Patience is a dirty word among morons who cover the Sixers. The younger “pro-process” people preach it, and the older, “Hinkie was the antichrist” people respond to it like you just spit upon their Lord and Savior Larry Brown’s grave.

In the time Bryan Colangelo has been here, he’s drafted Ben Simmons, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Furkan Korkmaz. He’s signed Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson Jr., and Sergio Rodriguez. Simmons, the best NBA prospect to come along since the last best NBA prospect on the Sixers, ended up breaking his foot. Here’s the things Sam Hinkie would have done differently:

tumbleweed

He would have signed that tumbleweed to a team friendly deal.

But maybe the lack of overtly anti-Hinkie moves is what has John Smallwood all upset like someone ate all his Halloween candy and only left Whoppers behind. WHOPPERS. Colangelo has yet to do anything his predecessor wouldn’t have done, and maybe that’s why some people have a problem with it:

Smallwood laid out his feelings in 23 paragraphs, 18 of which are one sentence long:


While Hinkie was not as transparent about his plan to intentionally field some of the worst rosters in NBA history, to intentionally lose games in an effort to game the NBA’s lottery system, he did state from the beginning this was a rebuilding project. He refused to hint at what improvement would look like and when it might actually begin to happen.

When Colangelo was formally introduced as Hinkie’s replacement in April, he knew he was taking over a franchise that was coming off a 10-72 season and was 47-199 in the previous three, yet he still said, “I really want to make sure that everyone understands this is a transition from this measured rebuilding process to sustainable winning.”

The Sixers’ 0-2 start, which included a hot-mess, 32-point loss to a solid but not elite Atlanta Hawks squad, has me with a raised eyebrow already about that commitment.

So, two games is enough to have real serious questions about Bryan Colangelo’s commitment to winning? With Hinkie, the media flipped on him because of his lack of accessibility. Lil’ Bryan hasn’t even had time to shun them yet. It’s been TWO GAMES. A majority of the fan base only watched one of them. But let’s go on:

Of course, it is ridiculously early to make an evaluation but other than selecting Ben Simmons, the near consensus No. 1 overall pick, with the No. 1 overall pick that dropped into his lap, what has Colangelo done that supports a transition to “sustainable winning?”

With Simmons injured, the best thing about the Sixers has been the start of twice red-shirt center Joel Embiid – whom Colangelo inherited from the Hinkie era.

He also was grandfathered Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Richaun Holmes, Nerlens Noel, Nik Stauskas, Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson, Jerami Grant and T.J. McConnell.

With the exception of Simmons, Colangelo has yet to upgrade this roster through his own manipulations.

He did not find a way to trade back up into the draft to select another high-potential rookie and the other two first-round picks he made, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Furkan Korkmaz, are long-term projects in the Hinkie mindset.

While Colangelo’s free-agent signees – Gerald Henderson, Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodridguez – are better than any Hinkie signed, that’s not saying much. All three are still no better than proven NBA backups for teams that are just halfway decent.

Ah yes. The “he didn’t totally blow up the team – which he flat-out said he wasn’t going to do – in order to desperately take a jump at the eight seed – which he flat-out said he wasn’t going to do – so he must be HELD ACCOUNTABLE” argument. Aliens have exhibited a better ability to interpret meaning behind our phrasing. And God forbid Colangelos takes two projects in the mid to late 20s, pretty much the reason picks like that exist, of a shallow draft.

I guess what has me on edge is, I look at this roster as a whole and see much of the same. The flaws in the previous rosters are still here.

Yes, because he didn’t foolishly blow up an entire team before two of its brightest pieces in years ever got the chance to play together. This is a good thing.

Colangelo knows the gaping wounds the Sixers have but thus far he’s only applied Band-Aids…

It’s not necessarily about wins, although some would be nice. It’s about what a roster like this does to help cripple the future…

The answer cannot be just to wait until Simmons gets healthy enough. He’s likely to be as hampered by this collection as Okafor and Noel were in their first two seasons.

Colangelo has been around this league long enough to know that it does not serve the present or the future if his potential young stars can’t develop properly because of a flawed roster.

They need to be nurtured from the beginning.

Hinkie was fine with being bad because it was the key to his long-range goal. Colangelo, however, said the Sixers were beyond that and now committed to moving to the next phase.

It’s way early to come to a conclusion, but so far it looks like Colangelo needs to be more aggressive in moving “toward sustainable winning.”

Here is where Smallwood gets into his patented “make counter-intuitive points that don’t make sense, throw some bullshit in there, aaannnddd fin” segment. Wins don’t matter right now – they really don’t – but some would be nice. Some. After two games. The Sixers are 0-2, which is totally fine, but John Smallwood would really rather they be 2-0. Because he sees the big picture. He’s a smart boy. And it’s “way early to come to a conclusion,” but Colangelo needs to make huge strides toward “sustainable winning” by the time Ben Simmons returns from injury, lest his entire career be stunted by losses. Like Allen Iverson’s career famously was when his team lost 56 games in his rookie campaign and then he never recovered and was very bad. Or the 53 losses the NBA’s greatest current prospect, Karl-Anthony Towns, suffered in his rookie year. Or Steph Curry’s 55. Or Kevin Durant’s 61. All careers ruined. SAD!

The only reason for panic this season, at all, is injury. An Embiid reinjury? Pure panic mode. Simmons comes back and immediately gets hurt again? Walk to the ledge and write as many shit columns as you want. But decrying a guy you BEGGED FOR, because the Sixers are 0-2 without their #1 pick – a pick they earned by being the worst team in basketball for three years – is almost at a new level of columnist bullshit. Almost.