The Philadelphia 76ers staged one of the most significant rebuilds in recent history :”The Process.” Is there anything for the Orlando Magic to learn?
The Philadelphia 76ers made the playoffs this year. Not only did the Sixers make it to the postseason, but as a No. 3 seed no less. After defeating the Miami Heat, in five games in round one, the Sixers are emerging as a fan favorite to contend in the Eastern Conference.
A big accomplishment for the long rebuilding team. That means their rebuild was a success, right? That means they have a process every team should follow, right?
Through a several-year span of disparaging records, injuries and general disdain from the league executives, Philadelphia has now finally reaped the benefits from years of losing throughout the last six years. With budding stars Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Markelle Fultz (just to name a few), it is perceivable the Sixers may be good for a long time.
The Orlando Magic’s most recent rebuild dates back to around the same time when the team traded Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012.
The timeline of the last six years and various milestones in the two franchises’ rebuilds are unique in their own ways. But there are a decent number of parallels between the teams most recent tanks.
So why did the Sixers eventually end up okay, and the Magic find themselves starting over?
Now with head coach Frank Vogel out the door, we look at what went right, what went wrong, and investigate if Orlando can use Philadelphia’s last few years as a template for the future.
The Initial Fallout
The Philadelphia 76ers made it to the second round of the 2012 Playoffs, losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games. Before that, Philadelphia had made it to the postseason every year since the 2007 season besides the 2010 season when they went 27-55. Comparatively, the Magic had made it into the postseason every year since 2006.
The Magic and 76ers were riding high back then. Then came the infamous four-team Dwight Howard trade that involved both the Magic and the Sixers. Both teams were ready for a change.
Infamous tank expert Sam Hinkie became the Sixers’ general manager, hiring Brett Brown as head coach.
As for the Magic? You will remember this was the end of the Stan Van Gundy era, moving onto head coach Jacque Vaughn and general manager Rob Hennigan.
The Magic started from ground zero and began moving their remaining veterans for young players like Tobias Harris. The team struggled, but they were building up assets. And they had draft picks were coming. The Sixers were in a similar place.
Both teams were starting from scratch, but how they went about developing and building their young assets would prove to be where the two teams diverged.
Philadelphia had patience with these young players they wanted. The 76ers drafted Joel Embiid and traded for Dario Saric on draft day in 2014. It was soon discovered Embiid would miss the first year due to a broken bone in his foot. Later, there was a setback in his recovery, he subsequently missed the 2016 season as well.
As for Saric? He had just signed a contract with Anadolu Efes in the Turkish League, and would not join the 76ers for two years.
Philadelphia was willing to wait on the talent they wanted, gambling that higher draft odds would continue to add to their cache.
It all worked out when they won the 2016 Lottery and the right to take Ben Simmons.
Of course, Simmons injured his ankle and missed his entire rookie year. He really was the turning point for Philadelphia though, even garnering some LeBron James-like attention here and there coming from the LSU Tigers.
All that patience paid off with Embiid too. After two years of injury, he hit the floor and made an immediate impact defensively. Playing a fully healthy season this year, he became a NBA All-Star.
Now, they are leading the Sixers in the playoffs into the second round.
The Process turns to Product
Finally healthy, putting on the floor Dario Saric, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, J.J. Redick, Robert Covington, Ersan Ilyasova and Markelle Fultz, the team easily defeated the slower, veteran-heavy Miami Heat. They may make for an interesting matchup against the upcoming winner of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics series.
They can spread the floor, are athletic, can defend well and are currently leading playoff teams in foul shots.
Of course, this year did not go on without injuries to Fultz and Embiid. They still managed to finish 52-30 in their breakout season. This has to be one of the greatest grow-ups in NBA history. They only lost 11 games in the 2018 calendar year behind Simmons wildly successful rookie year. Many have compared the 76ers’ quick ascent to the 1995 Magic.
Then compare the Magic’s so called “Process”.
The Magic added Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Evan Fournier in the next two years after the 2013 Draft. Combine that with Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, Kyle O’Quinn and Channing Frye mixing in, at this time, it seemed like Rob Hennigan’s plan was starting to materialize.
Yet Hinkie’s final product was still seasons away. Hinkie selected two players that would not impact immediately, but it is sort of strange to think Hennigan had already cemented the roster of the future in just two years.
It never coalesced. The pieces never came together for the Magic and the roster never seemed to fit.
