“The Process” finally paid off Tuesday night, as the Sixers won the NBA Draft Lottery to earn the No. 1 overall pick. New general manager Bryan Colangelo will be in the war room to help make the difficult choice between Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, but make no mistake. Colangelo is reaping the fruits of Hinkie’s labor.
MORE: First pick: Ingram or Simmons? | Biggest NBA Draft regrets
Hinkie dared to push tanking to its absolute limit. Tanking isn’t even the best way to put it. He called in all-out artillery and aerial strikes. The top six seeds in the Eastern Conference this season each won at least 48 games. The Sixers have won 47 games total the last three years.
But there was a deep belief in Hinkie’s vision. You could see just how invested the fans were when NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum held up that card with the Lakers logo and sealed the deal for the Sixers.
Even Joel Embiid couldn’t contain his excitement. Shirley Temples for all!
One pick won’t fix the franchise, and it certainly won’t erase the misery of watching a team full of unknown names chase the worst record in league history. We will never know if Hinkie’s plan would have panned out, but maybe Hinkie will see Simmons or Ingram dropping 25 points in a playoff game one day and tell himself he was heading in the right direction.
“Trust the Process” was a credo, a code, a punchline. Now it’s the reason the Sixers may have a potential superstar in waiting.
Here’s the full order for the 2016 NBA Draft:
Sixers
Lakers
Celtics (via Nets)
Suns
Timberwolves
Pelicans
Nuggets (via Knicks)
Kings
Raptors (via Nuggets)
Bucks
Magic
Jazz
Suns (via Wizards)
Bulls
Nuggets (via Rockets)
Celtics (via Mavs)
Grizzlies
Pistons
Nuggets (via Trail Blazers)
Pacers
Hawks
Hornets
Celtics
Sixers (via Heat)
Clippers
Sixers (via Thunder)
Raptors
Suns (via Cavs)
Spurs
Warriors
