Seven Teams Who Have Directly Benefitted From The Sixers Front Office
This list is probably far from complete.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
The Sixers aren’t playing, there is nothing new on the coaching front, and I’ve already done every fake trade article imaginable. So why not go back to ol’ reliable and, while this front office is still here, highlight once again just how inexcusably bad they have been?
In this new twist on an old subject, I’m going to comb through everything the Sixers have done since Bryan Colangelo came into power and identify every team in the NBA that has benefitted from the incompetence of Sixers management. Here we go!
Boston Celtics
This one is the most obvious, and doesn’t require much time. The Sixers gave Boston a first-round pick to move up two spots in the 2017 NBA Draft, from the third pick to number one. They took Markelle Fultz, who was unceremoniously exiled in the middle of his sophomore season. Boston ended up with Jayson Tatum, who after three years in the NBA has been the leading scorer on two different conference finalists, and is on a quick path to superstardom.
Additionally, because the Sixers could not keep their mouths shut about how much they loved Matisse Thybulle before the draft last year, the Celtics were able to extract the 24th and 33rd picks from Philly by selecting Thybulle and holding him ransom until the Sixers were willing to overpay.
Miami Heat
Again, pretty self-explanatory here. The Sixers had no objections whatsoever to Jimmy Butler departing, and when a cap-locked Miami team was his preferred destination, they willingly performed a sign-and-trade to send Butler to South Beach, despite the fact that Butler nor the Heat had any leverage whatsoever. Now they’re in the NBA Finals!
Los Angeles Clippers
It always hurts to trade a first-round pick. It’s even tougher when you trade two of them. It’s full-blown disastrous to trade two of them, plus a blossoming rookie in year one of a miniscule four-year contract. Landry Shamet and many other assets were given to the Clippers for, you guessed it, Tobias Harris. Not only did this give the Clippers the requisite cap space to sign Kawhi Leonard, but it helped them collect enough assets to acquire Paul George. While we’re here…
Oklahoma City Thunder
Paul George is a wonderful player who any team would be lucky to have. But when Oklahoma City was able to extract first-round picks, two pick swaps, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danillo Gallinari in exchange for him, it was a clear win. And that wouldn’t have been possible without the Clippers acquiring the assets they got from the Sixers!
Brooklyn Nets
Heading into the 2017-18 season, Colangelo begrudgingly held onto Jahlil Okafor in hopes of finding a trade that would look decent on paper. Instead, Okafor sat on the Sixers bench and turned into a negative value asset. To get rid of him, the Sixers had to give up Nik Stauskas and a future second-round pick that turned into the 31st pick in 2019, and pretend that Trevor Booker made any sense on the team. Just for having roster spots open, Brooklyn was able to acquire a pick that turned into Nic Claxton, a talented big-man who has already contributed for the Nets.
New Orleans Pelicans
When the Sixers decided not to bring back their team that was on the doorstep of Finals contention, it allowed New Orleans to bring JJ Redick into their fold, a move that will greatly aid the development of Zion Williamson next season.
This is outside of our selected time range, but as an added bonus, it was the Pelicans who received two second-round picks from the Colangelo-seized Sixers for a partial season of Ish Smith.
Los Angeles Lakers
If the Sixers had not traded up to the top pick in 2017, everyone with the Celtics swears they would have taken Jayson Tatum first overall. If we are to trust their word, it means the Lakers would have ended up taking Fultz at #2. Nobody can say for sure how his time in LA would have panned out, but I’m comfortable saying they’re relieved they ended up with Lonzo Ball, even if he became a trade piece after two seasons.
Off the top of my head, I just came up with seven teams who have clearly benefited from Sixers management being entirely inept in just the last few years. It tells you all you need to know! They really haven’t fired anybody yet?