2017-2018 Finish: 45-37

Season Highlight

After the way this team started the season, making the playoffs and winning a playoff round has to be the highlight of this season. Most everyone in the league, including the Sixers’ GM himself, thought this team was dead in the water through the halfway point of the season. That all changed when the news broke in February that the troubled, probably injured star Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Thunder for Paul George. It was just the kick this team needed. From week 14 on, this team only lost 5 games and rattled off a win streak of 13 to put a cap on the regular season.

Season Lowlight

There is much that is expected from this franchise and vt was very vocal about his team’s struggles early on. This is correlated to the lack of Kawhi Leonard, who only appeared in 13 games this season (all with the Sixers). When your best player is missing, it leaves quite the void. Those situations are hard to deal with unless you make a league shattering trade or something of that nature.

Best Trade

The Oklahoma City Thunder send Paul George and Denzel Valentine to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send Kawhi Leonard to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 
The Oklahoma City Thunder send a 2nd-Rounder (Det) and 1st-Rounder (OKC) to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

This trade has already been beat to death but for good reason. It simply was a season saving move for the Sixers. Without this trade, the team would have continued to flounder without their star and would not have made the playoffs.

Worst Trade

The Minnesota Timberwolves send Cheick Diallo to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The Philadelphia 76ers use their trade exception over $ 905,249.

In addition to the details above, the Sixers sent out Domantas Sabonis. There were a lot of good moves this season and this one just didn’t measure up to the rest. Cheick Diallo didn’t play a game for the Sixers and was moved a few months later while Sabonis has started to show why he was a first round selection.

Other Notable Trades

The Philadelphia 76ers send T.J. Warren to the San Antonio Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs send Will Barton to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

This was a good deal for the Sixers. Barton came in and averaged over 12 points a game. Warren is a good, and probably underrated, player but was buried on a deep Spurs team, averaging 6 points a game in the regular season.

 

The Detroit Pistons send Gorgui Dieng to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send Derrick Favors to the Detroit Pistons. 
The Philadelphia 76ers send a 2nd-Rounder (Det) to the Detroit Pistons. 

This was a bit of a head scratcher trade. The Sixers gave up the best player in addition to a 2^nd round pick. Dieng didn’t play a game for the Sixers while Favors had a fairly successful season on both of his spots.

The Golden State Warriors send Dario Saric to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send Denzel Valentine to the Golden State Warriors. 
The Philadelphia 76ers send a 2nd-Rounder (Det) and 1st-Rounder (OKC) to the Golden State Warriors. 

The Sixers also sent out Eric Gordon in this deal. This was a great deal for the Sixers as Saric is looking like he’s about to blow up and be a top tier power forward.

Free Agency

Paul George (FA): This one will be easy. After what was given up for George, he’ll absolutely be retained.

Rodney Hood (RFA): This situation is a bit murky. Will he stay and will he go? The team is waiting for his NBA counterpart’s situation to settle before they determine whether or not he will be retained. He’s still young and has plenty of talent so this author’s money is on him being retained.

Rudy Gay (FA): As of this writing, Gay has declined his player option and, if signed, will be on a 1 year, $10 million deal. Will VT want to pay that for a 32 year old player? Will the cap space be there? He might get squeezed once George signs his mega-deal.

 

Star

This was tough. Should it go Paul George, who helped reinvigorate the team and got them over the hump into the playoffs? Or should it go to a guy like Damian Lillard who was a fixture for 69 games? Ultimately, Lillard was the choice. He was a key piece and the stable force at the point guard position for the team to rely on. Here are a few of his successes this season:

#25 in the NLL in Points per Game

#12 in 3 pointers made

#5 in Free-throw Percentage

#16 in Steals per Game

#13 in Assists per Game

 

The guy was a stud this year, plain and simple.

 

Goat

This one is simple. It’s Kawhi Leonard. Was he injured? Was he disgruntled? Who knows, but the fact remains that he didn’t suit up nearly enough for the organization. With that and the losses piling up, VT had had enough and shipped him out of town and got a star in return. That’s not what top players are paid to do.

Draft Grades (from Insider):

With the 13^th pick in the 2018 NLL Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Zhaire Smith! The Sixers wanted a SG and they got one. Bursting with athleticism, Smith brings that as well as an impressive defensive prowess to a squad that’s already got a ton of very talented players. Unfortunately, Smith is the latest Sixer to suffer an injury with a foot fracture. The timetable is still unclear on his return, hopefully it’s not the entire season.

Grade: B+

The Future

If you were to say that a top 10 player would get moved and the team does better afterwards, you’d have a lot of doubters. However, the Sixers finished the season red-hot and will have nearly all the pieces back from last season to prepare for another run. They will be another strong team in an already strong Eastern Conference. This team should be playoff bound with little doubt assuming everyone can stay healthy.