As the Sixers have opened their gym to the media at the end of their practices and shootarounds, there has been one constant over the last few weeks: a group of newcomers running through sets, huddling with the assistant coaches defending them as they practice various actions and trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible in what has been a wildly chaotic season.
"I feel like the best way to explain it is like a basketball onboarding process where it's getting acclimated and just getting familiar with the plays and stuff like that," trade deadline acquisition Jared Butler told PhillyVoice last week.
The players most likely to be involved alongside Butler: fellow trade target Quentin Grimes, recent signings David Roddy and Lonnie Walker IV and rookie center Adem Bona.
"It's been good, always just freshening up on the players," Roddy told PhillyVoice last week. "It's a new team for everybody — mostly — in that group. So continuing to just get those reps and just start memorizing plays and getting a good feel."
The key word there: mostly. Because Bona, the No. 41 pick in last June's NBA Draft out of UCLA, has been with the Sixers every step of the way this season. Bona, whose motor on the floor is only matched by his positivity outside of basketball, has found great joy in helping players who are tasked with learning completely new systems, schemes and philosophies far more quickly than everyone else had to, in order to make a run at trying to help a team in despair turn its hellish season around.
"It's great because it also helps me connect with them," Bona told PhillyVoice last week. "They're new to the team, I might be sharing the floor with them during the game, so it helps me build bonds with them. And also it's a process of helping them get familiar with the plays and everything. So I think that's great for me and also great for them, kind of a win-win, you know? I get to build a connection with them because I might — most likely — be sharing the floor with them and also help them catch up to speed with our plays."
The life of an NBA player changing teams midseason is ruthless. Three weeks ago, Grimes was a budding role player on a championship contender built around Luka Dončić. Roddy was fighting for a role on the Atlanta Hawks, and Butler was doing the same for the Washington Wizards. 10 days ago, Walker was playing in Lithuania.
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"The process has been terrific," Walker said on Monday. "I've just been asking a ton of questions, just trying to get acclimated. Even the things that I do know, there's no harm as far as asking another question and continuously trying to be adjusted and just be a true professional to the game and get acclimated as fast as I can."
Playing basketball for incredible sums of money is an honor, but having an entire livelihood uprooted at a moment's notice — only to be required to acclimate to a new environment within days — is brutal. There is no time for processing, and many players have spoken about how trade talks can become dehumanizing.
So, according to Bona, the value of these sessions extends beyond better knowledge of any sideline out of bounds play head coach Nick Nurse might draw up or how the team wants to defend a pick-and-roll ball-handler. People like Grimes, Butler, Roddy and Walker are human beings in the midst of life-altering whirlwinds that many view as collateral damage to exciting transactions. Bona gives them a chance to feel human.
"I was talking to Lonnie just now about playing FIFA and talking with Jared," Bona said. "I think it's good because it helps build the team chemistry. Getting to talk to them about things that are not just basketball. It goes a long way for the team, so I think that's just great for everyone. It just helps the team chemistry, helps them play and just building connections with them."
Even for players transitioning from one organization to another, these are particularly odd circumstances. The Sixers' season — once anticipated with dreams of a championship — is on life support. They are 20-38 on the season and have lost nine games in a row. So, the most important subplot of the remaining 24 games may be whether players like Butler, Roddy and Walker can prove they belong — whether that be for the Sixers or another NBA team.
As has been very evident as the Sixers lose game after game with shuffled and disfigured rotations filled with players not used to sharing the court with each other, any semblance of familiarity between teammates will be valuable moving forward. The All-Star break is in the rearview mirror; the Sixers will have their foot on the gas until April 13 with few breaks.
"It's good bouncing off chemistry ideas and things that people, certain teammates like and everything," Roddy said. "Again, it's a crucial part of the game, and it's very helpful."
And with Bona's help, the foursome of Grimes, Butler, Roddy and Walker is doing its best to get up to speed, prepare to help a spiraling team and keep their own personal lives in order, all at once. They already share a unique bond as they simultaneously go through a process very few people can relate to.
"It's been really interesting because everybody has their own story, everybody has their own personality," Butler said. "It's been fun just learning these guys, getting to work with these guys and just building a bond."
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