Spinning their wheels; the Sixers' draft futility

February 20, 2006 | By Dennis Bakay | Discuss

Ok, so we may never know what happened on that hunting expedition with Dick Cheney, or the last 5 minutes of the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss, or how many shooters were in Dallas on that fateful day on November 22, 1963, but we can figure out why the 76ers are in the position they’re in today. Or, can we?

The 76ers are once again stuck in that proverbial land of mediocrity. Win one, lose win, then win three, then lose three. And, it goes on and on. They may beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in dramatic fashion one night while laying an egg against the likes of the Charlotte Bobcats. This is what they are. This is all they can hope to be. There is nothing Maurice Cheeks can do to make this team transcend mediocrity. The old adage holds true here; a coach is only as good as his players. They arenít a horrible team, and they certainly arenít a championship contender. As they are currently constructed they have no hope of being a title contender. This state of perpetual mediocrity didn’t happen overnight of course. It can be traced back over the past 15 years. It goes to the root of the problem, which is the failure of their drafts since 1992.

I trace it back to 1992 since the Sixers didn't possess a first round pick in 1990 or 1991. Since 1992 the Sixers have struck out on draft picks at a mind-boggling rate in the first round. Out of 15 draft picks during this period, 12 of them were either busts (Sharone Wright), disappointments (Stackhouse), or not worth the spot they were taken (see Clarence Weatherspoon). That is a 20% success rate. Iverson, Dalembert, and Iguodala are the only players drafted that were successful picks, and the jury is still out on Dalembert despite his talent. Shawn Bradley (1993), Sharone Wright (1994), B.J. Tyler (1994), Tim Thomas (1997), Anthony Parker (1997), and Speedy Claxton were complete flops. None of these players lasted more than 3 seasons with the Sixers. Clarence Weatherspoon (1992) could actually play at one point. I know I’ll take flak for that, but he did averaged roughly 16 points and 8 boards in his 5 1/2 seasons. That pick was a mediocre one considering where he was chosen. Jerry Stackhouse (1995) could not co-exist with Allen Iverson. But, again he was a disappointment for a 3rd overall pick.

They hit it big by drafting Iverson #1 overall in 1996 as he is arguably one of the top 25 players who ever lived. He may drive basketball purists like myself crazy with his shot selection, but it’s hard to argue that he’s the greatest little man ever-even better than Tiny Nate Archibald in my opinion. In 1997 the draft Gods frowned upon them and they had the #2 pick ahead of Tim Duncan. Since Keith Van Horn wouldn’t play for them they had to trade that pick in a deal bringing Tim Thomas to town. And, they were probably worse off with Thomas. One begs to wonder; what if they traded for Tracy McGrady, who was chosen 2 picks later in the 9th position. 1998 is where they really could have hit it. Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierece were both there for the taking with the 8th pick. What did Larry Brown do? He wanted a guard to pair with Iverson, instead of choosing the sure-fire pick in Paul Pierce, or going with size, shooting, and upside in Nowitzki. And, the word is Tony DeLeo urged Brown to pick Nowitzki. Thus, Larry Brown opted to choose another player to pair Iverson with, following the fallout with Stackhouse. Therefore, Brown decided on drafting shooting guard, Larry Hughes of St. Louis in the 1998 draft. This turned out to be a blunder as Hughes and Iverson didn’t gel. After this mistake Brown realized the way to win with Allen was to put all defensive role players around him and let him do his thing. The current team is the antithesis of Brown’s teams. This is reason #1 why the team is dysfunctional at this stage.

Is it any wonder why the attendance for the Sixers has dropped from the top 3 in the league to the bottom 4? Sure, media pundits around the nation would love to blame the “awful, obnoxious” Sixers fans for turning against their team. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Philadelphia fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in the country. Over the years had this team not committed a litany of draft blunders, they could be a powerhouse. Forget about even having the luck go their way in 1997 when they could have won the Tim Duncan sweepstakes. Think about this series of non-events. In 1995 they could have chosen Garnett over Stackhouse. They made the right pick in 1996. People can question all they want about trading down to get Kobe, but lets be serious here. They were a team that needed a franchise player, so Iverson was the man. This takes us to the biggest turning point in the franchise’s history in the past 15 years. They could have used that #2 pick to get McGrady and another pick. In 1998 they could have had Nowitzki or Pierce. Now, let’s look at this starting lineup:

PG-Allen Iverson
SG-Tracy McGrady
SF-Paul Pierce
PF-Kevin Garnett
C-Samuel Dalembert

Ah, it’s good to fantasize isn’t it? With Garnett or Duncan anchoring a starting 5 like that they would be on their way to a third or fourth championship. Instead, the Sixers went as far as they could with the winning Iverson formula. One can argue that my thesis is predicated on a team hitting it perfectly on every pick. Even if they drafted Chauncey Billups (chosen #3 in 1997), they’d have he and Allen in the same backcourt. That’s hardly chopped liver. Billups is arguably this year’s MVP. My point is, this team squandered draft opportunity after draft opportunity that set the stage for the current disaster known as the 2005-2006 Sixers.

Had they played the Lakers with that 42-14 squad with Ratliff, the story may have been different. That 2000-2001 season seems like eons ago. It’s hard to believe that their magical run was just 5 seasons ago. You’d never know it looking at the current dysfunctional group. The draft set the stage for this team’s misfortunes. Then, they dug themselves into a deeper hole with a number of bad trades and signings. Stay tuned…