Series Thread: 6) Miami Heat vs. 3) Philadelphia 76ers

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

flawed? lol

id love to have a "flawed" 6' 10" big man that is about a 20/10 guy and maybe the best big man shooter in the league, and a phenomenal passer--- and as far as his defense goes-- of course hes not the best defender- but - if you have forgotten- he has certainly made some defensive plays when they count.


Arguably- I think Love is the 25th best player in basketball----

1. Bron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. RW
5. Curry
6. Giannis
7. Kawhi
8. Davis
9. KI
10. Klay
11. Butler
12. Towns
13. Cousins
14. Lillard
15. George
16. Paul
17. Draymond
18. DeRozan
19. B Simmons
20. Wall
21. Porzingis
22. M. Gasol
23. N. Jokic
24. R. Gobert

Those are the guys I think are prob. better than Love

There is a next tier that I think Love is better than for a variety of reasons from injury to talent etc.- but you could make the argument for a few of them including: Hayward, Embiid, Lowery, Oladipo, Beale, Booker, Conley, D. Mitchell, CJ McCollum...I threw that together real quick so if i missed someone please let me know.

AT WORST - I dont see anyway you could call Love outside of the top 30 players in basketball.

Healthy, I'd put Hayward ahead of him.

Beadle, Embiid, McCollum, Olidipo are better than him with no qualifiers.

I think Lowry is garbage.

So, I give you that one.

I'm on the fence about Donovan because of the small sample size.

But, if you give Simmons the nod, Donovan should get it too.

Problem with assessing Love is , like you said in another post, his numbers are suppressed by LeBron.

I can't confidently guess how much.....

So, based on the eye test, I have him just outside 30.

ETA: Kemba?

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

@WiggyRuss

This list is from before the Season.

Doesn't account for Simmons and Mitchell crashing the party, nor Blake, Deandre, Milsap falling off a cliff.

They have Love 26th.

So, yeah.....you are definitely in range.

Top 100 NBA Players of 2018: Nos. 30-11

 

[CitySushi]

flawed? lol

id love to have a "flawed" 6' 10" big man that is about a 20/10 guy and maybe the best big man shooter in the league, and a phenomenal passer--- and as far as his defense goes-- of course hes not the best defender- but - if you have forgotten- he has certainly made some defensive plays when they count.


Arguably- I think Love is the 25th best player in basketball----

1. Bron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. RW
5. Curry
6. Giannis
7. Kawhi
8. Davis
9. KI
10. Klay
11. Butler
12. Towns
13. Cousins
14. Lillard
15. George
16. Paul
17. Draymond
18. DeRozan
19. B Simmons
20. Wall
21. Porzingis
22. M. Gasol
23. N. Jokic
24. R. Gobert

Those are the guys I think are prob. better than Love

There is a next tier that I think Love is better than for a variety of reasons from injury to talent etc.- but you could make the argument for a few of them including: Hayward, Embiid, Lowery, Oladipo, Beale, Booker, Conley, D. Mitchell, CJ McCollum...I threw that together real quick so if i missed someone please let me know.

AT WORST - I dont see anyway you could call Love outside of the top 30 players in basketball.

I agree he's still a top 30 player. I'd have him over Marc Gasol right now easily. The rest I think is relative in nature to your preference, but Love is still a really, really good player. I'd take him as a #2 on any team (provided that I have the other right guys around him, which I don't believe the Cavs do at this moment).

 

[WiggyRuss]

I agree he's still a top 30 player. I'd have him over Marc Gasol right now easily. The rest I think is relative in nature to your preference, but Love is still a really, really good player. I'd take him as a #2 on any team (provided that I have the other right guys around him, which I don't believe the Cavs do at this moment).

I would LOVE if the Cavs could somehow get Bamba in this draft. He would fit in GREAT next to Love. I think he has poormans Embiid written all over him--- Jackson too- kind of a poor mans Davis. Both those guys are a lot better defensive prospects than Ayton- though Ayton has the potential to be like an Amare Stoudemire if you ask me. I think thats a really good comp for him.

if worst comes to worst- and the Cavs draft 8th or so- and there are guys like Porter, Carter Jr., Sexton and Trae Young out there---- id def. be happy with either Young or Sexton.

