, oft injured big men isn't going to win you any championships. Hell, you'd be lucky to win 35 to 40 games a season with three centers on the court at one time. And, if you don't think Okafor is unhappy with his new situation, watch their most recent press conference where he throws his jersey down in disgust after the interview is over. Hinkie's late first round and the majority of his second round picks are foreign prospects that Fran Fraschilla says are "two years away from being two years away". That's depressing. I feel for you Philadelphia 76er fans. You have the WORST GM in sports, and until the powers that be get rid of him, you will have to continue to "trust the process".

That's a frightening proposition in my opinion.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He plays the bigman role in pickup games at the local rec center. Looks like he will be drafted by the 76'ers in 2016.

Follow him on twitter @tykulik.