Rebuilding in the NBA is tricky. Every team seems to have their own way to get through it. Big markets tend to attract the good players, some teams do a quick rebuild and tank 1-2 years, some tank for 3-5, and some get lost in mediocrity for a decade. This is simplifying things, of course, because it’s never quite that easy. Only 1 in 30 teams can win it all every year and it’s usually the team with the best player. Is there truly a best way to get through that rebuild and to that championship? Not really but Philadelphia seems to think it has a great plan and so far the results are questionable.

Philadelphia’s front office is setting up the team to fail. Why? Because the team with the worst record has the best chance of securing that number one pick in the draft but it never quite works out that way. The 76ers have been terrible and have been pretty hard to watch and yet they still haven’t gotten their no.1 or 2 pick in the draft. Despite putting a team of non-NBA talent out there on the floor, Philly hasn’t been able to suck enough to get that top pick. What they have collected instead is a list of assets. Every team wants to follow the Oklahoma City Thunder model for rebuilding and it definitely works. What teams don’t realize is that not every will draft three superstars in a row. The draft is too complex for that and Oklahoma City’s great front office has something to do with that as well.

The Thunder’s rebuild was a mix of good luck and great drafting. Sure, Kevin Durant was the consensus number 2 pick in 2007 but in 2008 their pick fell from top three to fourth. Michael Beasley was the consensus number 2 pick in that draft and after OJ Mayo was taken, OKC had to decide between Russell Westbrook and Brook Lopez. They ultimately chose Westbrook (who btw was all over mock drafts ranging from 4-10) and the risk paid off. Westbrook didn’t have glamorous college numbers and played a different position but OKC developed him and turned him into a star. And even if OKC chose Brook Lopez the team may have actually been more dominating. They also found Serge Ibaka with the 24th pick. So while OKC may have had some luck, they also knew what they were doing. What have Philly’s three consecutive top 10 picks netted? A big man who’s scheduled to miss his second consecutive entire season, a guy who has yet to play in the NBA, and finally a real player to build around in the 2015 draft. The 76ers held 10 picks between 2013 and 2014. Want to know how many are still actively playing on the Philly squad? One and most fans have never even heard of him. Embiid is a big question mark and right now there is no sure timetable for Dario Saric’s NBA debut.

One possible hiccup for Saric making his debut is a special rule for NBA rookie scale contracts. You see, for the first two years an NBA prospect is drafted he has to take the rookie scale deal meaning he will make a set number for four years. Once three years passes up, that player can negotiate his contract like Nikola Mirotic of the Chicago Bulls did. Why should Saric come over here and make around 1-2 million for four years when he can stay overseas one more season and negotiate a much bigger contract for the 2016-17 season? So that part of Philadelphia’s plan may have to be extended. In the mean time the only players set to make an impact on this team are Jahil Okafor and Nerlens Noel and they play the same position and neither one is a star or projects to be one with Okafor still having a slight chance.

Philly fans scream and shout that the rest of us have to just trust the system but can we really trust a front office who tries to exploit second round rookies with guaranteed money? Second rounder players really have no set rules for their contracts so Philly offers them a deal where the first two years are guaranteed and the two after are not guaranteed. Some players really like this as they want the guaranteed money. The problem with this is that it makes it easy for Philly to cut one of them and only lose a tiny sliver of money but if the player exceeds expectations, Philly gets to hold onto him for four years paying anywhere from 900k-950k. This is why Philly’s roster consists of plenty of second round and undrafted players no one has ever heard of. They keep taking risks and keep cutting and signing players. K.J. McDaniels didn’t want any part of this when he just fell out of the first round so he bet on himself and signed a one year deal hoping his play leads to a better contract. McDaniels excelled in Philly and they got rid of him possibly because his refusal to take their contract irked the front office or they didn’t want to pay the guy 3-5 million a year despite having all the cap room in the world.

Instead Philly takes on bad contracts in exchange for picks from teams and has had the lowest team payroll in the league for two years straight. Have the fans seen a reduction in ticket prices with that lower payroll and inferior product? Nope. The team’s value has at least tripled since current ownership took over and Philly has been profitable during this dark time according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe so why are the fans buying into this? Sam Hinkie, Philly’s General Manager, has seemed to brainwash the fans into thinking this is for the best and the fans have bought in. But it’s time for Philly to repay the fans for showing up to these unwatchable games. If the owners are raking in so much money, show the fans your appreciation for their patience by cutting ticket prices. The team has gotten worse but Philly still charges the same amount as when the team was good.

Right now the 76ers are taking advantage of the system and taking advantage of their fans. The league even held a vote to restructure the lottery odds of teams in order to discourage this kind of tanking in the future and Philly along with OKC lobbied hard enough to win the vote and keep the current system. But Philly can’t keep doing this. Their TV viewers have dropped 72% since 2011 averaging roughly 23,000 viewers a game during 2014-15. Keep in mind Philadelphia is the nation’s fourth largest market with 2.96 million homes featuring TV’s. They also ranked last in actual attendance for games with an average ticket sale of 13,940 per game. Another downside to all the losing is that it seems to have turned off future free agents. No one wants to go to a team that is going to suck on purpose. There’s even been rumors of agents trying to get their Philadelphia players traded to other teams. People are aware of this losing culture in Philadelphia and they young guys have no veterans to guide them and keep them in the right mindset.

Philadelphia has a system for rebuilding in the same way that Brazil has a water treatment system for its Olympic events (google it and prepare to be grossed out). Philadelphia is still years away from putting together a top NBA as is their goal. The current crop of young guys still need years in the NBA to develop and Philly really needs to nail at least one more pick beyond Jahil Okafor (who fell to them by the way because the Lakers for some reason drafted Russell). How much patience do the infamous Philly fans have left? And how much patience does this ownership group have left? We will find out soon enough as Philly enters the usually pivotal year three of a rebuild.