When former 76ers GM Sam Hinkie took over the team back in 2013, he hoped to build a winner, but to do some winning, Hinkie essentially believed you had to do a little losing to get an opportunity at the top players in the NBA Draft. Hinkie became the author of “The Process.”
While Hinkie did not see “The Process” all the way through(resigned in 2016), he did the leave the team in good shape. Hinkie was able to get a franchise caliber player in Joel Embiid, and he set the team up to draft another cornerstone piece in Ben Simmons. Those two guys helped the 76ers win 52 games and a round in the playoffs last season. Furthermore, Hinkie acquired the picks that were used to help the 76ers move up and draft Markelle Fultz, who the 76ers are relying on to have a bounce-back season in year two.
Former Sixers star Thad Young, who played in year one of “The Process,” knows firsthand what it was like to play on a team that was put together to lose.
‘I knew it was a “tank” situation, but at the end of the day, I went out there and played as hard as I could, and continued to come in and do the work. And help try to show the young guys that this is what you need to do in order to stay around this league and stick around in this league,” Young recently told the Go4it Podcast back in May. “Of course, I knew I was going out there taking a knife to a gun fight, but at the end of the day, those players, who I played with my last year in Philly. They all came to work each and every day. They all played hard, and they all got better as individuals, and they all continued to try to play throughout the circumstances or anything that was going on.”
While Young was a “good soldier” during that time, he relied on his coaches to get him through those rough times:
“We didn’t let the tank situation, “The Process” or anything like that interfere with what we were trying to do as individuals and trying to do as a team,” Young explained. “I played for Brett(Brown); he helped me through that situation. Coach Pierce, who is now up for a head coaching job(hired by the Atlanta Hawks as head coach), those guys were great as far as coming in working each and every day and helping us get through it.
‘Me personally, “The Process,” I did not really believe in that. That’s why I went out and played hard. I could have camped out and said, ‘You know what, I’m packing it in.’ But that’s not who I am as a player. I’m a guy who is going to go out there and try to perform to the best of my ability each and every night, and do exactly what I need to do as a player.”
Young approached the situation like it was an audition for other teams. A mindset that helped him during those dark days.
“When you’re in a situation like that, you know that there’s a potential that you could be outta there the following year, or you’re going to be outta there the following year. Then, you start trying to look at it as an audition for all other teams,” Young explained. “So, you go out there and try to help your team win games, but in the process, show that you could be a valuable piece going forward on another team, also.”
Did “The Process” work? Young seems to believe it did work on some level:
“They reaped the benefits now. Three or four years down the line they’re winning games,” Young said. “They won 50 plus games(52) this year and were able to get to the playoffs and get to the second round, so they’ve done a great job of going out there and making it work and figuring it out now. At the end of the day, at some point, every bad team has to get good, right?”
After the 2013-14 season, Young was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So, what makes “The Process” a success? Does it mean winning a title? If so, “The Process” still has some work to do, but it’s safe to say, they are on the right track.
Listen below as Young talks “The Process” at the 15:20 mark:
Leave a Reply