Sixers prove picks not always a winner
PHILADELPHIA — There is a segment of NBA followers who believe the fastest way to rebuild the Knicks is to tank the rest of this frustrating season to improve their chances of getting the first or second pick in the upcoming draft.
Never mind that the Knicks still have a long-shot chance of qualifying for the playoffs or at least make the final month of the season meaningful. Tank the season, get a high draft pick to match with Kristaps Porzingis and set the franchise’s foundation for the next decade. That should be the plan, some say.
Sure that might sound good in theory. But it isn’t quite that easy. Just ask the 76ers, who defeated the Knicks 105-102 Friday night at Wells Fargo Center. If there’s a franchise that knows getting a high draft pick isn’t a guarantee of success, it’s Philadelphia.
The Sixers’ string of misfortune with high draft picks continued earlier this week when it was announced Joel Embiid, the No.3 selection in the 2014 draft, will be out for rest of the season after injuring his left knee in late January. Embiid, the former Kansas star from Cameroon, already missed the first two seasons of his pro career with a fracture in his right foot.
He was finally healthy this year, and 31 games in, he was looking like a super talent, averaging 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. But then he suffered a tear to his meniscus on Jan. 27. He initially was listed as day-to-day, then told he would be sidelined from three to four weeks. But the Sixers, with a 23-38 record after Friday night’s win, figured there was no reason to rush back Embiid and risk further injuries.
That news comes less than two weeks after the Sixers announced Ben Simmons, No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, officially was done for the year. Simmons has missed all of his rookie season after fracturing his foot during training camp in September. He was expected to return in three to four months, but on Feb. 24, the club announced he was done.
Now the best Philadelphia can hope for is Embiid and Simmons to be on the court together for the 2017-2018 season, joining Jahlil Okafor, the third overall pick in the 2015 draft.
“You would just like to see them on the court at the same time to see what we have,” a Sixers source said.
Perhaps one day all the Sixers’ young talent will be healthy and the high draft picks will deliver something for the all the losing that resulted in their lofty selections. Until then they will have to be satisfied with beating the Knicks.
Some might suggest the Knicks don’t have to try to lose because it just seems to come so naturally. At times against the Sixers, they played as if they were tanking the season. Derrick Rose lost the ball while driving for a layup with 17 seconds to play and then Carmelo Anthony missed a jumper with seven seconds left.
But the Knicks aren’t trying to lose. Promise.
“We’ve got to try to win as many games as we can,” Courtney Lee said. “This was a game we had to win.”
At 25-37, Knicks will probably win just enough to keep them from getting a real impact player in the draft. But here’s why intentionally tanking the season doesn’t work. Head coach Jeff Hornacek and team president Phil Jackson would have to be complicit with the decision, and to some degree, so would players such as Anthony and Rose. Not only is losing against a player’s and coach’s DNA, it would be a tough sell, not only to a broader fan base, but also to the NBA, for which the integrity of each game must be protected.
Anthony called the thought of tanking the season “a terrible way to think” and that should count for the front office and fans that know it’s no guarantee to success. Just ask the Sixers.