Sixers owner Josh Harris calls season 'huge success'

Josh Harris and his investment group bought the Sixers in 2011. (David Dow/Getty Images)

The 76ers went 19-63 this season and matched an NBA record with 26 straight losses.

But team owner Josh Harris called the season a "huge success" at a press conference on Friday.

"I think the season has been a huge success for us," Harris said. "I don't like to lose. In terms of having to live through a losing season, it's tough. It was incredibly fun to take down the Bulls [in the playoffs] my first year. That was a lot of fun. I want this team back in the playoffs and competing for a championship. That's kind of what we're trying to do. But to get to that point where you're an elite team for a long time, there are no shortcuts."

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Harris said losing this season was a necessary evil to get the team back to being a contender. The 76ers have a 19.9 percent chance of getting the top pick in the draft when the lottery is held on May 20. They also have the Pelicans' first-round pick — so long as it's not in the top-5 — which they received last year on draft night by trading Jrue Holiday to New Orleans.

"When we lose, even in New York, kids come up to my family's kids and say, 'Hey, the Sixers lost 26 in a row. How do you like that?'" Harris said. "We don't like that. This is my doorman, he says to me, 'Hey, can't you get those players going?'"

Philadelphia will also have Nerlens Noel, their 2013 first-round pick, available after he missed all of this season with a torn ACL.

The Sixers have made the playoffs 10 times in the last 16 seasons.

"We don't want to be 41-41. We don't want to be one-and-done [in the playoffs]," Harris said, adding that he doesn't use the word tanking. "We want this team, this city to be proud of the Sixers. We want to be proud of the Sixers."

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