With talented young core and free-agent signees, Philadelphia is a playoff contender.
The word "process" means different things to different people, and no one knew that better than the Philadelphia 76ers.
On one hand, it represented hope _ the hope that the team had a direction, a plan to transform not only into winners but into champions. And on the other, it represented losses _ a whole bunch of them.
Philadelphia lost 199 basketball games from 2013 to 2016 before breaking through _ and this is in the most relative sense _ for a 28-win season in 2017. The losing, largely, was intentional, with the front office putting young, inexpensive players on the court while improving their odds to get the top draft choices _ hoping that it would all lead to something special.
And if the picks they made didn't work, the pushed the timetable back.
They dealt rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams when it became clear he wasn't the star they were searching for. When Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons suffered injuries, they sat them out for seasons instead of weeks, using as much caution as possible. And when a young player, like Jahlil Okafor, wasn't working out, they quickly moved on, jettisoning him to the second unit.
The architect of the process, Sam Hinkie, isn't with the team today _ the burden of losing covering any light at the end of the process' tunnel. But his vision has been kept alive by Embiid and the city, and now, the plan now seems ready to work.
Saturday, the team came to terms with veterans J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, moves that heavily bolster what's become one of the top young cores in the Eastern Conference, if not the league.
Earlier this summer, the team traded up to select Washington's Markelle Fultz with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Dario Saric and Embiid finished second and third, respectively, in last season's rookie of the year voting. And the top pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Simmons, has yet to even play in a professional game.
Hope is suddenly abundant.
Philadelphia agreed to sign Redick to a one-year, $23 million deal that gives the 33-year-old former Clipper a massive payday while allowing him to re-enter free agency next season. It gives him the chance to play near his newly constructed home in Brooklyn. And, it gives Philadelphia a dead-eyed shooter who can school a young roster on the work required to be a professional.
To celebrate the deal, Redick Tweeted his new team's credo. "Trust the process," he wrote.
The one-year deals given to Redick and Johnson, a hard-nosed reserve who'll earn $11 million, could be a clue into what the Los Angeles Lakers, who would likely admit to being slightly behind Philadelphia in their rebuild, could do with their summer.
Redick and Johnson bring credibility to the locker room and both players' deals don't hamper the teams' long-term ability to re-sign their own stars or big-name free agents down the line.
Redick, in particular, is an excellent fit in Philadelphia.
He'll provide excellent spacing for Fultz, Simmons and Embiid with his endless movement off the ball _ something former coach Doc Rivers liked to call "an offense to itself."
Redick averaged 15.8 points per game in his four seasons with the Clippers, but re-signing with the team never seemed like a possibility.
And by moving East, the opposite of players like Paul George and Jimmy Butler who just got traded into the highly competitive Western Conference, Redick and the 76ers have an excellent chance to snap a five-year playoff drought _ the second longest in the franchise's rich history.
With the power balance shifted hard to the West, Redick's signing actually made the 76ers favorites to make the playoffs at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
The process isn't complete _ Redick won't push them past the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics and he sure won't get them past the Golden State Warriors _ but the signing signals a significant culture change.
Philadelphia is ready to press the accelerator pedal on their process.
