“Maybe Embiid keeps going and Simmons is a terror. Fultz looks great. Saric was a big contributor. Covington has improved. But that’s still not more than 30-35 wins.”

Good decisions can lead to unfortunate outcomes. The Sixers have been unlucky to not end up with their guy in each draft ... It doesn’t mean that it wasn’t the right strategy.

We agree that the best path to NBA success is to forcibly install a 76 year old with six decades of NBA experience and being kind of good with zero championships.

Smith was in the building every day for two months, but the 76ers weren’t smart enough to realize what they had: a competent, valuable placeholder to feed the young kids while waiting for something better to come along. Instead they waited until they were 1-30 and gave up two assets they highly value.