It is hard to believe in two months the Sixers will be gathering for training camp. Who will be coaching the squad has not yet been determined, nor has that coach's full roster of players.
We know that Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel are the cornerstones of the team’s future. It is also likely that the team’s 2014 first-round pick, given the inexperience and youth on the roster, stands to be a lottery pick.
For the plan of Sixers president and general manager Sam Hinkie to be a success, at least one of those three players needs to develop into an NBA star. They might not need to be a superstar, but that crop must produce one of the league’s upper-echelon talents.
That is how Oklahoma City became the Western Conference contender it is today. It did not happen overnight. In the spring of 2005, the then-Seattle Supersonics lost in the Western Conference semifinals after winning 52 regular season games.
Four sub-.500 seasons followed, including a 20-win season in 2007-08 -- Kevin Durant’s rookie year and the team’s first season after trading Ray Allen to Boston.
The Thunder started Durant’s second season 1-12, which led to the firing of head coach P.J. Carlesimo and the appointment of Scott Brooks. OKC finished with 23 wins that year, but the Thunder had a rookie point guard in Russell Westbrook to complement the league’s fifth-leading scorer at the time.
The Thunder won 50 games the following season, had two All-Stars and Durant won the first of his four straight scoring titles. OKC has yet to win a championship, but the club is consistently knocking on the door.
The Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals during the lockout-shortened season. They seemed destined for a repeat engagement this past season until Westbrook went down with a season-ending knee injury and they were ousted by the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semis.
A large portion of the Thunder's success can be directly linked to their top-flight talent.
Can Noel be a dominant NBA player? He certainly does not have the offensive game of a Durant, but time will tell if he can develop at that end of the floor, as well as be the dominant defensive player he was in college at the pro level.
Carter-Williams has great potential. He is long and defensive-minded, but his shooting is suspect and he turns the ball over far too often.
Still, four years ago the Sixers had a rookie point guard who started 51 games, averaged 8.0 points, 3.8 assists and 2.1 turnovers in 24.2 minutes per game.
While Jrue Holiday was just getting his feet wet at the NBA level his rookie season, the Sixers won 27 games. This summer, Holiday, a four-year veteran, is coming off a season in which he led the Sixers in scoring and assists, was named to his first All-Star Game and was the team’s top asset when it came time to pull the trigger on a major move.
Trading Holiday was only the beginning of the Hinkie plan at work.
The Durant-Westbrook tandem was more valuable from the start than Noel-Carter Williams. Durant was the No. 2 overall pick in 2007 and Westbrook was taken No. 4 the following year.
Noel was selected sixth overall in June and Carter-Williams came to the Sixers with the 11th pick.
Player development is clearly essential to Hinkie’s long-term vision. If that initial phase of the plan works out well, the second portion can have the same result.
The second phase is the salary cap space part for Hinkie. Cap space allows for free-agent signings and the ability to maneuver players without worrying much about huge financial repercussions. Obviously, players on the open market would have to find the Sixers as a desirable destination, but teams with high-quality youth on the roster and money to pay other productive pieces are always attractive to free agents.
The Sixers are currently under the salary cap. Looking ahead to next summer, Spencer Hawes, Lavoy Allen and Kwame Brown all come off the books. Additionally, Royce White and Arnett Moultrie’s contracts hold team options.
The franchise will be in a position to add free-agent talent to its crop of young draftees. The Sixers just have to be able to sell a promising future to players willing to take the leap of faith.
Patience will be necessary, and a little luck would help.