Summary

The Philadelphia 76ers have aggressively reshaped their roster through trades and draft picks, aiming to compete for an NBA championship, but this strategy has raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of their success and the effectiveness of their bench.

Abstract

The 76ers have made bold moves in recent years, notably trading for Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler, to accelerate their championship aspirations after a series of unsuccessful draft picks. These moves, however, have come at the cost of future flexibility and have not guaranteed success against dominant Eastern Conference teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors. The article questions whether the team's strategy of assembling star players has compromised the depth of their bench and long-term stability. The 76ers had a strong starting lineup but a weaker bench, and the article suggests that a more patient approach, retaining draft picks like Mikal Bridges and cap space, could have positioned the team for sustainable success over the next 5-8 years.

Opinions

The 76ers' aggressive trading has been portrayed as a necessity due to previous draft missteps and has transformed their rebuilding process into a series of interventions to remain competitive in the short term.
The article implies that the 76ers' general manager has been overly active in making trades, possibly out of a fear of not meeting immediate expectations.
The trade with the Boston Celtics in 2017 is seen as a negative turning point, with the 76ers being outmaneuvered by Danny Ainge.

How the Process became the Procedure: will the patient survive?

A look at the 76er’s near and long term future

Philadelphia pushed in all its chips with the Tobias Harris trade, which was necessary because they pushed in most of their chips in the Jimmy Butler trade, which was necessary because they whiffed on their last two draft picks. Somehow the Process has turned into an endless series of GM interventions to keep the patient’s chances to represent the East as this year’s sacrificial lamb to be gutted by the Warriors.

Let’s look back to those happy days before Danny Ainge fleeced the 76ers in 2017. (Note to the Pelicans: the Nets Heist was in 2013, and the 76ers heist was in 2017. You’ve been warned.) What would Philadelphia’s roster be if the 76ers didn’t make ANY moves since 2017?

Starters (had the highest net rating of any starting 5 in the NBA last year):

Embiid ($25M)

Simmons ($6M)

Redick ($12.5M)

Covington ($10.5M)

Saric ($2.5M)

Bench (#22, with -3.4 point differential last year)

2017 #3 pick ($8.4M)

Mikal Bridges, 2018 #10 pick ($3.5M)

TJ McConnell ($1.6M)

Landry Shamet, 2018 #26 pick ($1.7M)

Furkan Kormaz ($1.7M)

Rashun Holmes ($1.6M)

Jahlil Okafor ($5.0M)

Jerryd Bayless ($8.5M)

Nik Stauskas ($3.8M)

Amir Johnson ($1.5M)

Khyri Thomas (2018 #38 pick)

Isaac Bonga (2018 #38 pick)

Ray Spalding (2018 #56 pick)

Kostas Antetokounmpo (2018 #60 pick)

2019 Draft Assets

Sacramento Kings #1 Pick

Philadelphia 76ers #1 Pick

Approximately $40,000,000 in cap space.

In the 2018 Playoffs, Philadelphia was the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. What happened?

Robert Covington had a nightmarish series against the Celtics
Brett Brown was revealed to be one of those coaches who can nurture and develop a young team, but can’t take them to the promised land. He was completely outcoached by Brad Stevens, and that’s never going to change.
Philadelphia’s front office panicked and thought they needed to add more stars to a team that was a couple of years ahead of schedule.

The 76ers have the best starting five in the East, but there is still no guarantee they will reach the NBA Finals.

Will all the moves be worth it, given the fact the team will lose one of Butler or Harris, and continue to have a weak bench going forward?

What if… looking at the future

While the do-nothing roster wouldn’t be as strong as the current one, wouldn’t the bench be better? Mikal Bridges is better than anyone on their current bench and is on a cheap rookie deal.

Assuming Philadelphia can’t beat Milwaukee or Toronto with the do-nothing roster, how would they not sign a top free agent?

If Philadelphia had done nothing, they would have six core players under 26 (Embiid, Simmons, Saric, 2017 #3 pick, Bridges, Shamet), plus Covington (28) and Redick (34), their 2019 #1 pick, the Kings’ 2019 #1 pick, and $40 MILLION DOLLARS in CAP SPACE.

Now imagine they picked anybody besides Fultz.

With all that cap space, they could sign any top free agent this summer. I think sticking to the Process would have created a team that could contend for the next 5–8 years.