Far from over, most interesting part of The Process is just beginning | David Murphy
Bryan Colangelo spoke about acquiring the No. 1 pick like a man whose hardest work lay ahead.
The man at the front of the room did not act like somebody riding the crest of a paradigm shift. Bryan Colangelo said he was excited, but he certainly did not sound it, or look it. It's not that he sounded or looked unexcited, or that the lack of emotion he conveyed was a marked departure from his usual keel. It's just that, well, this was it, wasn't it? The coup de grace, the big reveal, Danny Ocean at the water fountain after the perfect heist. In nature and the NBA, the law of threes rules supreme. Barely two hours earlier, Colangelo had landed his third, making official a trade with the Celtics that put the Sixers in position to add the consensus No. 1 pick in this year's draft to the two blue-chippers already in the fold. Yet the 76ers president spoke like a man whose hardest work lay ahead.
Perhaps that's because that's exactly who he was.
Given the trials and tribulations of the last four years, you could forgive the Sixers fan base its vindicatory, self-righteous ebullience as they envisioned a future in which Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz play to packed houses each night. You could forgive the media for allowing a bit of that excitement to trickle into Monday's post-trade news conference. For Colangelo, though, any enthusiasm he felt seemed muted by his understanding of the reality of the situation: The Sixers have a lot further to go than anybody except himself seems to realize.
That's realism more than it is skepticism, a disclaimer that might not be necessary, except for the bizarre polarization that has occurred in this market over the last four years regarding the Sixers and their Process. Fortunately, it's sports, and it's fun, and both sides seem to realize that this is not the sort of debate that should lead anybody to the barricades. But you don't have to squint too hard to glimpse some shades of the current political climate in the trajectory of the rhetoric exchange, with the Sam Hinkie-aligned progressives at times getting their backs so far up that they seem in danger of losing touch with the very realistic pragmatism that serves as the very basis of their movement.
If you want to spend your summer entertaining visions of Embiid-Simmons-Fultz as some sort of no-doubt-about-it Big Three, that's your right, and perhaps even your duty, as a fan. And it's perfectly understandable if doing so requires you to ignore the fact that the three have combined to play exactly 31 basketball games beyond their freshman regular seasons in college. But the man responsible for turning these raw ingredients into the finished product of your dreams does not have that luxury.
Colangelo has seen enough basketball to understand that these things often take more time than paying customers feel themselves obligated to provide. Throughout Monday's news conference, he offered subtle reminders of the unknowns that exist. Most daunting are the ones outside of anybody's control, i.e., the ones that involve such things as Simmons' right foot and Embiid's left knee.
One of the first questions Colangelo was asked regarded the team's approach to free agency, and whether the addition of Fultz might prompt him to be more aggressive. It was a fair question, but, really, the Sixers will barely have seen Simmons, Embiid and Fultz on the same court at the same time before free agency begins.
"That's not to say that we're not going to explore the marketplace this year, but it sure feels right that this group, this young core we are assembling, has a chance to grow together," Colangelo said. "And, again, assuming health and assuming the development of the players as we see it happening and project it out, you might see us (make a move). If the opportunity presents itself to add the key piece now, you have to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves. If we're just not ready, so be it. We can wait, as long as we maintain that flexibility, and that's going to be a key objective in this whole thing."
Even health is a nonissue, and even if the development of all three players progresses in a more or less linear fashion, a quick glance around the NBA reveals how much time these things sometimes take. Ask Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns, or D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle, or the New Orleans Pelicans. The Thunder won 23 games the first season Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played together.
If any of that strikes you as Debbie Downer talk, maybe it's your perspective that needs adjusting. Because this is going to be a fascinating time to follow this Sixers team, to watch Brett Brown and his staff coach up Embiid, Simmons and Fultz, to watch their bodies and their games mature, to watch Colangelo try to find the right mix of complements to surround them with, while also pursuing that big veteran transaction that might make the difference between the playoffs and legitimate contention. In some ways, fans of The Process are right to feel their vindication is nigh. But in other ways, the most interesting — and critical — part of the thing is just now beginning.