What Happened to the 76ers?
Let me paint a picture: It’s October of 2017.
Ben Simmons, newly-signed JJ Redick, Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless (boo!) and Joel Embiid take the floor against the Washington Wizards.
Highly anticipated 1st overall pick Markelle Fultz is ready to make his NBA debut.
The Sixers are on the incline and there is no doubt about it, excitement is back in Philadelphia; “Welcome to the Moment.“
What happened? Two years ago, the 76ers were a fun, up and coming team in the East. After two seasons of early exits in the playoffs, the team was due for a big year. This offseason, former bench piece James Ennis said they would “sleepwalk” to the Finals, a bold statement but not really all that arguable at the time. They allocated just under $300MM to Tobias Harris and Al Horford, they added Josh Richardson, and Embiid and Simmons had another year of development under their belt.
Fast forward to today, the Sixers have fallen to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They are without their two superstars and Josh Richardson; they’re currently missing 3 of their 5 starters. They just broke a streak of 9 consecutive road losses and are free-falling with no end in sight. The fans are counting the days his dismissal of head coach Brett Brown and most players look like they’re ready to pack it in and call it a season.
The Sixers have had three pairs of eyes on the organization. Sam Hinkie, Bryan Colangelo, and now Elton Brand. I mentioned this in a previous article but wanted to get into it a little bit more. Hinkie started The Process and was dismissed before he could complete it. We could argue all day if The Process was a success or not (it was) but that’s not the point.
Colangelo was then tasked with finishing The Process. No one really ever believed in him but, before we found out if he could finish it or not, he was also dismissed. I still can’t believe he had a burner account.
Enter Elton Brand. The Sixers kind of threw him into the fire after Brett Brown took over personnel decisions for awhile. Brand probably wasn’t ready for the promotion but regardless, he has had quite the start to his tenure.
The Sixers don’t seem to have a real blueprint on what they want to do. Last year, they added Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler on a whim, two free agents at the end of the year. They threw caution into the wind and are now paying the price. Do you know who would be great on this team right about now? Landry Shamet, Robert Covington, even Dario Saric.
With all the additions last year, the Sixers finished the year in the same exact spot as they did the year before. In 2020, they probably won’t even make it that far. Ben Simmons is likely done for the year, Embiid and Richardson have missed a good portion of the season, Tobias Harris has been eh given his contract, and Al Horford has been a disaster. Nothing has worked!
You can blame Brett Brown, Elton Brand, Sam Hinkie, the Colangelos, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, or so many others for the downfall of this organization.
There has been one constant, Josh Harris. The old saying “it starts at the top” couldn’t apply more to the Sixers organization. If you have bad ownership, nothing else matters.
Josh Harris should be taking more heat than he is currently getting. Harris is the one that appoints these people. Should he have hired Hinkie and started The Process? What about the disaster that was the Colangelo era? Elton Brand retired from playing four years ago. How has he gained all the crucial experience of building a roster in just four years? Josh Harris is the reason this organization is falling into pieces.
The Sixers had an opportunity to be a powerhouse for the next decade and absolutely butchered it. There are so many people to blame, but fans should turn their attention to the man at the top.
The man that has increased ticket prices over 50% in the last two years.
The man that led this franchise to be the dumpster fire that is the 2019-2020 Philadelphia 76ers.
With each passing day, we get closer and closer to rock bottom. I love the Sixers, but right now I’m disgusted with what they have become.
Josh Harris, this is on you, it’s time to fix this team.
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Categorized:Sixers