NBA Preview: #30 Philadelphia 76ers

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As I took a gander through the Philadelphia 76ers lineup, I found it hard to find very many players name's that I recognized. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the first indication of a team that isn't very good. I’ve been deeply invested in the NBA since before I can remember, and if I’m having trouble finding eight guys that I’ve heard of, then your team is probably going to suck. Unfortunately for the 76ers and head coach Brett Brown, they're that sucky team.

Don’t get me wrong, the Sixers have some young talent that will eventually blossom into stardom, but the roster they have now is purely pathetic. The reason I’m so harsh? Philadelphia been somewhat vocal in their intentions these last couple of seasons. Their game plan hasn’t been to win as many games as possible, in fact it’s just the opposite. The Sixers have tried to lose as many games as possible to hopefully win the NBA draft Lotery and get the #1 pick. Last season they were successful in losing a plethora of games, but they weren’t in their attempts to get the first pick of the draft.

So what did the Sixers do instead? They drafted ANOTHER injured college star (Embiid), with hopes of failing miserably once again. I understand their thinking…. Trust me. I know that a team with Michael Carter Williams along with a healthy Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid would be a stellar force to be reckoned with, but that won’t be for quite some time. The Sixers will also get a promising newcomer from next year’s draft once the Sixers stink their way to 15 wins again. I know that young talent is valuable in the NBA, but is it worth being the laughing stock of the league for three years? We shall see….

For this season, we can expect Michael-Carter Williams to put up good numbers yet again in games that don’t matter. In all seriousness, Carter-Williams can play. He was nowhere near the problem for the Sixers last season. He won Rookie of the Year honors, and was truly the only bright spot for this team. He averaged 17 points per game to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Carter-Williams is very well rounded and uses his length well at the point guard position. Smaller guards have a hard time matching up with his wing-span. The one positive to the Sixers sucking is that Carter-Williams was given a chance to play through his mistakes worry free. He literally had no pressure, since nobody expected them to win. Hopefully that experience will pay off this season.

Last year the Sixers were without Nerlens Noel because of an injury he sustained while still playing at Kentucky. The organization thought it would be best not to rush him back since the team was so bad. Many people are expecting big things out of Noel this upcoming season now that he’s finally healthy. At one point in college, Noel was projected to be the number one pick in the draft, and he probably would’ve been if he wouldn’t have torn his ACL. He had a great summer league this year and could really prove to be the best player on this team even in his first season of actually playing.

Embiid has the exact story as Noel, so with a year of rest this season on his surgically repaired foot will eventually get him ready to team up with Carter-Willams and Noel for the 2015-16 season. That leaves slim pickins for the rest of the Sixers roster. Jason Richardson is on his last leg, but he will hopefully bring some veteran leadership to this team. Casper Ware and Tony Wroten are two other players who should bring depth to the team’s backcourt. Wroten could end up starting in the back court if they decide to go the dual point guard way. I fully expect the Sixers to yet again have one of the worst records in the league. I’m not a fortune teller, but I could see this team making some noise in about two or three years once their youngins grow up a little bit.