Their strategy seems to be built upon the premise that you need to draft a franchise superstar to compete and it's a mistake to get better and decrease your chances of drafting that superstar until you think you have him. It makes sense if you feel that drafting a franchise player is an indispensable step. (I don't think it is a necessary step.)
If you accept that premise, you should ask how long it takes before it becomes clear that a player you have drafted has superstar potential. How many franchise players didn't look like potential franchise players after two years?
I am not sure that is their strategy.
Their strategy is to build through the draft and not move forward until they have a good base to build around.
That may include a franchise player. That may not.
What most teams that build through the lottery want is either (1) franchise player, and/or, (2) multiple top five picks to build around.
I think the 2nd option (multiple top five picks) is the one as a GM that you plan around. Kinda a "hope for the best, plan for the worst" scenario when building through the draft. Worst case = you put yourself in position to draft multiple All-Star talents and build a balanced team around them. Best case scenario = you land a franchise player and hopefully even have a few young up and coming stars to go with him.
That to me is how you build through the draft.
Now, maybe Philly aren't doing that and are only gunning for a franchise player. That would surprise me but it's possible. Time will tell.
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Their strategy seems to be built upon the premise that you need to draft a franchise superstar to compete and it's a mistake to get better and decrease your chances of drafting that superstar until you think you have him
To follow through on this thought = this is the same in the 2nd option (drafting multiple top five picks). You don't want to get too good too quickly before you amass multiple picks in this area of the draft. You need to stay bad enough for long enough to get those multiple picks so that you have a strong talent base to move forward with even if you do strike out on the superstar draft choice.
When building through the draft, it is important to stay bad until you have a nucleus of young talent you feel confident building around that can push on to being a high level playoff team to title contender down the road.