So I’m getting a shocking amount of pushback for this Tweet and I’m not sure why. The consensus seems to be that I’m wrong and that the Sixers should continue building through the draft. Even Jim disagrees, and coincidentally his pay just got lost in the mail [Jim’s note: Wait, you’ve been paying me all this time?].

It’s all in response to his post about The Ringer’s post, which speculates that the Sixers could trade Nerlens Noel and a whole bunch of draft picks for C.J. McCollum. Few things:

  1. Trading for McCollum or a player like McCollum is not mutually exclusive to continuing to build through the draft. Even with this proposed trade, the Sixers would still retain at least one lottery pick this year and potentially one in 2019, belonging to the Lakers and themselves, respectively, so it’s not like they’d forfeit the right to build through the draft by acquiring a player now, though obviously their draft position would fall with a much improved team.
  2. The notion that teams need to fully grow together is misplaced. Successful teams need a good mix of veterans, youngsters, and stars in their prime. McCollum is only 25 and as a scoring guard he’s also the sort of player who can be successful for at least another decade, so it’s not like he couldn’t develop with Embiid and Simmons. Bringing in a slightly older shooter with a few years under his belt would only be a benefit when the Sixers are ready to contend in 2-3 years.
  3. I wasn’t saying that the Sixers should acquire talent to win now – obviously they’re a few years off – but, rather than continue to rely solely on draft picks that are two or three years way, they should begin to focus on known entities to build with. A player like McCollum allows you to do that. He’s a young scoring guard averaging almost 24 points per game at a position the Sixers need to fill. There are not many players like McCollum on teams who have the exact opposite problem as the Sixers (too many guards).
  4. There are a few problems with continuing to rely solely on the draft. First of all, look how long it has taken to get to this point. How many picks or players have misfired, gotten hurt, become disgruntled, or otherwise left? This was the whole point of Sam Hinkie stockpiling assets– not all of them will pan out, but a few will. The Sixers happen to be in a decent but awkward position in that they have at least one NBA center who has some trade value and isn’t needed. There are no guarantees that you’ll be in a position to draft a player as good as McCollum, who’s already shown that he can succeed with a ball-dominant guard in Damian Lillard. Imagine how much he would thrive with Simmons, who’s more of a distributor, and a freak mutant like Embiid who can do just about anything on the floor? Second, if you do miss on one or two picks, all of a sudden you’ve kicked the can down the road a few more years (both because you missed out on draft picks and continue to not be a desirable landing spot for free agents), rookie contracts for Embiid and Simmons begin to expire, and one or both them decides they don’t want to be here, which is unlikely but certainly possible, especially with Simmons, who has a #brand to protect and nurture. At some point you have to start making a concerted effort to win, at least to keep your players happy. Bonus: if you have Embiid, Simmons and McCollum as a core, the Sixers would potentially be a playoff team next season, on their way to becoming a top seed in the East, and they would be able to lure an impact free agent in the offseason, with more than enough cap space to do it. They’d instantly be contenders.
  5. I think the argument to continue building through the draft assumes that Embiid and Simmons are not all-stars. Embiid, if healthy, can be a transformational player. And Simmons by all accounts is the best prospect over the last five years. I’d double down on them. There is a knee-jerk reaction among hardcore Hinkie zealots to hold on to assets. But just because you stroke yourself to the idea of Kings’ 2019 pick doesn’t mean the Sixers should build their team around it. I think it’s time to ride with Embiid and Simmons. I’m not arguing against continuing to build through the draft or wanting to draft Markelle Fultz this year, nor am I talking about exclusively about trading for McCollum, but it is time to start thinking about acquiring outside players who would be good fits going forward– McCollum is absolutely one of them.

I think the Sixers have the makings of a very good team already, assuming that Embiid remains healthy and Simmons is as-advertised (two things that are far from guaranteed). You keep one of Noel or Okafor (I’m with Jim and think they should keep Noel, but either would make for a good depth player). Dario Saric can be a solid, versatile NBA player. Robert Covington, who’s much maligned for his shot selection, is a lockdown defender who would see way more open shots on a better team. Add in McCollum, sprinkle in an impact free agent, and potentially two more lottery picks. Now tell me that’s not a team that can win.