As management miscues and playoff losses mount, Sixers back where they started

PHILADELPHIA » Jimmy Butler demolished the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs, scoring at will, in big spots, against a variety of defenses.

Then, just in case not enough noticed, he demolished them again.

“Tobias Harris?” he snarled, in an outburst caught on video, “over me?”

Fair question, as a man who once tried to coach him might have said, but only in a Maine accent.

While nothing in pro sports is ever that uncomplicated, Butler’s flawless hindsight did supply a worthwhile talking point. The short version of his gripe was that he was a 76er, preferred to remain a 76er, but in 2019 was denied the kind of contract that would soon go to Harris. Thus, Butler did a cannon-ball into the free agent pool. And even if he missed some vital issues — specifically that he was a noted in-house pest who demanded to sit in on coaches’ meetings among other impolite actions — his remark did say plenty about how the Sixers have arrived back where they started.

They have again become one of those teams that qualifies for the playoffs only to lose quickly because they have had a series of personnel bosses who apparently didn’t like their jobs.

Anyone in the position to draft, sign or unearth basketball players will make the occasional talentevaluation mistake. The difference with the Sixers is not that they failed to recognize the skills that may have been available through the usual tributaries, but that they have been frighteningly inept about recognizing the value of players they’d already decided they liked.

Accepting the realities of sinister agents, salary cap considerations and the factors that separate real talent acquisition from the rotisserie-league variety, consider what the Sixers would be in the 2022 tournament with this foundation:

• Joel Embiid, the MVP runner-up.

• Butler, the edgy, lategame leader they have acknowledged they lack.

• Jrue Holiday, the 18.3 ppg. scoring point guard and defensive force for the world champion Milwaukee Bucks.

• Mikal Bridges, a starting forward for the Suns, who had the best regularseason record in the NBA.

• Nik Vucevic, the ninthleading rebounder in league history.

• Andre Iguodala, a Hall of Fame bound winner.

• Thad Young, a contributor for the Raptors, another with that toughness streak that is about to become an offseason priority.

• Seth Curry, a better shooter than James Harden.

• Tyrese Maxey, a developing All-Star.

Every one had been in a Sixers uniform, with the exception of Bridges. He was only in a Sixers hat before a Draft Night trade to acquire — wait for it — Zhaire Smith.

That constellation combined to earn $147 million this year, a manageable figure. With it, the Sixers could have filled out the roster with the kind of dollar-store backups who dirtied their celebrated rebuilding process and still won 65 games.

That didn’t happen, though, for a few reasons. Sam Hinkie was a huckster who knew nothing about judging a basketball player and even less about how to maintain an organization’s dignity. Bryan Colangelo was a legacy basketball executive caught in a burnerphone scandal that left his best player insulted on the socials. And Brett Brown was a coach by trade thrown into a personnel role for just long enough to mangle the Bridges situation. That think tank was followed by Elton

Brand, who traded for Butler and then let him roll, and Daryl Morey, who just drafted three players who combined to provide 70 points as rookies.

“You have to have,” Morey decided the other day, “good fortune to win.”

A little better talent evaluation wouldn’t hurt, either. But yes, the Sixers go to the June 23 draft, still technically without one bloody pick in either of the two rounds. Beautiful, isn’t it? They spend nearly a decade trying to acquire assets so they are not the team that always disappears into the middle of the postseason crowd, then wind up exactly as that team but without any draft picks.

Then again, at least they won’t be able to do any Draft Night damage. They had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft and came away with Ben Simmons, two picks before the Celtics found Jaylen Brown. They maneuvered to grab the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft and came up with Markelle Fultz two picks before the Celtics found Jayson Tatum. They had Bridges — whose mother only worked for the organization, that’s all — and gave him away.

Obviously, the Sixers could not have kept all their players through all those years. And if they had, the salary structure would have been different. And Simmons had to go, complicating what Morey had to do this season. And every team makes the odd draft decision. And the drafting opportunities would have been different.

So to retro-fit any pro sports roster is but a fantasy exercise. Yet as the postseason rages, imagine what it would have been like if Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Mikal Bridges, Jrue Holiday and Seth Curry were in Sixers gear.

Better still, search for the old photos of when they were.