In many ways, the Sixers’ journey has been unprecedented.

In the wake of an unsuccessful attempt to lift the franchise out of mediocrity with the acquisition of All-Star center Andrew Bynum in the summer of 2012, the Sixers were left with a sub-.500 team and a virtually bare stock of future assets. Faced with that sobering reality, newly hired General Manager Sam Hinkie did what he and the team’s ownership group knew needed to be done, using the next 12 months to systematically dismantle the team and reassemble it in a way that could support sustained success.

For many fans, the team’s commitment to comprehensive reconstruction was met with excitement and optimism; after all, a Sixers franchise that was once amongst the class of the NBA had enjoyed just one 50-plus win season since 1990. They knew there would be bumps, that it wouldn’t always be easy, and that at times their patience would be tested. But as we reach the final third of Hinkie and head coach Brett Brown’s second season at the helm of the Sixers, the massive strides the team has taken have become more and more clear.

On the surface, the two are an unexpected pairing. Brett Brown is a basketball lifer and disciple of legendary Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, and Sam Hinkie is a relative newcomer whose rise follows the NBA’s recent tendency towards combining traditional scouting methods with advanced analytical models. But despite their divergent backgrounds, the two find common ground in what they believe should be the key components of the team’s rebuild – the necessity of finding and cultivating top-tier talent, the responsibility to develop a culture that rewards hard work and demands accountability, and the importance of instilling a strong commitment to defense.

In just over a year and a half, the Sixers have replenished their stock of assets, drafting last season’s Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, with the 11th-overall pick in 2013, acquiring talented, young big men Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, unearthing diamonds in the rough like K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant, and Robert Covington in the second-round and off the free agent market, and building a stable of nearly 20 draft picks over the next six years.

Under the tutelage of one of the league’s most well-respected head coaches, the Sixers have developed a culture that mirrors that of the city of Philadelphia. Despite their 12-41 record this season, they are a team that is consistently praised by opposing players and coaches as one that fights until the final buzzer every single night.

But it’s the team’s improvement on the defensive end that has been the most striking element of the rebuild.

How The Sixers Have Transformed Their Defense

Fielding a transient squad comprised of both new acquisitions and veterans last year, the Sixers allowed 107.5 points per 100 possessions, a number that ranked 27th in the league. But this year, the benefit of combining consistency, chemistry, and a roster flush with talented and willing young defenders has been felt tremendously.

Entering the All-Star Break, the Sixers rank 12th in the league in defensive rating, allowing just 101.8 points per 100 possessions. It’s the second-best mark the team has posted in 10 years, and it’s something they’ve accomplished without 2014 first-round pick Joel Embiid, who’s yet to play for the team this season after leading a talented Big 12 Conference in defensive rating (90.9) as a freshman last year.

A major factor in Philadelphia’s defensive success this season has been the play redshirt rookie Nerlens Noel, whose presence at the rim has helped transform the team’s play on that end of the floor.

At just 20 years of age, the 6’11” big man has posted the best defensive box plus-minus ever for a player 21 years or younger, allowing 4.2 fewer points per 100 possessions than a league average player would. Not only does that number lead the Sixers, but it also ranks fourth among all players this season, just ahead of Tony Allen (3.7), Joakim Noah (3.5), and Marc Gasol (3.5); those three have combined for six All-Defensive Team nods and a pair of Defensive Player of the Year awards since 2011.

As his rookie season has progressed, Noel’s impact on the defensive end has become even more palpable. In addition to leading all first-year players in blocks (1.7) and steals (1.6) per game, he’s the only player in the league that ranks in the top-20 overall in both categories. He gets himself in position to contest the 10th most attempts at the rim per game (8.8), and among those who see at least that many attempts a night, he ranks second in opponent field-goal percentage, allowing just a 46.3% conversion rate.

One need only look at this year’s opponent shot chart versus last year’s (hover curser over image) to see the impact Noel has had at the rim:

*shot charts courtesy of StatMuse.com

But he’s not the only rookie contributing to the Sixers’ defensive turnaround, as second-rounders K.J. McDaniels and Jerami Grant have also impressed on that end of the floor. McDaniels ranks fourth on the team in defensive rating (100.3) and has held opposing players 12.1% below their average field-goal percentage on shots within six feet of the basket, 9.1% below on shots within 10 feet, and just about even from 15 feet and out. Grant ranks seventh on the team in defensive rating (101.0) and is holding opponents below their average field-goal percentage from every area of the floor.

Noel, Grant, and McDaniels rank first, third, and fourth, respectively, among rookies in defensive box plus-minus this season and have combined for 8.2 blocks and 5.9 steals per 100 possessions. As a trio, they have notched 60.0% of the team’s blocks and 27.6% of its steals this season.

But perhaps the most important addition to the Sixers’ defense this season has been a returning player. Reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams has stepped up his play on that end of the floor and has actualized some of the immense defensive potential with which he entered the league.

As a rookie, Carter-Williams filled up the stat sheet on both ends of the floor, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. In his NBA debut, he notched a nine steals and recorded three or more takeaways in 17 more games last season. But looking beyond his dazzling counting stats, the Syracuse alum struggled to transition from a zone-heavy scheme with the Orange to pick-and-roll heavy defense in the NBA.

After allowing opponents to shoot 46.8% from the field and above their average field-goal percentage from every spot on the floor last season, he’s limiting his man to 39.7% shooting every night, 4.4% below their average conversion rate and at least 1.5% below their average field-goal percentage from every spot on the floor. Remarkably, he’s had the best defensive rating on the team this season, 98.5, and his 0.7 defensive box plus-minus ranks fifth among all point guards.

Over Philadelphia’s last 15 games, a stretch during which the team’s ranked fifth in the league in defensive rating (98.3) and has notched five of its 12 wins this season, the Sixers have been led by an impressive fivesome. During that stretch, Noel (95.3), Luc Mbah a Moute (95.5), Carter-Williams (95.7), Robert Covington (96.2), and McDaniels (96.4) are tops on the team in defensive rating. Amazingly, that group ranks second in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions (86.0) among five-man lineups this season, narrowly missing the top spot held by the 33-20 Wizards’ typical starting five (Wall, Temple, Pierce, Nene, Gortat; 85.9). Last season, the Sixers’ best defensive lineup (Wroten, Anderson, Turner, Young, Hawes; 101.0) didn’t even crack the top 50 defensive groupings in the league.

Looking Ahead

It’s worth noting that as a group, the 19 players who have seen the floor for the Sixers this season average just 23.3 years of age. Coming into the season, those players combined for just 1,005 total NBA games played, with Luc Mbah a Moute contributing 399 of those and eight players bringing zero to the table. Considering that the Sixers are one of the youngest and least experienced teams in the history of the NBA, the way they’ve performed on the defensive end of the floor has been nothing short of astounding.

Historically, the Sixers are a team that has lived and died by the success of its defense. From 1990-91 to the beginning of the Hinkie/Brown era in 2013-14, none of the team’s 10 playoff appearances came in a season in which its defensive rating was worse than league average. In 11 of the 12 seasons during that span in which the team fell short of a postseason bid, they finished with a statistically sub-par defense.

With the Sixers 9.5 games back from the eight seed with 29 games left, this year’s team will likely buck that trend. But for a team whose success this season will be determined more based upon individual and collective growth than by the wins and losses column, the strides they’ve made defensively and, frankly, in most every facet of their play this season should give fans hope for the future of the franchise.

The approach the team has taken is unprecedented, but so too has been their evolution.