What Is Wrong With Philly!?

"Colangelo" by PO1 CHAD J. MCNEELEY, USN - Defenseimagery.mil, VIRIN: 060406-N-0696M-067. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

I can think of many words that describe the Philadelphia 76ers. A lot of them have to do with losing. Just the other day I came up with a new word to describe them. Confusing. If you haven't heard, the Sixers have just waiver 4 year guard, Tony Wroten.

Tony Wroten started his career off with the Memphis Grizzlies who drafted him 25th overall in the 2012 NBA draft. He played 7.8 minutes per game in 35 games with the Grizzlies and was sent and recalled from the D-League multiple times. After averaging 2.6 points and shooting very low from the field in his first season, the Grizzlies didn't look at Wroten with much value. They decided to trade Wroten. The 76ers would get a steal out of the trade as they traded away a top 50 second round pick. The 76ers of course would keep that pick and it would turn out to be K.J. McDaniels. So what would end up happening is that the Grizzlies would give Wroten away for a pick they would never aquire.

Wroten's first year with the 76ers was a good overall year. He would play alongside rookie of the year, Michael Carter-Williams at the guard positions. Wroten would play 72 games and start in 16 of them as he proved to the team that he could be a dynamic player. Wroten would have promising numbers at the end of the season averaging 13 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.1 steals.

Wroten's third year would be a great one, although it would be cut short with injury. As he would play just 30 games and start in 15 of them, Wroten would end up partially tearing his ACL. During the 2014-15 season, Wroten would average a stunning 16.9 points, 5.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals.

This year, Tony Wroten has played just 8 games with limited minutes as he just came back from the injury. He was looking like he was going to be part of the future as it seemed like this team could have used him in the backcourt since they already had 3 lottery big men in Okafor, Embiid, and Noel. But out of nowhere, the 76ers made this trade.

The 76ers traded 2 future second round picks in exchange for Ish Smith. Smith is a 5-year player who has played for 9 teams total, and if you count Philly twice it's 10. He has averaged 4.3 points in his career. While he has had a pretty good year this year averaging 9.5 points and 5.9 assists, Smith hasn't had a steady career.

When Philly got Smith, they had to waive someone. They decided to waive Wroten. This is one of the three reasons why this trade makes no sense. It's because out of all of the players, the sixers decide to waive Wroten. Out of all of the players that should be in the D-League right now, they pick Wroten, a guy who just averaged 16.9 PPG! That makes no sense.

The other thing that doesn't make any sense is that out of all the players the sixers traded for that was worth dropping Wroten for was an inconsistent 27 year old named Ish Smith. This guy is getting into his golden days right now. He is 27 years old! Tony Wroten is 22! It would be one thing if Smith was 23 or 24 or even 25, but guess what, he is 27 years old. How long will it be before the 76ers start winning games? Maybe not even til Smith is 33. Wroten would be 28 when Smith is 23. That is what doesn't make sense about this trade. The 76ers gave up 2 second round draft picks and Tony Wroten for an aging inconsistent role player.

The third reason is because the 76ers just brought in Jerry Colangelo who was supposed to be making good moves here. Instead he just makes a trade and ends it badly. This doesn't surprise me though, because I'm not a Colangelo fan. When he was with the Phoenix Suns, he made some very, very poor moves that lead to the Suns not winning a championship with what could have been a really stacked team. I think Colangelo is very overrated and hasn't done anything special so this third thing doesn't surprise me.

I don't see the 76ers winning anytime soon. I have just lost a lot of faith in them after they released Tony Wroten. If you have any sense to make out of this, please comment below so I can at least see a little bit of sense in the 76ers transactions. As for Tony Wroten, I hope that he finds a team that values his potential and will use him to his best abilities. C'mon, this looks promising...