Early Cohesion Will Bode Well For The Sixers

By Ray Boyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The climb is clearly an uphill one for the Sixers. The top two players that the team selected in the most recent draft will more than likely not play for them this season.

It is also safe to say that the 19 win total from a season ago may be challenged considering that the team only got younger and more inexperienced.

Not everyone is on board with the long-term plan, but the Sixers are doing something right. They are building a culture of cohesion that will serve them well when it is time for their young core to deliver.

Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid are together in Spain at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. They are in attendance to support their new teammate Dario Saric as he tries to lead his Croatian team to the gold medal.

Traveling with the Sixers' youngsters are head coach Brett Brown and the mastermind behind all of this, Sam Hinkie.

There are concerns that losing the way the Sixers are losing will lead to bad habits in these young players. The team is banking on the opposite taking place. These growing pains could bring these young pieces together.

Winning will only taste sweeter after enduring these tough seasons.

What Sixers fans should take some comfort in is seeing their young core together embracing each other and believing in one another. You can not deny that seeing these four players together brings you somewhat of a sense of hope for brighter days ahead.

They definitely look like they enjoy one another's company and it is never too early to start building chemistry. Over the next few years, these players will be forced to go to war together.

This trip and some of the pictures of these four together serve to show a glimpse of where this organization is going. I know things are grim right now, but this is a core that could possess cohesion that many teams never develop in this era of free agency.

Think San Antonio Spurs: A team with an everlasting core and philosophy filled in with complimentary pieces that lead to sustained success. I do not want to get fans' hopes up, but that is undoubtedly what this organization has in mind.

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