Perhaps if you had unrealistic expectations one could consider the Sixers off season a failure. That being said, it simply wasn't.
The Sixers were never getting Lebron James or Paul George. James either going to the Lakers or staying put in Cleveland, and George was either going to LA or staying in OKC. The Sixers tried, but you can't force someone to come play with you if they are set on being somewhere else.
If you want to criticize the Sixers for not landing Kawhi Leonard, I suppose you might be able to make a fair argument. However, when you look at what the Spurs were able to get in return, I think it's pretty clear that the Sixers (and Celtics and Lakers for that matter) simply did not make good trade partners for the Spurs. The Spurs obviously had zero interest in a deal where they would get a combination of quantity back, or young players and picks. If that was their desire they would have been able to get a better package in that regard for one of the three aforementioned teams. Instead they were looking to get back an established high end talent which they did in DeRozen.
The fact is the media in Philly created a frenzy of belief that the sixers were going to land one of those three talents, possibly even two of them. They had people reading their articles, clicking on their websites, and listening to their radio stations. In the end it was all BS. It reminds me of when the Philly medica convinced Eagles fans for several months that the Eagles were going to move up to draft Marcus Mariota, which was also a complete and total frabrication.
Now, if we want to step back into reality, this is what the Sixers actually did.
OUT - Ilyasova, Bellineli, Holmes, TLC, Anderson
IN - Chandler, "Fultz", Muscala, Bolden, Smith
For all intents and purposes they are replacing Ilyasova and Bellineli, with Chandler and Fultz and running things back which isn't the worst thing in the world to do. Obviously Fultz is not an addition to the team but considering he barely played last year and didn't play in the playoffs he needs to be considered the replacement for Bellineli. Chandler is more of a 3 and Ilyasova is more of a 4 but Chandler is now replacing Ersan as the first non-guard off the bench.
The Sixers also brought back Reddick and Amir Johnson, and gained that 2021 unprotected first from the heat which can be an ace up their sleeve down the road. Latsly, they were able to do all of this and still set themselves up to take another shot at a loaded free agent class next summer. The Sixers are not beating the Warriors any time soon. Their path to ultimate NBA success is in 3-5 years with a core of Embiid, Simmons, and hopefully Fultz who are all 24 or younger. Running things back with a slightly improved bench, and hoping that those three continue to develop and get better (especially Fultz) and alowing themselves flexibility again next summer was not a bad offseason. It won't excite anyone or sell jerseys or anything, but it won't sell false hop either that they are ready to win a championship over the next year or two either. They are building with a young core who is getting better and is close, but patience and common sense from fans is going to be needed.