Young obviously could rain triples and would be a great fit with LeBron. Sexton is also a really good shooter but he has some of that bulldog defender in him as well. It would be ahrd for me to decide between those 2.

Bridges from Michigan state should be there at about 8 or so too and I think he has some Draymond in him- that toughness and attitude and versatility.

Honestly- drafting in the top 10 of this draft is huge. This draft is as deep as I have ever seen in the lotto. Young and Sexton easily could have been top 5 picks last year and neither one has a prayer of going top 5 this year.

Porter was the #1 prospect coming into the year- suffered some back issues- and now id be shocked if he went top 5 considering there are at LEAST 5 elite prospects besides him in Ayton, Doncic, Jackson, Bamba and Bagley.

 

[flyerhawk]

Not sure how a Cavs discussion sprouted in this thread. But let's get it back on track.

There was a lot of speculation about how the Sixers might be better off without Embiid in the series. Monday night quieted a lot of that, albeit in part as an overreaction.

But this article put things pretty clearly in perspective..

We've got the proof: You cannot stop Joel Embiid. You can't even hope to contain him

Embiid only had 10 games where he logged more than 35 minutes this year. In those 10 games he average 28.5 ppg, 11 rpg, and 2.3 bpg.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Not sure how a Cavs discussion sprouted in this thread. But let's get it back on track.

There was a lot of speculation about how the Sixers might be better off without Embiid in the series. Monday night quieted a lot of that, albeit in part as an overreaction.

But this article put things pretty clearly in perspective..

We've got the proof: You cannot stop Joel Embiid. You can't even hope to contain him

Embiid only had 10 games where he logged more than 35 minutes this year. In those 10 games he average 28.5 ppg, 11 rpg, and 2.3 bpg.

You're not sure, really?

* side eyes @WiggyRuss *

I'm guilty of it too.

I will try to stay on topic.

 

[CitySushi]

I would LOVE if the Cavs could somehow get Bamba in this draft. He would fit in GREAT next to Love. I think he has poormans Embiid written all over him--- Jackson too- kind of a poor mans Davis. Both those guys are a lot better defensive prospects than Ayton- though Ayton has the potential to be like an Amare Stoudemire if you ask me. I think thats a really good comp for him.

if worst comes to worst- and the Cavs draft 8th or so- and there are guys like Porter, Carter Jr., Sexton and Trae Young out there---- id def. be happy with either Young or Sexton.

Young obviously could rain triples and would be a great fit with LeBron. Sexton is also a really good shooter but he has some of that bulldog defender in him as well. It would be ahrd for me to decide between those 2.

Bridges from Michigan state should be there at about 8 or so too and I think he has some Draymond in him- that toughness and attitude and versatility.

Honestly- drafting in the top 10 of this draft is huge. This draft is as deep as I have ever seen in the lotto. Young and Sexton easily could have been top 5 picks last year and neither one has a prayer of going top 5 this year.

Porter was the #1 prospect coming into the year- suffered some back issues- and now id be shocked if he went top 5 considering there are at LEAST 5 elite prospects besides him in Ayton, Doncic, Jackson, Bamba and Bagley.

Porter would be really nice, but he'd be more of a Lebron replacement, IMO. I think Lebron's free agency is going to loom large over your draft unfortunately. Since the draft takes place before Free Agency begins, the Cavs will have a real tough decision to make. Do they make a pick like Young or Sexton to help compliment Lebron, or do they go with the BPA in hopes of rebuilding around a star? Going to be real interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

lol....his stats are obviously suppressed by LeBron as well- unless you have just forgotten him going for INSANE stat lines like 26 pts 13 boards and 4 assists a night, lol.

the number of big men that can shoot, rebound and pass as well as Love in the history of the game are VERYVERY few.

Great.
Are they winning 1 game vs Philly without James?
My guess is no.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Not sure how a Cavs discussion sprouted in this thread. But let's get it back on track.

There was a lot of speculation about how the Sixers might be better off without Embiid in the series. Monday night quieted a lot of that, albeit in part as an overreaction.

