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January 27, 2016
The Philadelphia 76ers have been on a pretty nice run since Ish Smith joined the fold on Christmas Eve, going 6-9 in their last 15 games. At the bottom of the NBA standings, that is basically the equivalent of the Golden State Warriors’ winning streak to start the season.
What will this mean when it’s time to dive into the ping-pong balls? Let’s jump right into it.
At least for draft purposes, it’s a good thing they started 1-30, huh? With the Sixers only 1.5 games behind (or ahead, depending on how you look at it) the Lakers in standings, there is a good chance that they again don’t finish the season with the worst record in the NBA. From here, that is a worthy trade-off for better Jahlil Okafor/Nerlens Noel development.
That said, the Kings are a downright respectable team with Boogie in the lineup. In the race for the eighth seed in the west, they only trail the Portland Traliblazers by percentage points. At least for 2016, the pick swap possibility is on life support.
.@AnthonyIrwinLA is worried about the lasting impact Byron might have on the Lakers. https://t.co/Pgl7t57gni pic.twitter.com/fnjaaQDAJA
— Silver Screen & Roll (@LakersSBN) January 27, 2016
Byron said he sat D'Angelo in the final moments bc he thought he was trying to take over the game
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 27, 2016
Byron Scott denies challenging Instagram hater to a fight, says he was hacked: https://t.co/lBvVtezgd6
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) January 27, 2016
The Lakers very well could finish with the worst record. And the more that you take a look at the middle of this year’s lottery — Earlier this week, I wrote about Kris Dunn — there is an argument to be made for wanting the pick to roll over to next year and a supposedly loaded class. De’Aaron Fox, anyone?
Either way, it’s looking like “four or bust” for 2016.
(Forgive me, but I’m just going to copy and paste what I wrote last time for this section. It still holds up.)
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann