Ten years in: Is the Process a Success or Failure?

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Ten years ago this week, the Philadelphia 76ers lost in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Boston Celtics. That loss prompted the 76ers to a complete (and controversial) rebuild, known as The Process. The 76ers completed their tenth season of The Process era. Although the 76ers have yet to make it past the Eastern Conference Semifinals, they have made the playoffs the past five seasons and enter the 2022-23 season with another opportunity to compete for a Championship, led by superstars Joel Embiid and James Harden. So, has The Process been a success or a failure?

[coastalmarker99]

It has been a complete failure when you consider they blew two number one picks on two guys who couldn't shoot the ball.

Plus it gets even worse when you consider they have basically used all their assets and cap space and yet they still have not managed to reach an ECF.

[MartinToVaught]

It's never going to be possible to fairly grade The Process because Adam Silver meddled with and sabotaged it midway through. We never got to see what Hinkie's plan was when it was time to start winning.

[Statlanta]

The peak of the process is the same as the last teambuild. Game 7 of the EC Semi-Finals.

I think it was a success since the value of the picks, Saric, Fultz, Okafor, Noel, Embiid and Simmons and those decisions at the moment were good.

The GM carousel is what killed the Process: Hinkie, Colangelo, Brand and now Morey.

[Homer38]

When you can’t beat a young hawks team in the playoffs,this is a failure.It could change if Harden become great in the playoffs for the first time ever but this is unlikely

[penbeast0]

I would say it is a partial success. Philly was awful, collected talent, and has been relevant since Embiid became a star. It's not a complete success without at least one title, but compared to the "we want to compete for the last playoff spot every season and never really tear down" teams like Indiana (the best of them), Washington, or Sacramento (and the worst), I'd have much rather been a Sixer fan for the last decade and looking forward for the next.

[Dutchball97]

5 years of tanking for a string of second round exits doesn't sound like a success to me.

[penbeast0]

5 years of tanking for a string of second round exits doesn't sound like a success to me.

But with a possible future until the Ben Simmons debacle; compared to what we see in Washington, it's a win. I'd have the Wizards do it right now if I controlled the franchise. Porzingis and Beal are not the centerpieces of a contender even if Porzingis is healthy and Beal returns to his form of 2 years ago. But, no, we will continue the search for mediocrity we have enjoyed for the last 40 years.

[Dr Positivity]

Success - it got them Embiid, and strong team who made it to 1 seed, and I think they were pretty close to winning the title in 2019. Most of the failures came after the loss of Hinkie.

Furthermore from a fan interest standpoint the experiment worked and revitalized interest in Sixers compared to Doug Collins/Iguodala type teams in the middle.

[Fadeaway_J]

5 years of tanking for a string of second round exits doesn't sound like a success to me.

As distasteful as the Process was to me, I can't pretend their current mediocrity is the direct result. The tanking put them in a great position which they then squandered with dumb **** like giving Tobias Harris $180 million while letting Jimmy Butler walk.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I wouldn’t call it a failure untill it’s all over, they were a joke and haven’t been too smart in some regards to moves after, but they still have (if he doesn’t leave of course) a franchise level big in embiid

With a good coach and embiid not hurt they probably coulda beaten miami

Of their picks what happened to simmons was just unlucky and Okafor was a bad pick, but I think with a guy like embiid they’re still in that high tier zone where a good off-season makes a world of difference for them

[sp6r=underrated]

It's never going to be possible to fairly grade The Process because Adam Silver meddled with and sabotaged it midway through. We never got to see what Hinkie's plan was when it was time to start winning.

Silver was correct to meddle. HAving a team openly lose games is terrible.

[No-more-rings]

Success - it got them Embiid, and strong team who made it to 1 seed, and I think they were pretty close to winning the title in 2019. Most of the failures came after the loss of Hinkie.

Furthermore from a fan interest standpoint the experiment worked and revitalized interest in Sixers compared to Doug Collins/Iguodala type teams in the middle.

How does losing in the 2nd round constitute “pretty close to a title”?