But this article put things pretty clearly in perspective..

We've got the proof: You cannot stop Joel Embiid. You can't even hope to contain him

Embiid only had 10 games where he logged more than 35 minutes this year. In those 10 games he average 28.5 ppg, 11 rpg, and 2.3 bpg.

He’s not even cleared for contact yet, right?
Nice article, doesnt mean shit.
Play the games.

 

[bksballer89]

Not sure how a Cavs discussion sprouted in this thread. But let's get it back on track.

1 word

WIGGY

 

[flyerhawk]

He’s not even cleared for contact yet, right?
Nice article, doesnt mean shit.
Play the games.

Um, ok. Great response, I guess.

 

[CitySushi]

@ Philly Fans.

If the Spurs approached the 76ers and said Kawhi was available for trade, what is the most you'd be willing to give up for him?

 

[bksballer89]

Um, ok. Great response, I guess.

I don't think him not being cleared for contact is a big deal since it was a facial injury.

Not like it is an ankle or a knee injury where they would need to see him practice before clearing him to play.

Once they say he is cleared for contact then he will play

 

[flyerhawk]

I don't think him not being cleared for contact is a big deal since it was a facial injury.

Not like it is an ankle or a knee injury where they would need to see him practice before clearing him to play.

Once they say he is cleared for contact then he will play

Yeah, what it boils down to is whether the fracture has healed to the point that he can play in an NBA game or not. I have no way of knowing. He clearly thinks he can.

Having thought about it some more I think it is possible that the Sixers will sit him again tomorrow night and see how it goes. Give him two more days to rest. Puts more pressure on Saturday if they lose but losing Thursday is not the end of the world.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Best case is Philly.

Simmons
Redick
Lebron
Saric
Embiid

Fultz
Covington
McConnell
Belineli
Ilyasova
Lottery Pick

Philly coudlnt resign Reddick and sign LeBron.

 

[LAD]

if winning was everything and the only thing why not just take a min. deal and go to golden state?

It ALL matters- winning, perception, money, family etc....

I totally acknowledge that there is a real chance LeBron leaves Cleveland this offseason,--- right now id ballpark it about 60/40 he stays---however when you put ALL the factors together I just do not see a landing spot that checks as many boxes as the Cavs do.

And I mean- if the Cavs had the team right now at the beginning of the season- Love, Hood, Nance Jr., Korver, Clarkson, Hill, JR, TT, Green, etc. there is no way they would be the 4 seed--- Especially when you factor in the Brooklyn pick as either bringing in a very talented young player or trade ammo.

Um because the team has to WANT you first. GS isn't making any room for him - because they've proven they don't need him. Why would they risk the chemistry they have for something they don't know will pan out over the long haul? All of the other 29 teams in the league DO need him to win. Common sense.

 

[CitySushi]

Philly coudlnt resign Reddick and sign LeBron.

It would depend on his deal. The 76ers will still have almost 40M in cap space. Redick could be resigned using the MLE on a multiple year basis. He wouldn't be making 23M again for a single year that's for sure but if he wanted a 3 year 24M contract, that's definitely do-able after signing Lebron.

 

[bksballer89]

Yeah, what it boils down to is whether the fracture has healed to the point that he can play in an NBA game or not. I have no way of knowing. He clearly thinks he can.

Having thought about it some more I think it is possible that the Sixers will sit him again tomorrow night and see how it goes. Give him two more days to rest. Puts more pressure on Saturday if they lose but losing Thursday is not the end of the world.

True but losing tomorrow puts a lot of pressure on a young team like Philly. It would be their first MUST win ever and in a hostile environment

 

[flyerhawk]

True but losing tomorrow puts a lot of pressure on a young team like Philly. It would be their first MUST win ever and in a hostile environment

I agree. But I would also say that the Sixers are playing with house money this year. Putting them into pressure situations isn't necessarily the end of the world. Especially if they are concerned about Embiid's health long term.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Philly coudlnt resign Reddick and sign LeBron.

Nope.

But, LeBron could pull a Chris Paul and opt in to be traded.

Even then, Redick would have to take a steep pay cut because they don't have his bird rights.