BNelley24 wrote:The 76ers were a solid team with Jrue Holiday - Iggy - Turner - Thad Young, yeah, could we make the playoffs, and maybe win a round? Sure, who gives a flying fk, that is not the point of building a team. The point is to build a finals contending team. I don't care if this 76ers rebuild takes 5+ years, which in undoubtedly will, because if it works out we will see progress during those 5 years. Okafor could end up winning ROY, we could get a possible franchise player in the 2016 draft.
I've said it before & I'll say it again. If I was given the ability to be the GM of any team in the league right now, the 76ers, Bucks, T'Wolves would be in my top 10 choices because of their potential down the line here.
Now what if you could be the owner of any NBA team?
Would you chose to be the owner of a team with dwindling attendance that is losing money and potentially risks sale/relocation/further fan base alienation as a result, or one that puts out a profitable, or at least sustainable product, not in jeopardy of having to sell their team or relocate to another market?
I'm not saying Philly is in that predicament necessarily, but there are real world concerns that are easy to ignore as armchair GMs and hard core fans willing to stick with the team through anything.
People knock on Charlotte for making treadmill moves, but they've lost their team once before because of a lack of fan support. If I'm a fan of them, I'm assuming most would rather not see them have to sell or relocate to another market... nor would their FO and ownership.
Also, while Philly is taking a major risk that is unprecedented and perhaps going to be revolutionary let's not pretend there cannot be repercussions.
Already there is hearsay (and I'm not going debate the validate of these claims) that
a. They ticked off AK and his agent buy not releasing him immediately
b. They gobbled up T.Robinson who wanted to go to the Nets (he did not resign with Philly nor did he up his value as many claimed he would..it could have been construed as simply financially motivated..see c.)
c. The players union is/was investigating how they handled hitting the salary floor with T.Rob
d. they treat their players like assets and don't show loyalty to them (MCW)
e. they did not disclose Holidays' medical history to NO and were forced to compensate NO
Between those issues, the intentional tanking with no clear end, it could be said that players and agents could be weary to sign there anytime soon and GM's may be weary to make deals with them. They potentially are going to have to be even more diligent and successful (lucky perhaps) with their draft picks.
Of course, if they do hit the jackpot with their draft picks and turn into the sustained contender their FO envisioned, they will be lauded for taking such a risky approach... but who knows how this all turns out and when is a fair time to judge them on it. I have to imagine at some point ownership has to be concerned about attendance and finances. Whether that happens before Hinkie's plan is orchestrated, I don't claim to know.
Regardless, I'm glad most of the fans here are happy with Hinkie's plan. I don't live in Philly or know many Philly fans so I don't get much of a perspective outside of here. I will say though, I do find it surprising that I almost never see any Philly fans critique any measure of their team and this approach, especially relative to most other teams on here that seem to be much more willing to criticize their teams/GM (perhaps I'm jaded being part of perhaps the most self-critical fan base out there). I applaud the solidarity and will assume it is deserved and objective...just surprising. Usually there is some dissension within a fan-base, but like I said I never see that on the GB or Trade board.
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