Orlando shuffled through coaches, firing Jacque Vaughn after three seasons. Then Scott Skiles squeezed out 35 wins out of the team before suddenly resigning early in the summer.
Ownership too seemed to lose patience and put Playoff expectations on a team that was still clearly growing and searching for an identity. Rob Hennigan pushed in on free agency too soon, shipping out Maurice Harkless for nothing and Tobias Harris for cap space. He traded Victor Oladipo, now a NBA All-Star, for a Serge Ibaka rental that never panned out.
The whole rebuild was moving slowly forward, but not fast enough for the higher-ups. And the management lost faith in the work they had done the previous four seasons. They buried a deep hole.
Orlando let go of Rob Hennigan after the 2017 season, bringing in Jeff Weltman as president of basketball operations to try to right the ship. Hennigan’s last few months were confusing at best. The team identity was nowhere to be found. The team lost a decent amount of assets, leaving Weltman with a mess to clean.
This brings us to the present. The Weltman era.
Back to Relevance
In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic brought in former Florida State Seminoles standout Jonathan Isaac with the sixth overall pick.
He fits the archetype that can be seen within the Milwaukee Bucks organization, where general manager John Hammond built a rangy, long and athletic team.
The new management group brought in a variety of free agents to start the season, such as Marreese Speights, Shelvin Mack and Khem Birch. They then moved Elfrid Payton to the Phoenix Suns for a second-round pick this year’s trade deadline, essentially changing the face of the last few losing seasons. There is a sense Orlando might move Nikola Vucevic this offseason for similar reasons.
Still, the team has a lot of work to do.
Jonathan Isaac’s ceiling is huge, but it also pretty far. Obviously, the Magic cannot abide by the various amounts of adamant tanking the Sixers pursued. And for good reason.
Let’s consider Orlando Magic history through team identity.
It starts with the expansion years, followed by Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, followed by the Anfernee Hardaway show. You move to the Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill era in the early 2000s. Then you have Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, J.J. Redick and the Magic’s title run.
This was a fun squad to watch and they had a variety of success in the postseason. Then the Dwightmare and the picks and players Orlando received after. Even consider the 2004 season when the Magic went 21-61 record. Tracy McGrady still led the league in scoring that year.
So even when the Magic have lost in the past, they have remained relevant with their player personnel. This six-year stretch is not only the longest the team has gone without a Playoff berth but also the longest without having a NBA All-Star.
When Aaron Gordon withdrew from the dunk contest this past season, the Magic were left unrepresented on All-Star Weekend.
It is almost like they did not exist.
Building for the future
The fans do not want to sit through another six years of waste (though the next few seasons will likely be rough). And the NBA will not allow for it. The Lottery rules have changed and many more teams are trying to copy what the Philadelphia 76ers did.
Really, the Sixers rebuild was a comedy of errors that blossomed into success. Essentially, having three separate key rebuilding pieces not play for extended amounts of time cemented the franchise at the bottom of the league, securing great shots at Lottery picks.
It was a perfect collision of several factors that played in Philadelphia’s favor.
Furthermore, Philadelphia did not even use two of their initial main pieces, Michael Carter-Williams and Jahlil Okafor, as a part of the future, which made the process even longer. However you shape it, the Sixers’ misfortune turned into a great roster, something that is nearly impossible to recreate.
Regardless, Philadelphia still had to choose wisely in the drafts to actually accumulate a talented team. And yes, you could argue it is easy putting together a team as such with so many top-five picks.
But there are some trends in their acquisitions. They stuck with their initial goals, and their initial coach, Brett Brown.
Toward the end of Hennigan’s era, it seemed like the original ideas for the team were thrown out entirely. Hammond and Weltman must buy into their own process. Hennigan faltered on his own objectives, Hinkie unabashedly followed his.
The Magic have been a storied franchise within their short existence. Every five years there has been significant identities, but the franchise has maintained a face in the league. Orlando has failed to retain its league attention since Howard left. That may be one of the most significant reasons why the last six years have felt so hopeless.
What direction will Weltman and Hammond go now?
They claimed the first year would be one of evaluating all aspects of the organization. Now we are seeing a large number of turnover.
Who will be the next coach to attempt to right the ship? Who will be the new addition come draft night? Only time can tell.
Next: Former Orlando Magic assistant regrets injuries held team back
But if the 76ers’ process has proved anything, it is good fortune and patience can lead to some wild success.