LeBron’s Homecoming Changes Everything for the Sixers

BY PAUL MANCANO – ESPN deemed LeBron James’ announcement of his return to Cleveland SO important that it was deserving of the entire sidebar. Just a giant picture of LeBron in a Cavs jersey where the rest of the headlines should have been. There it stood for pretty much the rest of the day. Baseball, World Cup, and other NBA signing news be damned, clearly this was the only sporting news of July 11, 2014.

Sixers Have Many Eggs in Many Baskets

Don’t worry, the picture will make sense in a bit.

BY PAUL MANCANO – Much has been made of Sixers’ general manager Sam Hinkie’s fearless trust in injured big men and foreign players who are taking their sweet old time in getting to the States. So far, he’s got a team of cripples and placeholders. Oh, and Michael Carter-Williams. That’s not exactly the typical blueprint for success.

NBA Draft Moosedown Part III: Fans Will Endure

BY PAUL MANCANO – Sixers fans are pissed. Just turn on WIP, you’ll hear the outrage. Another year of tanking? Hinkie doesn’t know what it’s doing. We’ll never be good!

That seems to be the sentiment of some very angry, very vocal haters of the Sam Hinkie regime. Apparently, drafting the best player available is a crime punishable by public shaming on radio stations and Twitter. Less aggressive dissenters use phrases like “It’s a tough sell” and “the strategy is questionable.”

NBA Draft Moosedown Part I: Hinkie is Unflappable

BY PAUL MANCANO – Good news, Sixers fans: NBADraft.net has 18-year-old center Jahlil Okafor, who “has been described by some pundits as having amongst the best set of post skills ever seen on the high school level,” going to the Sixers 2^nd overall in 2015.

Let’s get #TankforJahlil trending on Twitter.

Possible Sixers Draft Night Moves Rated on a Scale of Craig Sager’s Suits

BY PAUL MANCANO – I initially had the intention of writing a nihilistic, “we are all just grains of sand” NBA Draft post when the Joel Embiid foot stuff sent NBA mock drafters reeling. I had about three paragraphs about how little our personal opinions matter to Sam Hinkie and how nobody really knows how good any of these prospects will be, so why do we cling to such strong opinions? But I stopped, looked over it, and realized that I was being a Debbie Mooser.

Why Philly Loves Hinkie

By Paul Mancano – Wiggins, Embiid, Parker. Or Embiid, Wiggins, Parker. Or maybe Wiggins, Parker, Embiid. It depends on which mock draft you check, which Chad Ford article you read. Will any of them turn out to be long-term productive NBA players? Who knows. Does it matter? Yes, but not right now.