Philly Front Office

To narrow down the worst day in Sixers history seems like a monumental task. There’s the Kawhi shot, the day we chose Al Horford and Tobias Harris over Jimmy Butler, when Ben Simmons failed to mangle Trea Young’s face with the most ferocious dunk in recorded history, how about Markelle Fultz for Jayson Tatum anyone? How young we all are with those thoughts! In reality, the worst day in Sixers history predates anything in The Process era by almost 30 years. June 16th, 1986 is a day old-head Sixers fans would slam their door on you for even mentioning.

THE Calendar

Let’s set the scene. The Sixers won the 1983 NBA Finals in dominant fashion with the combined team wide excellence of Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Mo Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones. Dr. J was 32 and Jones was 31, but the other 3 were firmly in their primes. The following year didn’t go as well with a first round playoff exit, but the team had a few things going for it. Shockingly, they planned ahead.

Back in 1978, the Sixers traded World B. Free to the San Diego Clippers for a future 1st Round pick. This was not a good trade at the time. Free ended up blossoming in San Diego and becoming one of the preeminent scorers in the NBA. However, by the 1983-84 season, he was long gone. It just so happened that this was the year that 1st Round Pick became due and the Clippers had the 5th worst record in the league. You know what happened. Hakeem went #1, Jordan went #3, and then the Sixers selected Charles Barkley at #5 and Tom Sewell at #22.¹ Wait, who? We’ll get to him.

The 1984 NBA Draft

So now the 1984-85 Sixers have rookie Charles Barkley to go with all those vets. The team finished 58-24 but lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The following year was a little worse at 54-28 and we lost in the 2nd round to the Bucks in 7 games. All was not lost though.

When I said the Sixers planned ahead, I did not only mean the future Charles Barkley trade. Remember Tom Sewell? Well, the Sixers traded him to the Washington Bullets the day after the 1984 Draft for a future 1988 First Round pick. He would go on to have a robust NBA career of 20 points in 21 games. Great trade. In 1979, that same Clippers team tried to add to its World B. Free core by trading another future #1 to the Sixers for Jelly Bean Bryant. This one came due in 1986. Well, the Clippers were still bad in 1986, but unfortunately for them, they were very lucky. They won the Draft Lottery which was in its 2nd year. Yes, thanks to Kobe’s Dad, the Sixers had the #1 pick in the 1986 Draft.

The Sixers had their choice of center Brad Daugherty out of UNC and small forward Len Bias out of Maryland. Considering they already had Barkley and Moses Malone was now 31, taking Daugherty was the easy choice. Daugherty would go on to average roughly 20-10 for his career and make 5 All-Star teams. Obviously none of that came with the Sixers.

On the morning of June 17th, 1986, Charles Barkley woke up to a phone call from his agent. While he probably knew that this had something to do with the Draft that was to take place that night, there’s no way he could have realized what was coming. His agent told him the team had made two trades the night before:

• Moses Malone was traded to the Washington Bullets with 1985 first round pick Terry Catledge, their own 1986 first, and Washington’s own 1988 First (from the Sewell swindle) for Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson.
• The #1 pick in that night’s draft had been traded to the Cavaliers for Roy Hinson

Moses had been a father figure to Charles and he was not happy. These trades were a total disaster and he clairvoyantly knew it. Let’s break them down…

Leaving Philly

• Moses Malone – The Chairman of the Boards still had 4 more seasons of 20/10 level production in him including an All-NBA Second Team and Top 10 MVP finish that first year in Washington. Remember, the Sixers gave up the farm in this trade
• Terry Catledge – a productive role player for 8 years including 19/8 in 1990
• 1986 First – The 21st pick was a guy named Anthony Jones, but the Sixers would have had their choice of Scott Skiles (#22), Arvydas Sabonis (#24), Mark Price (#25), and Dennis Rodman (#27).
• 1988 Washington First – The pick landed at #12 and the Bullets selected Harvey Grant. Horace’s twin brother and Jerami’s father would have been just fine with his 3 year peak of 18/7, but Thunder Dan Majerle was taken 2 picks later. He would later go on to help Barkley make the Finals in Phoenix as a solid all around player, defender, and 3-point shooter.
• Brad Daugherty – We already went into it, but Daugherty starred in the middle for the Cavs for around 9 years and gave the Jordan Bulls their biggest fits in their first championship runs.

Coming In

• Jeff Ruland – If you don’t already know the story, you are not prepared for what you are about to read. Ruland was a proto-Jokic type of center who was able to shoot, rebound, and pass. In the 1983-84 season he put it all together to average 22 points, 12 boards, and 4 assists to finish 9th in MVP voting. The next season though, he hurt his foot. He was still good when he played, but he missed most of that season and the next one too. The Sixers knew he was in pain because they beat him in the playoffs that year. Still, they made the trade, I suppose, without ever giving him a physical. He would play 5 games for the Sixers before retiring. He tried to make a comeback 5 years later, but only played in 13 more games with the team. The Sixers lit Moses and 3 draft picks on fire right before Barkley’s prime.
• Cliff Robinson – Not to be confused with the long time head banded productive Clifford Robinson of the Blazers, Cliff Robinson was the journey man scorer who spent 3 reasonably solid years with the Sixers before retiring
• Roy Hinson – The 20th overall pick in the 1983 Draft had just had his best season averaging 20/8. It never got that good again and the power forward wouldn’t do much for the Sixers in just 105 games before they cut bait. Yikes.

After the 1985 season in which they finished with 58 wins, the Sixers had a young Barkley, multiple extra picks including #1 overall, plus a still great Moses Malone. In 41 years since, they have never had a better record. All of the franchises bad decisions can be traced back to this single disastrous day.

1. Rumor has it that the Sixers thought they had a deal to send Dr. J to the Bulls for #3 straight up but the Bulls pulled out last minute. Let that sink in. ↩︎