Philadelphia 76ers: What the NBA Lockout Means for the Team

On Monday, NBA commissioner David Stern announced that the first two weeks of the 2011-12 NBA season would be cancelled.

Following a seven-plus hour negotiating session on the day of Stern's self-imposed deadline, the league and the National Basketball Players Association found themselves at an impasse. "We remain very, very apart on all issues," said Stern in his statement to the media.

The details of the disagreement are inconsequential to most. The average fan doesn't care about basketball-related income, luxury taxes, or the mid-level exception. All they want to see is professional basketball.

Unfortunately, that won't start exactly when it was supposed to this year. It may not even happen this year at all.

The sobering news means that it may be a while before 76ers' fans are able to witness the continued evolution of Jrue Holiday. The 6'4" point guard made significant strides during his sophomore year in the league, averaging 14 points and 6.3 assists per game last season.

At only 21-years-old, Holiday is at the point in his career where coaching is vital to his continued development. Unfortunately, that instruction won't be available to him any time soon as NBA players are barred from having any contact with any member of their team's coaching staff during the lockout.

The fact that he can't even send a text message to any of his players is undoubtedly doing a number on 76ers' head coach Doug Collins. It goes without saying that Collins is eager to build off of the success from last season—a 41-41 campaign that ended with a spirited effort against the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Collins will have to wait just like the rest of us to check out the improvements on Evan Turner's jump shot. In July, the second-year swingman worked on his shooting form with Philadelphia University head coach Herb Magee, known in basketball circles as the "Shot Doctor."

Magee was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame this past summer for his success as a head coach. If he can make Turner an effective shooter from 15 feet and beyond, he'll be in line for further accolades.

Some of Turner's teammates have already seen the improvements—several 76ers got together in Los Angeles in late August for a series of workouts organized by co-captain Elton Brand. In light of recent events, a shortened 2011-12 campaign means that Brand won't have as much time as usual to impart the wisdom that he's gained during his 12-year NBA career.

For as much grief as Brand received from fans during his first two years in Philadelphia, he was arguably the team's most valuable player last season. While the grind of the NBA has stolen the athleticism Brand once had, his steadying hand and consistent play is invaluable to a team that boasts so many young players.

One young player whose summer exploits have been well documented is Marreese Speights. The Sixers' backup center spent the better part of his offseason working out in Las Vegas with a number of fellow NBA players.

According to reports, Speights excelled in the Impact Basketball Academy’s all-pro summer league. It'll be interesting to see how that translates to actual NBA action because Speights was frequently in Collins' doghouse last season for not exactly adhering to the structure that the coach put in place.

The two players least affected by the lockout are the newest 76ers: Nikola Vucevic and Lavoy Allen. Vucevic, the 76ers' first-round pick out of USC, signed a deal this summer to play for Buducnost in Montenegro. Local product Lavoy Allen, selected 50th overall in the NBA Draft this past June, is playing with Strasbourg IG in the top-level French professional league.

Little-used reserve Craig Brackins also decided to go the overseas route; he'll play for Maccabi Ashdod when the Israeli basketball season begins this weekend. All three players have opt-out clauses that will allow them to return to the States in the event that a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

If there are any positives to be taken from this lockout—and there are few—the delay gives the 76ers' new ownership group (led by billionaire Joshua Harris) more time to develop a marketing plan around the team's young nucleus.

The team shouldn't be that hard of a sell in a blue-collar town which boasts more Division I basketball teams than any other city in America. However, when you consider the fact that the 76ers haven't had a winning season since 2004-05, it's easy to understand why people choose to spend their discretionary income elsewhere.

Whenever the lockout is lifted, Harris and the rest of his ownership team will have an uphill climb in the battle for the hearts of Philadelphia sports fans. When measuring attendance in terms of percentage of seats filled, the 76ers' Wells Fargo Center ranked dead last in the NBA last season.

The Sixers' home arena won't be completely empty this fall, however. The Philadelphia Flyers will still entertain the city's hockey fans, and there's also the occasional concert on the schedule.

Granted, the Foo Fighters and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra are inadequate replacements for the 76ers, but in a world where there is no NBA, beggars are in no position to be choosers.

Speaking of beggars, there are plenty of people pleading for a swift end to the stalemate in the NBA labor negotiations. But unless something miraculous happens, things will be a little quieter down on the southern end of Broad Street for the foreseeable future.