The 76ers open the second half of their 2013-14 season Wednesday night, and it will be very interesting to see what happens over the next three months, both on and off the court.
They’ve dropped seven of their last eight games, and several recent losses have been a bit ugly, but otherwise, the Sixers have exceeded almost everyone’s expectations over the first half of the season. The won-lost record at the midpoint stands at 13-28. While that’s not great, a lot of the team’s fans and several of us in the media wondered if they’d win that many games over the entire first season of the Brett Brown era.
For fans hoping to see the Sixers get two lottery picks in the June draft, the season is working out just the way they’d want. At this writing, the 76ers own the NBA’s third-worst record (behind only Milwaukee and Orlando), while the New Orleans Pelicans are seventh-worst. As you may recall, the 2013 draft-day deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Big Easy landed Philadelphia another first-round pick, as long as the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs and the pick isn’t among the top five. So, if the Sixers and Pelicans continue on their current course – and the ping-pong balls cooperate – your hometown team would have two high picks in what’s supposed to be a pretty deep draft, even if Duke’s Jabari Parker decides to stay put for another year of seasoning.
Bright spots over the first half: Obviously, the major positive has been the speedy development of rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams. MCW is averaging 17.5 points and 6.7 assists through the first half of the campaign, and already has the poise of a veteran. He’s 22 years old, and should only get better over the next decade. Carter-Williams’ backup, Tony Wroten, has also been a pleasant surprise, averaging 13.0 points and 3.3 assists off the bench. Wroten, who suffered a right-ankle sprain last weekend in a loss to the Bulls, is still a kid at age 20.
The Sixers have also been getting career years out of both Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes, who are averaging 18.3 and 14.1 points, respectively. The 7-foot Hawes has even become a solid three-point shooter, at 41.3%. Still, it remains a good bet that Turner or Hawes (or both) will be sent packing before the NBA’s Feb. 20 trade deadline.
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Tags: 76ers, Brett Brown, Evan Turner, Jim Chesko, Michael Carter-Williams, NBA, Nerlens Noel, Philly Sports News, Sam Hinkie, Spencer Hawes, Talk Sports Philly, Thaddeus Young, Tony Wroten
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