NBA Draft 2013: With Nerlens Noel and No Jrue Holiday, the Sixers Will Tank in 2014

This will not be a cohesive post, but I wanted to get some analysis up before more things happened. The Sixers have traded Jrue Holiday and the 42nd overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for the rights to Nerlens Noel and a lottery-protected 2014 first round pick. There has been some dispute about how much protection the pick has on it (1-3 or 1-5?), but it seems like they'll get a lottery pick next year from the Pelicans.

First thought: OH MY GOD SAM HINKIE.

Second thought: This is an excellent trade. I love Jrue. Love him. I had planned on giving my first son the middle name Jrue. He's excellent.

But he was going to keep the Sixers from truly tanking. He's too good. That Sam Hinkie found a way to move him for an undervalued asset (Nerlens Noel with an injury) and a RIDICULOUS lottery pick in one of the best upcoming drafts in recent memory is fantastic. They will be bad next year. They will be very, very bad.

And that's excellent. They have a plan. Sam Hinkie was not afraid to push all of his chips right into the center of the table, drop his pants, and take a dump all over the previous regime. The Sixers are in great hands. It'll take some time, but we already have two players of our future championship core. Michael Carter-Williams is a guy analytics guys love. If he can develop a jumper, he's a major steal.

I don't have any limbs left. But this time, they've been detached out of excitement and joy and just being floored. Expect Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes to be on notice.

No one is safe. Sam Hinkie forever. Andrew Wiggins 2014. Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams, you guys.

Oh and Andrew Bynum is gone. For sure.