It wasn’t a second-round draft flyer making game-clinching defensive plays for the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. It was undrafted free agent Max Strus.
It wasn’t a first-round choice on his rookie extension making his first All-Star appearance for the Toronto Raptors this season. It was undrafted free agent Fred VanVleet.
It wasn’t a former first-round pick scoring 6 points in crunch time of the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 6 victory to win last season’s NBA Finals. It was second-round pick and former G-Leaguer Khris Middleton.
Those growth-stock contributions represent 3 different organizations bound by one common characteristic — they don’t let the diamonds land in their laps; they go mining for the diamonds.
As much as the national sports commentators (and some of the local baiters) enjoy running their victory laps over The Process, there was nothing wrong with building teams incapable of winning for nearly 4 years. In fact, small-market teams have been doing it for years, much to the chagrin of absolutely no one.
The irony, given all the second-round draft picks accumulated and undrafted free agents signed by former General Manager Sam Hinkie, is that the central post-Process failure has been the Philadelphia 76ers’ total negligence of young, cost-effective depth.
The Sixers don’t bet on youth, size, and athleticism to round out their team beyond its central figures. Rather, they bet on their wallets and high-level draft picks to build a roster that goes 8 players deep.
The risk in that is even the slightest imperfection at the top can ruin everything. One of those expensive players failing to perform up to expectations is not enough to overcome the shallowness down the roster.
Because when you have to use Mid-Level Exceptions and minimum deals on past-expiration veterans to fill out your roster beyond its max-contract pillars, you have a major roster imbalance.
Time will tell whether the current iteration can surpass its own postseason barriers — some self-created, some not.
If the Sixers can’t, it’s time to re-assess the program that has taken them to the exact ceiling they reached before the days of Hinkie.
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