Future Sixers leaders, MCW and Nerlens Noel

WHEN YOU REALLY break it down the two big story lines this year when it comes the 76ers aren't hard to find. One is the starting point guard who garnered rookie of the year honors last season and the other centers around the wonderfully athletic big man obtained in a surprising draft-night trade only to sit out his first season recovering from a knee injury.

Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel are this year's 76ers. Sure there are peripheral pieces that will develop some interest during the 82-game season, which begins tomorrow night in Indianapolis, but if you are to believe in the plan that general manager Sam Hinkie has laid out, these two are the keys.

Their on-court development will be easy to see as Carter-Williams tries to improve a suspect shot after having offseason shoulder surgery for a torn labrum. Coach Brett Brown will be looking for the second-year Syracuse product to cut down on the 3.5 turnovers he averaged a season ago but increase his averages of 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds.

For Noel, it will be a matter of learning the NBA game and where he fits. He probably will find more of a comfort zone once he's paired with Joel Embiid, but for now it will be about him learning to get some sort of offense going in the half-court, wreaking havoc as a rim protector on the defensive end and running the floor for lobs and easy baskets in the team's frenzied transition game.

Those are easy areas to measure the growth of these two important pieces, but there is so much more. With such a transient roster and many players who won't be here when this plan comes to fruition, Carter-Williams, 23, and Noel, 20, not only have to be the product, they have to sell it, too. They are the faces of the franchise now, and with that comes great responsibility not only on the court but off it as well.

It will be a huge leap for second-year players and changes will have to be made, particularly with Noel, who has had issues with tardiness during his time as a Sixer.

"[I want them] to understand the responsibility and privilege they really have to help build the foundation and cornerstones of our culture," coach Brown said. "They have a real opportunity to come in and lead in that area. I have to coach them there, too. We talk always about development and invariably we all sort of say that they can shoot better or they can defend better, but it's all-consuming, the development in a bunch of areas. I will look for those two to start assuming the responsibility of the growth of a culture.

"They're going to have to be [ready for it] and I think that it's going to be up to me to give them realistic goals and coach them in areas that they can experience success. Some of that doesn't mirror up to their age, what true leaders do. So I've got to be smart with where I ask them to lead and how they lead and coach them to lead. Just think about what a massive statement that is. If somebody gave you the responsibility of trying to develop young leaders, what does that mean? We have answers, I think, that can help educate them on what that means, off the court, too."

Carter-Williams started his career with a veteran squad, proven NBA players who had been through the rigors of the NBA. He started with a flourish, guiding the team to a season-opening win against the reigning champions and two more in succession. He could watch and learn most of the time and mostly concentrate on his own game. Then came the trades of vets Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner during the season, and the dealing of Thaddeus Young in the offseason. Now he is the wily vet, after all of 70 games played in the league. And his partner in leadership, Noel, will play his first contest tomorrow.

"I see Michael [maturing] from leadership," Brown said. "I see him coming into a gym now and he doesn't see Spencer or Thaddeus or Evan or Lavoy [Allen] or James Anderson. He sees either his peers or people that are younger than him or with less experience. He's the rookie of the year. That comes with a little bit of a tag, a target on his back. He knows that, he's smart. I see a growth from a leadership perspective, more of a reality perspective. I think that Nerlens is still trying to find his way. He's quiet by nature and so I think his leadership is going to come from example, defensively, blocking shots. Those type of things, making a statement with energy. I see it more from a voice in a settling aspect with Michael than I do with Nerlens, which is the way it should be."

Your leaders, your future, your faces of the organization, Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel.

The Sixers traded forward Arnett Moultrie to the New York Knicks yesterday for a second-round pick in 2019 and Travis Outlaw, who was then cut yesterday along with Elliot Williams and Marquis Teague. The Sixers also acquired the right to swap the Clippers' second-round pick in 2018 (which the Sixers own) with the Knicks' second-round pick that year . . . They also signed free-agent forward Malcolm Thomas, a 6-9 rebounder who has bounced around the league in his 3 years . . . The team announced it reached a multiyear agreement to renew its broadcast partnership with 97.5 The Fanatic.