Josh Harris, the Philadelphia 76ers’ managing owner, is an optimistic man.
Truth told, he has to be. Things haven’t been pretty in Philly of late. For him to sell fans on the Sixers’ direction, he needs to be upbeat, finding silver linings in the darkest of places. And that’s what he is doing.
Harris recently spoke with the media, and unlike general manager Sam Hinkie, he was candid in his comments. We’re going to take a look at his best hits, which we’ve plucked straight from the Twitter feed of Calkins Media’s Tom Moore.
We begin here, with Harris acknowledging progress:
#Sixers Harris: 'When I look around, you can sort of feel the progress that we're making.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
#Sixers Josh Harris: 'I'm an impatient person. At the same time, there aren't shortcuts.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
#Sixers Harris on wanting to win now: 'I'm a human being. I'm a very competitive person. Not winning now is really tough on me.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
Honest enough. But the Sixers have won just 37 games over the last two seasons. It’s difficult to see progress in that performance.
And yet, Harris apparently does, most notably in the job coach Brett Brown has done:
#Sixers Harris: 'I give Brett an A for the job he's done. He's an incredible player development person.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
#Sixers Josh Harris: 'I hope and expect Brett to be around the team for a long, long time.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
No pushback here. Brown has spent his first two seasons at helm dealing with a musical roster, enjoying little to no continuity. And it’s not easy to coach under those circumstances, when you have to keep players who most likely aren’t a part of your future engaged. Brown deserves love for merely ensuring the Sixers’ locker room hasn’t become a breeding ground for rumors and speculation and general public dissatisfaction.
For what it’s worth, Harris also gave Hinkie a (slight) pat on the back:
#Sixers Harris: 'When I think of Sam's (trade) batting average, it's pretty good.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
I mean, sure. Yeah. Hinkie is the king of acquiring future assets (specifically second-rounders). But only one of those assets (Nerlens Noel) has really turned into anything. We’re still waiting on most of what Hinkie has done to either pan out or flame out.
Operating in the gray area, however, is apparently good enough. Harris made it clear Hinkie has engendered possibilities, and those possibilities have created hope, even if it’s not unwavering hope:
#Sixers Harris: 'We're building a reservoir (of talent). I think we're getting there.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
Embiid, who will miss a second straight season due to injury, is part of that talent reservoir. He won’t make his debut until his third season, but Harris nonetheless says his prognosis is, under the circumstances, as good as it can be:
#Sixers Harris: 'When we drafted Joel, it was a good risk to take. I was really disappointed (when found out needed 2nd foot surgery).'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
#Sixers Harris: When you talk to the doctors (about Embiid), they're quite optimistic. You have to hope for the best & prepare 4 the worst.'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
Would Harris backtrack on picking Embiid at all, though, given the opportunity? It’s one thing to wax optimism when you have no other choice, but what if he and the Sixers were given a choice?
What’s that? They’d do it all over again. Okay.
#Sixers Harris on Embiid pick: 'Based on all of the available information at the time, it was still the right choice to make, .'
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 1, 2015
Takeaway from all this: Patience and process are still at the forefront of the Sixers’ rebuild. They pretty much know what they have in Noel, so they’re trying to figure out what they have in Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, Dario Saric and the draft-pick armory Hinkie has fully stocked.
In other words, it’s rebuilding as usual in Philly.
