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Ish Smith is killing the Sixers’ plans
- Updated: January 18, 2016
This man is single-handedly ruining everything the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t work hard for.
The Philadelphia 76ers are historically awful.
They’re the worst team I’ve ever seen in the NBA, and I saw the 2005 Knicks. (And let me tell you…if you ever saw the ’05 Knicks, you can’t un-see them. I still have nightmares about Eddy Curry sweating off a hangove–you know what? Let’s just move on).
RELATED: A poem about Ish Smith’s greatness
But unlike those Knicks, who were sabatoged by G.M. Isiah Thomas, the Sixers are supposed to be bad. They’re trying to lose, with the idea that losing big now will lead to winning big later.
Most fans don’t have the patience for this somewhat ingenious plan, especially in Philadelphia, which might be the worst city in America to try it, and that’s why G.M. Sam Hinkie is getting booed like Santa Claus there. The Sixers even brought in veteran front office executive Jerry Colangelo to try and make the team better in the short term (maybe under the NBA’s orders).
Enter Ish Smith, a six-foot journeyman guard who has played for nine different teams in five NBA seasons. Smith, unlike much of the Sixers’ roster, is a real NBA player, and in his time in Philly, he’s quintupled the team’s win total. Philadelphia had one win when they traded for Ish on Christmas Eve. They have FIVE now.
He’s averaged 17 points and 7.8 assists per game with the Sixers, and has shown incredible ball skills, a silky-smooth jump shot, some guts, and clear veteran leadership. With him in the lineup, and with big men Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel steadily improving, this team isn’t terrible. They just punked the Trail Blazers, 114-89, on Saturday night.
Instead of being the clear-cut worst team in the league, Philadelphia might now lose lottery balls to the Lakers, who currently have nine wins.
If Ish Smith single-handedly carries the Sixers to like, 11 wins instead of 8, and they lose out on Ben Simmons in the NBA Draft lottery, fans ought to be pissed, right? They should be choking on their hoagies.
So what’s the point of playing him, then?
What’s the point of anything, really?
It’s painful to think about, Sixers fans, but Ish Smith is hurting your team.
Even as he’s making them somewhat watchable for the first time since this whole “process” began.
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