This is the second installment of a new series highlighting the rays of hope for fans of non-contending or fringe playoff teams.

The Philadelphia 76ers have undergone a significant transformation over the past year from top to bottom. Gone are the days of NBA retread general managers (Ed Stefanski, Rod Thorn) and coaches (Doug Collins); in are the new breed of analytics masterminds (Sam Hinkie) and player development-focused teachers (Brett Brown). New 76ers' owner Joshua Harris waited a full year (with some help from bowling and Flamenco dance enthusiast Andrew Bynum) to install a front office that he could give his seal of approval. Within two months of hiring Hinkie, it was evidently clear that this franchise was different. 

The draft night trade that sent first-time All-Star Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Nerlens Noel (the No. 6 pick) and a top-5 protected first rounder in the coveted 2014 draft sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, both as a potentially premature cash-in move on the Pelicans behalf and an intentional worsening on the 76ers' end for draft positioning purposes. This was what supporters of the 76ers had long been waiting for: a true rebuild. 

So naturally, a team designed to be terrible, to be the worst team in the league in order to get the highest chance of the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, with no discernibly legitimate players, starts the season 3-1 with victories over the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls, while boasting the early favorite for Rookie of the Year. 

MCW

Already considered as legendary to Philadelphians as Benjamin Franklin and William Penn, Michael Carter-Williams has had an unexpectedly fantastic NBA debut. His historic first game (22 pts, 12 asts, 7 rbs, 9 stls-an NBA record for a rookie debut), garnered a ton of Rookie of the Year love. Another stellar performance against a Kinesio Taped Bulls team (26 pts, 10 asts, 3 rbs, 3 stls) makes your Eastern Conference Player of the Week a rookie in his debut, for the second time since Shaquille O'Neal won it in 1992.    

Hinkie stated in the draft night press conference that the organization was ecstatic when Carter-Williams fell to them at No. 11, and that they had looked at several scenarios in which they were considering moving up in the draft in order to select him. While this seemed like posturing at the time, now it seems entirely possible. Which leads me to…

Sam Hinkie

It’s rare that a general manager would be listed as a reason to be hopeful about a team, but for an organization that has been tethered to the NBA’s mediocrity treadmill for over a decade, it is. Previous 76ers' owner and Comcast Spectator Chairman Ed Snider publicly stated that he could never endorse intentionally making the team worse to achieve the goal of raising the team’s ceiling in the long run. He would never commit to tanking, or a full rebuild. Hinkie initiated the process almost instantaneously. He is the breed of executive that recognizes when franchises need to take the long view, and that a first round playoff exit or a lottery pick in the teens simply will not take a team to contention. The ownership group also recognizes this. Hinkie’s moves have been shrewd, calculated and forward-thinking.          

2014 NBA Draft

After a blowout loss to a Golden State Warriors team with a revenge-hungry Andre Iguodala (32 pts on 7-11 shooting from 3-point range and one obnoxiously filthy behind-the-back pass to David Lee), Plan A is back in effect. The 76ers should have no shortage of losses on the horizon as most teams in the league are simply more talented, and will not continue to be outmatched in intensity. By the end of this season, ping pong balls aplenty will bear the Philly name. With potential franchise players like Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, and Jabari Parker becoming eligible, it’s a good year to be bad.