Worst Record in NBA

The Sixers (15-45) have been every bit as bad as their preseason billing, and have lost 14 straight games following back-to-back defeats last weekend to Washington and Orlando.

Brown was blunt after the Sixers’ 13th straight loss when asked if he wondered if the Sixers would win another game.

Of course, the plan set all along this season by ownership and general manager Sam Hinkie was to gut the roster until the uncompetitive franchise was pointed straight toward the No.

The Sixers could also have a second lottery pick (based on different scenarios) after acquiring New Orleans’ first-round pick in a 2013 draft night trade that also landed them Noel.

Sure, the next lottery pick just might produce AI-type numbers, and the Sixers can sign a free agent or two and become Eastern Conference contenders within the next three or four years.

The Sixers did try and become winners in the summer of 2012 with a nucleus of homegrown talent in Turner, Young, and Jrue Holiday, then they made the blockbuster trade for Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended the Sixers’ plan, saying it was nothing more than a forlorn franchise taking a long-range approach toward rebuilding.

The Sixers are 29th in attendance at 13,694 fans per game and Iverson’s return was their first sellout of the season.

Outside of those spurts, the Sixers have played down to their preseason projection as one of the NBA’s worst, the same franchise that prompted Las Vegas to set the over-under for total wins this season at 16.5.

It could happen, it’s in the franchise’s DNA: Four seasons after the 1972-73 Sixers set an NBA record for futility (9-73), they were in the NBA finals.