[Ursusamericanus]

Still too soon to say. If they win a title with their "Joel in the crown" Embiid I'll call it a success. I still think we need to wait a couple years.

[TravisScott55]

Well they got better so I guess it is somewhat of a success

[Dr Positivity]

Success - it got them Embiid, and strong team who made it to 1 seed, and I think they were pretty close to winning the title in 2019. Most of the failures came after the loss of Hinkie.

Furthermore from a fan interest standpoint the experiment worked and revitalized interest in Sixers compared to Doug Collins/Iguodala type teams in the middle.

How does losing in the 2nd round constitute “pretty close to a title”?

I think they would have been in great position if they beat Toronto as Milwaukee was vulnerable pre-Holiday and Warriors were banged up

[scrabbarista]

Neither, because the league forced the team to abort it by firing Hinkie and replacing him with anti-Hinkies who did a horrible job and squandered the assets he accumulated.

But if he had stayed, and the results had been the same as they have been, then I would've voted failure.

But no voteom me, because The Process (very clearly!) ended the day Hinkie was replaced.

[No-more-rings]

Success - it got them Embiid, and strong team who made it to 1 seed, and I think they were pretty close to winning the title in 2019. Most of the failures came after the loss of Hinkie.

Furthermore from a fan interest standpoint the experiment worked and revitalized interest in Sixers compared to Doug Collins/Iguodala type teams in the middle.

How does losing in the 2nd round constitute “pretty close to a title”?

I think they would have been in great position if they beat Toronto as Milwaukee was vulnerable pre-Holiday and Warriors were banged up

I would’ve favored the Bucks slightly over them, if I remember correctly the Raptors role guys really underperformed offensively against the Sixers. They probably weren’t as evenly matched as that series might suggest.

[MartinToVaught]

It's never going to be possible to fairly grade The Process because Adam Silver meddled with and sabotaged it midway through. We never got to see what Hinkie's plan was when it was time to start winning.

Silver was correct to meddle. HAving a team openly lose games is terrible.

As opposed to losing just as much through sheer incompetence like the Knicks and Kings? At least Hinkie had an actual plan.

The Sixers had spent the decade leading up to The Process treadmilling "the right way." Did that do anything of note to advance the league?

Silver should have never meddled. He clearly has no idea what makes a GM good at their job, since he hired Bryan Colangelo.

[sp6r=underrated]

It's never going to be possible to fairly grade The Process because Adam Silver meddled with and sabotaged it midway through. We never got to see what Hinkie's plan was when it was time to start winning.

Silver was correct to meddle. HAving a team openly lose games is terrible.

As opposed to losing just as much through sheer incompetence like the Knicks and Kings? At least Hinkie had an actual plan.

The Sixers had spent the decade leading up to The Process treadmilling "the right way." Did that do anything of note to advance the league?

Silver should have never meddled. He clearly has no idea what makes a GM good at their job, since he hired Bryan Colangelo.

At the end of the season the combined winning percentage of every NBA team will be 50%. It is impossible for every NBA team to have winning records. This is a zero sum competition. Silver's job as commissioner is to represent the collective interest of all the NBA teams. The collective interest of the NBA isn't maximizing Sixers title chances. The collective interest is making as much money as possible.

The NBA maximizes its profitability by having every team sign the best basketball players possible. A 20 win NBA team with NBA level players that fans have heard of will be marginally more profitable than a 10 win NBA team with people no one has heard of and a lot more profitable than a 0 win NBA team with me at point guard.

Hinkie decided the Sixers would free ride on NBA revenue, sign non-NBA level players and intentionally lose games. That is terrible for the sport as the games become less marketable. It makes it harder for teams to sell tickets to their fans when the tanking club comes to town. I've bought tickets to see plenty of mediocre treadmill teams because I knew I'd see an NBA quality team on the court. I never would have bought a ticket for the Hinkie tank clubs.

It also defeats the purpose of the draft. If the draft exists to help teams improve, why should you reward intentionally bad teams over 40 win teams that are trying to win? You mock treadmill teams but they are actually trying to win games. There is a much better case for helping them than teams that try to lose.