We the few loyal Sixers fans who've stuck with the team have so much emotionally invested in the drop of a few ping pong balls. I know being 2nd worse should have us in a good position to grab an elite talent, but I can't seem to get over my paranoia that things are about to go catastrophically wrong for us.
What has me so worried? The presence of the Lakers and the Celtics in the lottery with us. The NBA's two historically elite franchises, the standard bearers. Combined 33 titles. Half of the 67 titles in the NBA's history won by these two teams, and they are both down at the moment. Only once since 1949 have both missed the playoffs in the same year. If you are the NBA's corporate office, and your job is to maximize profit for the league as a whole, where do you want to place a budding superstar like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker? The modern NBA is driven by superstars, placing them in the situation where they can maximize their exposure maximizes profits.
Kobe is nearing the end of his career, what better to rejuvenate the old veteran than placing a budding superstar and his eventual successor as the face of the Lakers on the same roster? Kobe's unique personality traits might not make him the best mentor in the world, but it would definitely motivate him to get back to form, prove his alpha status again in the face of a young challenger.
Those Celtics Heat playoff series were great television. in a beleaguered Eastern Conference, what better way to build back up up one of your main foils to Lebron's supremacy than gifting Wiggins to the Celtics to pair with Rondo, have Wiggins take up Paul Pierce's old spot for the next decade?
Just think we are looking down the barrel of a '85 lottery, where Patrick Ewing gets handpicked to the Knicks. Know there's not a lot of empirical evidence to back this up, but would it really shock anyone if this one gets preordained?