The Philadelphia Sixers have been one of the laughingstocks of the NBA in the past few NBA seasons but recently acquired young talents are looking to lift Philadelphia off that slump and back into NBA existence.
The Sixers had acquired eight lottery draft picks in the past ten NBA drafts, in those eight lottery picks are two first overall picks and two third overall picks. This abundance of young talent only shows that the Philadelphia Sixers are looking to contend a few years from now.
Sixers' 2016-2017 NBA season
The Philadelphia Sixers have been plagued with injuries in the past few NBA seasons.
These injuries caused some of their young guys to miss a few seasons; Joel Embiid was picked third overall during the 2014 NBA draft, but due to injury, he was not able to play in the NBA until the past NBA season but was not able to finish due to injury.
Ben Simmons was also not able to play in the past NBA season because of a Jones fracture in his foot that needed surgery.
The Philadelphia Sixers finished 14th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 28-54. They started out the season with a seven-game losing streak and finished it out with an eight-game losing streak. Even though they were not able to produce a good season, there have been a few bright spots in their season.
Philadelphia's 'Trust the Process' slogan proved to be true early in the past NBA season.
Joel 'The Process' Embiid led the Sixers in scoring, rebounding, and blocking averages per game. He averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game, Embiid was only able to play 31 games.
The emergence of Rookie of the Year finalist Dario Saric and forward Robert Covington was also instrumental to what the team was able to do.
Crowded frontcourt
Philadelphia's draft strategy is to get the best player available no matter what. And this strategy caused them to overload on big men. In the past NBA season, the Sixers had six centers before they traded away Nerlens Noel to the Dallas Mavericks.
Jahlil Okafor is another big man that the Sixers are shopping.
Okafor is a 6-11 center who was drafted third overall by the Philadelphia Sixers during the 2015 NBA draft. Although there has been a significant decrease in his playing time, Jahlil Okafor was still able to produce for the Sixers.
Trust the Process
After an impressive showing in the past NBA season, Joel Embiid has now proven his worth to the fans and to the franchise. According to Philadelphia's executive Bryan Colangelo, Embiid is now able to participate in 5-on-5 practices even though he is still not cleared for any NBA action.
Colangelo also said that he is positive that he the Sixers' can sign Joel Embiid to a contract extension before the deadline.
With young players like Markelle Fultz, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid, Philadelphia's future is looking bright if they managed these young player's health and contracts properly.
