Clay Asplundh
Oliver Colvin
Sports Editors
Over the past three years, the Sixers have been the laughingstock of the NBA. In 2013, led by Sam Hinkie, they traded away their only solid players Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, and Andre Iguodala in order to acquire future draft picks.
Throughout the past three years, due to poor records and trading, the Sixers have acquired top prospects in every draft. Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are all finally now with the Sixers and showing signs of improvement. Despite just four wins on the year, they have had some late collapses and easily could have had almost ten wins. Although the wins aren’t coming yet, fans have to be excited. Joel Embiid is frontrunner for rookie of the year and has been dominating when he is on the court, averaging 19.5 points per game, despite playing on limited minutes due to a foot injury. Dario Saric has also been playing well and will likely finish runner-up to Embiid in rookie of the year rating.
Jahlil Okafor, now in his second year, is backing up Embiid and almost always shows his scoring abilities when he comes into the game, averaging 11.9 points per game. Although his defense is subpar he is a critical cog to a team that at times struggles to score.
Possibly the crown jewel for the Sixers is point-forward Ben Simmons. Drafted number one overall in this years draft, Simmons is a great player offensively and defensively. When he joins the Sixers in January it will be fascinating to see how he works with Joel Embiid.
With likely another top pick this year as well as the Lakers first rounder, the Sixers are in prime position to continue to develop the young talent that it takes to turn them into a contender. Although Sam Hinkie was criticized for his methods, you can’t argue with the fact that the Sixers are better off now compared to three years ago. Philadelphia will continue to trust the process.
Unfortunately, the Sixers have now fallen to 4-18 and seem to be in the midst of another long year. However, concern is not necessary because the future is looking very bright.
