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For Sixers, time to put up

Sports fans have tunnel vision. They care about the present – now, today. I don't blame them. They are the paying consumers. The customer is always right. Very rarely do you have a fan base that sees the big picture, the long-term vision that a franchise has in regards to restoring a once-proud organization.

That's why I was so stunned to hear more fans than not co-signing Sam Hinkie and the 76ers' bottoming-out efforts when I hosted shows on 97.5 The Fanatic from 2013-15. It's in our sports DNA to expect wins. Stripping a roster bare so that, despite effort and heart, victories are incredibly difficult to come by is a concept most can't stomach.

We are wired for winning. But credit to the Sixers fans for understanding this formula. I, too, was vehemently against this methodology until I removed emotion, took a step back and realized the NBA has three models for success and the 76ers had tried two of them without prosperity.

In the NBA, you win in one of three ways: You can form a super team as the Boston Celtics did with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. You can build a beacon of stability as San Antonio has done by drafting properly, both with college players such as Tim Duncan and overseas players such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The final process is what the Sixers are doing -- tanking for multiple years, stockpiling draft picks, and hoping it pans out.

The Sixers have tried free agency. The Sixers have tried trading. The Sixers have tried the No. 2 overall pick. Players such as Elton Brand, Andrew Bynum and Evan Turner have failed in one way or another.

Enter Hinkie. Enter tanking. Enter hope that this thing comes to fruition sooner rather than later, or even at all.

The last couple of weeks have been stressful for Sixers fans. Joel Embiid with a setback. D'Angelo Russell cancels a workout, only to reschedule and follow up with an impressive outing. One report says Russell doesn't want to play in Philadelphia. Another report refutes that. Dario Saric will remain overseas this coming season, as many expected, but some were hoping he was on the verge of coming over. Some Sixers fans don't want to hear the name Kristaps Porzingis announced on Thursday night as the third overall selection in the NBA draft because of the foreign component that scares fans.

I get the sense that Sixers fans are losing patience, losing trust. If Thursday night is the first of many questionable decisions, I believe the fan base will turn on Hinkie, and to be quite honest, I don't blame them.

If the 76ers select Porzingis, I believe that decision will be met with strong disdain. Wheeling and dealing other draft picks in the 2015 draft, acquiring future picks and even shipping off Nerlens Noel would send this city into a hoops rage. And it would be 100 percent justified.

Take all of what I said and mix that with Embiid not being ready for opening night, Saric still a year away and no future star in the backcourt (Russell), and you have all the ingredients for an explosion of fanatical proportions.

Fans have been patient. They've been understanding. You just can't expect fans to be like that forever. It's time for action. It's time to take the next steps. And those include drafting Russell, having Embiid and Noel on the floor together in the fall, and being one season away from Saric's anticipated debut.

Gone are the days of free pizza for eclipsing 90 points. Enough of the uniform tinkering and the other minor-league-baseball promotions. The Sixers front office has been very lucky that Philadelphia fans are bright, intelligent consumers of the product. Now it's time for them to be rewarded.

If not, I fully expect the passengers to bail off the Hinkie ship. And I wouldn't blame them. Not one bit.