One of the biggest stories in the NBA in recent years has been what is referred to as "The Process" in Philadelphia. For those who don't understand what that means, it effectively means losing in the short term to win in the long term. "Tanking" is a concept in professional sports that refers to losing a lot of games in the short term in order to acquire high draft picks to ultimately have a chance at getting high-level talent in the draft and free agency. Former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie was infamous in the NBA for daring to effectively lose on purpose to make the team better in the long run.

Hinkie did the kind of stuff as a general manager in sports that was taboo. It isn't "right" to tank in the NBA or any other league. You aren't supposed to want to lose, nor should you ever admit it if you are doing it. But Sam Hinkie did what you aren't supposed to do. He ultimately wasn't afraid of anything there.

Hinkie penned his letter resigning as the 76ers GM on April 6th, 2016. By the time this article goes up, that'll be right at 2 years ago. And it's very clear, 2 years later, that Hinkie's methods have worked. He drafted great international talent with Sixers all-star center Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. His intentional losing and purging of the roster also put the team in a position to draft LSU Forward Ben Simmons number 1 overall. A year of losing after he left allowed the team to trade up in the draft to select Markelle Fultz. And a year after that, after 6 losing seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers are headed to the playoffs.

It's clear that "The Process" as it's commonly referred to in Philadelphia has worked. The Sixers have had their first winning season in 13 years, and are seeded 4th in the Eastern Conference. Hinkie's selection of young talent, like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and eventually, Markelle Fultz after his departure, along with the trades he made to create an organization filled with assets, have created a team that can potentially compete for an NBA championship for the next decade.

While I'm a Sixers fan, and can tell you that it's rewarding to see a team finally see the fruits of it's tanking, I want to analyze this from another perspective. What does all of this mean for the rest of the NBA?

On the Dr. J Podcast last month, Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said, "I'm probably not supposed to say this, but, like, I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night, and here we are, you know, we weren't competing for the playoffs. I was like, 'Look, losing is our best option.'" Mark Cuban was promptly fined $600,000 dollars for those comments.

Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, has been on the record saying that teams that take steps to lose games have "no place in our game." "The integrity of the competition on the playing court is the cornerstone of our league,” Silver said. “It is our pact with the fans and with each other, the fundamental reason we exist as a preeminent sporting organization, the very product that we sell. With everything else changing around us, it is the one thing in our league that can never change. We must do everything in our power to protect the actual and perceived integrity of the game.”

It's very clear from the two quotes I've brought up from Adam Silver and Mark Cuban that teams are trying to replicate the Sixers' tanking which has yielded them great results, and that the NBA is out to punish and stop any team that even thinks about doing that. The NBA feels that it needs to protect it's "percieved integrity" from teams that are intentionally trying to lose.

Other than just the idea that the NBA is out to stop tanking, tanking yielding success requires quite a bit of luck. In the example of the Sixers, they had to have a number of picks and trades go in their favor to be where they are today. Joel Embiid, who's proven himself to be a generational talent, fell into the Sixers' lap in the 2014 draft because teams were too scared to draft him due to his foot injury coming out of college. The team also got Dario Saric from a trade with the Magic, a trade in retrospect they won. Number one overall pick Markelle Fultz has had his fair share of injuries, but is finally back on the court for the team as of last week.

What I'm trying to say is that building a team in the NBA, through the draft, free agency, and scouting, ultimately requires quite a bit of luck. The Sixers were very lucky in how they were able to build their team, and it's possible that it'll never be replicated. Teams can try to lose and get the number one pick or a top three pick in the draft every year to get the young talent they need. But that will not always yield great results. Former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie would tell you that he struck out on a couple of the draft picks the team had during his tenure.

The NBA will always have teams trying to tank, whether they like it or not. Teams don't exactly have to be so open about it like Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was either. Teams can be subtle about their losing. So, there's that. The NBA really can't do all that much about tanking, at least not until long after the tanking itself is over. But the idea that you will make the correct pick with every single draft pick or win every trade you make is ultimately unlikely. While teams can try and replicate "'The Process," the probability of them actually replicating it and having it work to the same level as the Sixers, is quite small.