The Sixers rebuild continues to produce more questions than
answers. There was no doubt that the
franchise needed a change of direction in May 2013 when Sam Hinkie took over as
general manager following the Andrew Bynum fiasco. But after just 37 wins in two seasons, the
question that no one seems to be able to answer is when the team will move
forward and become a winner. This
weekend seemed to only push things back more.
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| USA Today Sports Images |
Sixers beat writer Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer
was the first to report that center Joel Embiid will have a second surgery on
his right foot to repair a stress fracture in the navicular bone and will miss
the 2015-16 season. Embiid sat all of
2014-15 rehabilitating from his first surgery on the foot which he injured a
week prior to the 2014 NBA Draft.
The Sixers selected Embiid with the third pick in last
year’s draft. The seven-footer was
expected to go first to the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to the foot injury. However, with the injury happening a week
before the draft, Cleveland opted for Embiid’s college teammate at Kansas,
Andrew Wiggins. Entering the draft,
Embiid drew comparisons to Hakeem Olajuwon with his ability to drastically
impact the game on both ends of the floor.
His skillset screamed superstar in the making. That’s exactly what the Sixers had lacked
since the Allen Iverson era had ended.
The Sixers weren’t looking to return to mediocrity. Hinkie thinks big. Selecting Embiid was the kind of high-risk
high reward type of decision that is becoming definitive of the Sixers efforts
to resurrect the franchise.
Unfortunately for Hinkie and company, the high-risk end of the pick is
getting the better of the high reward.
But that does not mean this was the wrong decision. Those who criticize the pick will merely say
“Anyone who can play!” instead of taking the gamble. But there was no one else at 3 that could
have the kind of potential to be a superstar.
That’s what the first step of the rebuild is all about. Identifying a franchise player that the
organization can move forward with for once after years of having just an
average roster. Had Hinkie opted for
Aaron Gordon or Dante Exum the same skeptics would have smashed him for not
knowing how to identify franchise-changing talent. Julius Randle got hurt in the first game of
the year and missed the rest of the season.
So what was the alternative? The Sixers weren’t looking for
someone that would have rerouted them back towards mediocrity. Credit Hinkie for stockpiling draft picks and
giving himself the insurance of having multiple lottery tickets to cash in
on. He selected another center, Jahlil
Okafor this year at number three. Maybe
Okafor becomes the franchise now. But
last year with Wiggins and Duke wing Jabari Parker off the board, Hinkie needed
someone that could be his franchise face.
Embiid was his only option.
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