"Trust the Process" is Done; This Starts Now
Philadelphia, PA -- Under general manager Sam Hinkie, the Philadelphia 76ers spent what felt like a decade “trusting the process.” Should the Sixers “process” lead to them finding any level of success, Hinkie’s contributions should not be overlooked. Before stepping down as the 76ers general manager in April, and being replaced by Bryan Colangelo, Hinkie’s brash and blatant tanking method landed them three young, talented big men in Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor. Last week the Sixers used one of those three bigs into wing depth and floor spacing by adding a young, talented two-way small forward in Otto Porter in a trade for Noel. That alone should signify the end of the “Trust the Process” era and mark the beginning of something new.
The trade for Porter probably wasn’t even the biggest offseason news for the 76ers. It might not even be second. After two frustrating years of watching 2014 number three overall pick Joel Embiid sidelined with injuries, it was announced that Embiid should be ready to go on opening night. In addition, the Sixers used the number one overall pick in June to draft a player who a lot of experts are labelling as a generation talent in Ben Simmons. Simmons, a 6’10” do it all swiss army knife, can play and defend multiple positions. His athleticism, quickness, size, and elite court vision make him a “plug-and-play” player in virtually any lineup. In fact, Bret Brown announced last week that Simmons will be the team’s starting point guard on opening night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dario Saric, who the 76ers drafted with the 12th pick in 2014, will also be joining the team this year after spending the last two seasons playing for Anadolu Efes in Turkey. Saric, a 6’10” combo forward, has been arguably the best young player in Europe the last two seasons and is only 22 years old.
Whether or not the Sixers make the playoffs this year doesn’t seem to matter to fans. After going 47-199 over the last three seasons, just a .191 winning clip, the team seems to be on the rise; or, at the very least, in a position to not be the laughing stock of the league. There most certainly will still be growing pains, and likely no playoffs once again, but if this young, promising iteration of the “Trust the Process” era Sixers can be more competitive and reach the 25 win plateau, then for the first time in what feels like forever Sixer fans will be excited about basketball once again.