Philly Front Office

DISCLAIMER: This story was written a while back, but was buried in something else so it has been repurposed.

One of the worst things that could happen to an athlete negatively affected both franchises on this day. It was game 1 of the first-round playoff series pitting the #1 seed Bulls vs the #8 seed Sixers. This was the day that reigning MVP Derrick Rose tore his ACL late in the game and was lost not only for the series, but most of the next two seasons as well. For Rose, his career was never the same. For the Sixers, they may have lost the game, but the path to winning the series opened up dramatically as Chicago lost its best player and team icon. This was the start of a dreadful 12-month period that saw a mediocre team gut itself and completely collapse after inexplicably believing that beating a good team without its best players is an accomplishment.

August 10, 2012: The Sixers Trade for Andrew Bynum

As if the Rose loss wasn’t bad enough, Joakim Noah was lost for the series in Game 3 as well. By Game 6, the fully healthy Sixers were up 3 games to 2 on an outmanned Bulls team. This was the lockout shortened season that saw the Bulls go 50-16 behind Rose, Noah, and a great defense. The Sixers were 35-31 with a squad full of Robins without a Batman. With 25 seconds left in a back-and-forth affair, Omar Asik made a dunk to go up 78-75 making a Game 7 back in Chicago look all but inevitable. However, Thad Young brought the Sixers to within 1 on a pass from Jrue Holiday with 12 seconds left followed by Asik getting fouled and bricking BOTH free throws with 7 seconds left! Asik fouled Andre Iguodala who nailed both his free throws to give the Sixers a completely improbable series win. It was the worst thing that could have happened.

The Sixers faced the Celtics the next round, ultimately losing in a very close 7 games. The result of this unlikely mini-run? Sixers new ownership thought they were close, just a player away, from contention. James Harden was traded that summer, but not to the Sixers. Instead, it was Andrew Bynum coming from the Lakers while the Sixers sent out Iguodala, Moe Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, and a first round pick. Just as Derek Rose wouldn’t play the entire next season for the Bulls, Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers.

Obviously, the worst part of this trade was that Andrew Bynum was hurt when the trade was made and the Sixers decided health was a risk they were willing to take (along with Bynum very obviously hating basketball). However, this ignores that to make the trade, the team detonated what made it special. All those sidekicks needed a leader, but even at full health, a good NBA leader still needs sidekicks. The Sixers screwed that up by trading away Iguodala and Vucevic. Iguodala ended up playing one season in Denver before moving to the Warriors where he would end up winning 4 championships as the best Robin possible. Hell, he even won a Finals MVP.

Darkest Timeline Excerpt: What if the Sixers Traded for James Harden Instead of Andrew Bynum?

Of course, this led to Sam Hinkie and the Process, but so much lost time with the Sixers as well. As for the Bulls, Rose would play 10 games over the next two years and was never again close to the MVP he was before the injury. The once franchise cornerstone was out of Chicago by age 27. The Bulls have only won 2 playoff series since this game and have been mired in mediocrity. The Sixers can’t claim much more success themselves. Despite all the change, and the tanking, and the draft picks, and the trades, and the free agents, they haven’t advanced any further than this rag tag bunch of Robins did 14 years ago.