East No. 14 | Full List
No. 15: Philadelphia 76ers
Last Season: 18-64
14th place in East; missed playoffs
More than two years after hiring Sam Hinkie as GM and president of basketball operations and beginning a rebuilding effort unlike any seen before in NBA history, the Philadelphia 76ers remain in asset-accumulation mode.
The Sixers took a modest step forward during 2014-15, finding a useful starter near the minimum salary in forward Robert Covington and becoming competitive defensively. Still, a setback for 2014 No. 3 pick Joel Embiid and the decision to take another center (Duke's Jahlil Okafor) with this year's third pick means Philadelphia still appears to be at least another year away from moving up the standings.
Unlike 2013-14, when the 76ers unexpectedly started 3-0, last season's team struggled from the start. Philadelphia lost its first 17 games, coming within a game of matching the 2009-10 Nets for the worst start in NBA history, before beating the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 3.
The Sixers slowly made progress as rookie center Nerlens Noel became more comfortable coming back from a torn ACL. Noel's presence was the biggest reason Philadelphia improved from 27th to 13th in defensive rating. However, the Sixers' offense actually got worse. Relative to league average, Philadelphia had the third-lowest offensive rating since the ABA-NBA merger.
The offense might have been even more inept if not for the arrival of Covington, signed to a four-year contract for slightly more than $4 million after he was waived by the Houston Rockets at the end of training camp. Covington averaged 17.4 points per 36 minutes and made a team-high 167 3-pointers.
As Noel established himself as a cornerstone, the 76ers' other 2013 lottery pick was on the move. At the trade deadline, Hinkie sent 2013-14 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team deal that landed Philadelphia a protected pick originally belonging to the Los Angeles Lakers.