(09-27-2020, 06:13 AM)Mapka Wrote: I was just reading about how successful the 76s tank job was, because they got two Top20(?) players.
So I thought about an alternative timeline where Philly didn't trank and how their team could look.
I think something like
Jure Holiday - Butler - Covington - Grant - Holmes could have been easyly done.
Is this illusional or thinkable?
The tanking years of the "The Process" were under Hinkie. That really only amounted to 3 years of intentional tanking followed by some unintentional time of just being bad because Embiid has time lost to injury, then Simmons started off with an injury loss year, later Fultz became another injury casualty.
In your scenario I think only the Jrue Holiday trade could easily be rolled back as realistic 'alternative' to the tanking. Jrue wasn't a bad trade a time as he turned into 2 lottery picks, Nerlens Noel and Dario Saric (via Elfrid Payton Pic). Jrue continued to grow into a stud after he was able to stay healthy longer but overall Hinkie's tanking strategy left the Philly with a stacked treasure of picks and the ability to stack young talent.
The trades and decisions the franchise made afterwards were pretty much like any other franchise, not from tanking but franchise decisions like losing Jimmy Butler and cycling through young talent like Covington, Grant, Holmes and a revolving roster of players many of which are now looking very good or at least productive.
That includes guys you mentioned and others like TJ McConnell, Shamet, Markelle Fultz (who appears to be recovering and bouncing back), Nerlens Noel and this season Boban and Trey Burke showed productivity and promise in Dallas after a cycle through Philly.
Now they have finally rotated the Coach they hired for the Tanking years, Brett Brown, probably waiting too long for that move.
There are many 'alternative' rosters realistically because the bottom line is that franchise has yet to settle in and stick with any consistent supporting roster around their Embiid/Simmons core.