No, the Sixers didn’t miss on the ‘Nova Knicks. They never fit in Philly.

The best possible outcome for the NBA and its Finals in June would be a matchup between the New York Knicks, with their Villanova DNA and their bulldog playing style, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and their defense played with the ferocity of an actual wolf pack. Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards would goose with fresh names and fresh games a league grown stale with LeBron Steph.

It also would leave Philadelphia gnashing its teeth over what might have been.

Imagine the impact on the 76ers’ roster that such complete and selfless professionals as Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo would have. Those three played the biggest roles in bouncing the Sixers in six games in the first round. They did so not just with grit and guile, but with talent and skill and basketball smarts — the same way the Wildcats won the 2016 and 2018 NCAA titles.

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Jay Wright developed those championship teams not just in the Sixers’ backyard but sometimes in the Sixers’ living room, since Villanova plays some of its biggest games at the Wells Fargo Center. So, how did the Sixers not see this wealth of ability displayed before them?

Because that wealth of ability did not exist when the Sixers had their chances to harvest it.

There’s no way the Sixers or their fans would have endured five seasons of The Process developing three guys who didn’t start in their first two years in the league. Whose minutes are you going to give them? Jimmy Butler’s?

It’s fun to fantasize, but it’s silly to think that the ‘Nova Knicks would ever have become the ‘Nova Sixers.

First, to Brunson. The Mavericks drafted him with the third pick of the second round in 2018. As a rookie he averaged almost 22 minutes per game. He scored 9.3 points and made just 34.8% of his three-pointers.

The 2018-19 Sixers were built to win a championship. Point guard Ben Simmons was the reigning Rookie of the Year, was an ascending All-Star, and was considered a future MVP candidate. JJ Redick was the starting shooting guard. The Sixers hoped that Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 draft, would eventually contribute, and T.J. McConnell was the emergency plan.

Where in the world was Brunson going to get 22 minutes of playing time? If you want to get mad at the Sixers’ misevaluation of a Villanova player, get mad that they drafted Mikal Bridges that year with the 10th overall pick, then traded him for Zhaire Smith and a first-rounder that, adding insult to injury, was used to acquire Tobias Harris at the 2019 deadline.

» READ MORE: Tobias Harris: Farewell and good riddance to The Process’ most dependable 76er (and his $180 million deal)

The Sixers and Brunson didn’t fit. He developed in Dallas, where he was pretty much the same player for three seasons, then averaged 16.3 points in his fourth.

What about the Sixers’ second chance?

In 2022, the Knicks signed Brunson to a four-year, $104 million contract that is one of the best deals in the NBA. In 2022, the Sixers signed James Harden to a two-year, $68.6 million contract extension, which was a bargain at the time, but it blew up in their faces.

Nobody thought Brunson would deliver more value than Harden. Zero bodies.

The Sixers could have drafted Hart in 2017, but they traded back. He went 30th overall to Utah and was dealt to the Lakers. He’s making bank now. Good for him.

Hart is having a career stretch. Through his first nine playoff games this year he was averaging 17.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, and hitting 45.2% of his threes.

This is the aberration.

In his first three seasons, Hart served as a part-time player for the Lakers and Pelicans who averaged 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds and made just 35.3% of his three-pointers, then became a rebounding savant, averaging 7.9 as his playing time increased in New Orleans, Portland, and New York. He also became a worse long-range shooter: 33.5% in the last four seasons, 31.0% this season. The Sixers already had a big perimeter player who couldn’t shoot: Ben Simmons.

There’s a reason Hart has been with three teams in four seasons, but the Knicks value him: They signed him to a four-year, $80.9 million extension after they traded for him last year. Side note: That four-team trade included the Sixers sending Matisse Thybulle to Portland. So yes, there was a conceivable world in which Hart could have been on the Sixers’ bench, but they preferred Georges Niang and then Kelly Oubre Jr.

So, oops, I guess.

DiVincenzo was drafted highest — 17th in 2018 by Milwaukee — but he was drafted on the potential he showed in the 2018 NCAA Final Four, of which he was the Most Outstanding Player, largely because Michigan spent its energy in the title game shutting down Brunson and Bridges. He did not fulfill that potential. He shot 42.4% from the field and made 34.3% of his threes in his first four seasons with the Bucks, who traded him to the Kings. He signed a minor deal with the Warriors last season, hit 39.7% of his threes, opted out, and signed a four-year, $46.8 million deal with the Knicks this season.

So, yes, four or five years out of college, the Sixers might have added DiVincenzo instead of, say, De’Anthony Melton, but at that point Melton was a more complete player. DiVincenzo happens to be in a place where, as in college, he can thrive as Plan C. He’s finally good enough to thrive.

The Sixers have made lots of egregious mistakes since they traded for Andrew Bynum in 2012: trading Jrue Holiday for Nerlens Noel and ignoring Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013; drafting Jahlil Okafor in 2015 and Fultz in 2017; trading Bridges in 2018.

But blaming the Sixers (or any other NBA team) for not projecting the development of the ‘Nova Knicks?

That’s just wishing in one hand.