Jeff Zillgitt

USA TODAY Sports

CAMDEN, N.J. – On a construction site across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie stood in the middle of an unfinished building.

It’s the location of the 76ers new $80 million, 120,000-square feet practice facility and business offices. No courts yet. No locker rooms. Just an empty two-floor structure with beams and stairs that is scheduled to be completed before training camp opens in the fall.

Standing on what will be the location of a practice court, Hinkie envisions his ideal scenario. It’s September, players are in town ahead of training camp, working out. They are on the court, in the weight and conditioning room, in the hydrotherapy pools. Perhaps doing yoga or getting a massage.

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Hinkie wants an environment “in which everybody sees how hard everybody else is working," he said. "The goal is to encourage you to work at your craft – three hours beats two hours and four hours beats three."

They are creating a place where 76ers players, coaches, front-office staff and other basketball staffers have access to the best in equipment, training, sports science, video and concierge services.

“We want it to be the Four Seasons of practice facilities,” Hinkie said.

He is not alone. The 76ers are one of several NBA teams that have invested or will invest millions of dollars in practice facilities. In the next three years, at least one third of NBA teams will have new state-of-the-art practice buildings.

• The Chicago Bulls opened their $25 million practice facility in September 2014, and it’s across the street from the United Center.

• The Minnesota Timberwolves opened their $25 million downtown Minneapolis building in June. The Toronto Raptors ($20 million-plus) and Brooklyn Nets ($50 million) will open theirs in February.

• The Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers expect to finish new practice facilities in 2017, and the Washington Wizards' is scheduled for completion in 2018.

• The Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors will have new practice digs when they move into new arenas.

• The New Orleans Pelicans opened a new facility in 2013.

• The Atlanta Hawks want to break ground on a new practice facility this year.

• The Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons have made recent renovations.

To help offset the cost and enhance relationships, teams seek naming rights deals. It’s the HSS (Hospital For Special Surgery) Training Center in Brooklyn; The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis; Advocate Center in Chicago; BioSteel Centre outside of Toronto.

The Timberwolves, who have a Mayo Clinic sports medicine center on site, invested in a facility that would help players and help ensure the future of NBA basketball in Minnesota as owner Glen Taylor develops his succession plan, the organization's chief strategy and development officer Ted Johnson said.

"We’re in a business where the difference between good and great can be fractions of a second, millimeters on your vertical," Johnson said. "When you translate that into the business of our players, those differences between good and great translate into millions of dollars. We felt it was important that we demonstrate our commitment to our players.

"If they play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, they will have a home that is second to none, and in that facility, we will be able to develop you to your absolute best potential and give you the greatest opportunity possible to be the best you can be."

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These facilities are replacing outdated ones that lack modern necessities and amenities. The Wizards’ practice court inside the Verizon Center has just one court. Basketball staffers’ offices are spread throughout the arena. It’s not designed for optimal performance for athletes or front-office employees.

When Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld toured the Bulls’ practice center, he left impressed and wanted to replicate a lot of the Bulls had.

Many of these facilities were built with a specific, aesthetic design – open spaces and fewer walls for transparency while fostering a collaborative effort among employees; an entrance that directs players by the offices of the general manager and head coach and by the kitchen and training/health rooms; plenty of glass for natural light and views.

The flow of the building – the way players enter and exit – was important. If you need to talk to the coach or GM or a teammate or get food, treatment, exercise, workouts on the floor, you have to pass all those areas at least twice. Hinkie said he often had breakfast with Shane Battier when they were with Houston.

It’s supposed to be a welcoming and inviting space 24/7/365.

The Timberwolves tailor breakfast, lunch and dinner for a player’s specific nutritional needs; the Bulls have country-club like locker rooms with private showers and a place to get a haircut; the Nets will also use the building for youth clinics, community events and business functions.

As these facilities increase in square feet, it’s less about keeping up with the Joneses than it is keeping up with the latest in technology, sports science and training so players have tools necessary for improvement. The amenities are for current players, but it can’t hurt when it comes to luring free agents.

Teams put significant thought into these buildings. Hinkie visited more than a dozen college and NBA facilities, soccer centers in Europe, including the training facilities for Manchester United and Manchester City in England, the United State Olympic Committee complex in Colorado Springs and the Australian and Austrian institutes for sport.

"Often they’re trying different things," Hinkie said.

He combined some of what the best places offered. The Sixers will have two full courts, 10 baskets including spacious three-point room at six baskets; hydrotherapy room with a lap pool and large hot and cold tubs; weight and training rooms.

Hinkie has taken a special interest in sports science and the future of training.

“There’ll be less and less running on hardwood floors and more and more how do you train your lungs and heart and the like without putting as much pressure on your joints and the water is a big part of that,” he said.

He wants to the building to be adaptable, too, because he knows sports science and training will change, and they will need space for different workouts.

“What won’t change? Our willingness to shoot and practice and our interest in natural light,” Hinkie said. “What might change? Everything else might over a decade or two. We don’t know so we’re trying to make it flexible.”

Maybe the installation of a nap room. Or the addition of a sensory deprivation tank that could be used to enhance performance mentally and physically. Prehab, recovery and rest are important in high-performance training.

"Fast forward 15 years and we’re lucky enough to have a Tim Duncan and a Tim Duncan comes in on an off day to lift," Hinkie said. "The hope is that he might lift and while he’s lifting see somebody playing 2-on-2. Or when they come in to play 2-on-2, they might see him lifting and encourage one another.

"If I’m trying to perform at my best, this is the place to do it."