Sixers will be a dynasty ... in a decade

Everyone is focused on the NBA Finals, and with good reason. But there are 28 other teams in the NBA, each with a plan to get where the Cavs and Warriors are right now.

And if I told you the Sixers had the best plan of them all, would you believe me? Vinny DelNegro and Joel Meyers of Sirius XM NBA Radio were skeptical when the subject came up in this interview, especially when I said that a decade from now we'll be taking about a dynasty in Philly.

A dynasty?

Well, yes.

And as I told DelNegro when he questioned my prediction, it will not take a decade for the Sixers to be contending for championships. It'll take five years -- maybe less. And that is why 10 years from now, we'll be talking dynasty. It's what happens in years 6-10 that'll move the discussion to that next level.

Why?

Everyone likes to poke fun at Sam Hinkie these days, calling him the best tank driver since Michael Dukakis. But they used to say similar things about Sam Presti, who tanked and put together a core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden that should have won multiple championships by now if now for the ill-advised decision to trade Harden rather than max him out.

But Presti was having to operate under a tight salary cap, which is something Hinkie will not have to deal with. By the time Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and others finish their rookie scale contracts, the salary cap will be well over $100 million -- and teams will be able to carry at least three max players on their roster. If Hinkie plays his cards right, he'll have a core of five or six studs to build with over the next half-decade and beyond. Nobody has ever built a team this way, and by the time it is all said and done, Hinkie will be in the Hall of Fame. Mark my words on that, because you heard it here first.