Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid Duo

[eaglesnut]

Has embiid even dribbled a ball since he left Kansas?

Actually a lot of them. People been drooling over his workouts for about 6 months now. But your point is a good one. He should be perceived as 3rd on the center depth chart until he actually proves otherwise, but it seems they've thrown him to the front of the class. If the Sixers don't treat him like gravy, and instead try to pretend he's the meat they could blow the whole damn thing.

 

[flyerhawk]

The talk only exists in the first place because the Sixers have been a disgrace to pro sports the past couple of years.

While I get your point, the NBA is designed to promote teams tanking.

 

[eaglesnut]

I think the idea is that they need to start gambling. Any one of us on a message board could hoard talent. A GM gets paid because he can figure out which ones are worth paying.

Actually the only guy able to hoard talent was Sam Hinkie. No one else has ever accomplished that. The next step is to put it together, not make a bunch of guesses and hope you didn't guess wrong. Develop the guys you have and go from there. They'll have a lot more leverage at the trade deadline than they do now. If Colangelo didn't understand that before the draft I hope he at least does now. No reason to hurry when the entire thing only can work in the first place because of patience.

 

[Clayton]

While I get your point, the NBA is designed to promote teams tanking.

Maybe. The Sixers look like a cautionary tale to me. Cleveland planned for Lebron to get back but they also got really, really lucky. Warriors built their team around later (not top 3) round picks. NBA is a complex game of happenstance.

 

[eaglesnut]

The problem is that the Sixers don't control the rights to the guys forever. Noel is going to be an RFA next year. And then a UFA the year after.

It would be great to be able to keep Noel, Embiid, Okafor, Simmons and Saric. The problem is they have absolutely zero backcourt. In a point guard driven league, the Sixers may have the worst group of PGs in basketball.

For the Sixers to have a chance at being legitimate they need to start getting good. Next year's FA class is going to be loaded but the Sixers need to show that they are serious team if they are going to have any chance of drawing any of those FAs.

The next two years gives them a ton more early picks to build a backcourt with. It's actually perfect to get the bigs first, because they take longer to develop, and then add the guards. The softcap lets them keep the homegrown guys if they want to. It's a long season and long playoffs, depth contributes to their overall chance at winning a title.

 

[flyerhawk]

Maybe. The Sixers look like a cautionary tale to me. Cleveland planned for Lebron to get back but they also got really, really lucky. Warriors built their team around later round picks. NBA is a complex game of happenstance.

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. The Sixers aren't a cautionary tale yet, unless you are talking about job security for GMs.

Making good draft picks is how you succeed. Higher picks have a higher chance of success but still a risk.

The Sixers are in decent shape IF they can bring in a legit backcourt.

 

[flyerhawk]

The next two years gives them a ton more early picks to build a backcourt with. It's actually perfect to get the bigs first, because they take longer to develop, and then add the guards. The softcap lets them keep the homegrown guys if they want to. It's a long season and long playoffs, depth contributes to their overall chance at winning a title.

Sure. And when they get those guys they can wave goodbye to Noel, Okafor and Embiid, assuming that they all are worth keeping.

I don't have a problem with getting the big guys first. But you can't build a team on a 5 year plan.

 

[Heatles84]

It's fucking crazy how people think having 1 center is better than having three. It is hard as shit to play 81 games plus the playoffs. Much easier to do it with a whole gaggle of bigs. No one knows if any of these guys will develop. Better to take chances on three guys rather than one.

If the Sixers trade Okafor and then fall short in the playoffs every year because of a lack of inside scoring I'm going to be livid. What the hell is wrong with using next year's picks and the following year's picks to get some scoring guards? What the fuck is wrong with depth? Why follow some other asshole's blueprint? Just infuriating. I'm glad the Sixers didn't already fuck this up by trading away a big already. So I guess so far so good, but the talk is friggin aggravating.

Yeah....because all of the title teams in the last decade have had multiple guys who can score and be dominant on the inside. Taking a look at the last several years, here's the big men that would be classified in this category:

2016: Tristan Thompson
2015: Bogut (used sparingly in that series), David Lee
2014: Tim Duncan (well past his prime), Tiago Splitter
2013: Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen
2012: Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem
2011: Tyson Chandler, Dirk (was used all over the place)
2010: Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol - Probably the only team outside of 2009 that fits your criteria
2009: Same as 2010
2008: Kendrick Perkins, Glenn Davis, Kevin Garnett
2007: Tim Duncan

Stock piling on centers while you ignore the guard positions and wing players his downright foolish. You can't stock pile at every position and expect to get by without injuries affecting you. Every team has this in the back of their mind.

The league's transitioning to a more smaller-lineup predicated on making 3's. The 76ers are going in the opposite direction. Also, stock piling bigs has not worked out well for the 76ers. Need proof? Look at your regular season records the last few years.

 

[ericd7633]

If embiid can ever get to 100% he's pretty clearly the biggest upside between him, okafor and noel. I honestly don't think its particularly close either. My dream lineup would be embiid, Simmons and saric at the 3. But it may make better sense to bring saric and okafor off the bench because they should in theory be complimentary with Saric's outside shooting. Also I really like the Sixers late first round picks. Luwawu should be a nice piece ala Roberson of OKC, with better shooting and Korkmaz could potentially be an upgrade over Stauskas if he doesn't improve.

Obviously still need a pg but I'm sure we'll suck next year and be right back in the top 5 and hopefully the Lakers pick becomes a top 8ish pick.

 

[CodeBreaker]

Some of you guys really got out of the topic

 

[Four4Four]

If Embiid is ready to ball, I think the combo will be like Penny & Shaq. And it will end baldy like penny & shaq.

 

[Bulletz]

If Embiid is ready to ball, I think the combo will be like Penny & Shaq. And it will end baldy like penny & shaq.

Penny had hair.

 

[Heatles84]

If Embiid is ready to ball, I think the combo will be like Penny & Shaq. And it will end baldy like penny & shaq.

You guys give Embiid a lot of praise and credit for someone who hasn't been on a court for 2 years now.

 

[CodeBreaker]

You guys give Embiid a lot of praise and credit for someone who hasn't been on a court for 2 years now.

He's basing it from Embiid before injury obviously. And the keywords there are "ready to ball"

 

[eaglesnut]

Some of you guys really got out of the topic

Well Embiid has never been better than Okafor at basketball yet.

 

[eaglesnut]

He's basing it from Embiid before injury obviously. And the keywords there are "ready to ball"

Embiid has never scored more than 18 points in a game. Long way to the top.

 

[Heatles84]

He's basing it from Embiid before injury obviously. And the keywords there are "ready to ball"

Embiid hasn't played one minute in the NBA. There have been players that were more talented then him coming out of college who ended up being a bust. There's certainly a chance that his career pans out - but to make it seem like he's one of the most dominant centers in the NBA is foolish.

 

[shopson67]

It's fucking crazy how people think having 1 center is better than having three. It is hard as shit to play 81 games plus the playoffs. Much easier to do it with a whole gaggle of bigs. No one knows if any of these guys will develop. Better to take chances on three guys rather than one.

If the Sixers trade Okafor and then fall short in the playoffs every year because of a lack of inside scoring I'm going to be livid. What the hell is wrong with using next year's picks and the following year's picks to get some scoring guards? What the fuck is wrong with depth? Why follow some other asshole's blueprint? Just infuriating. I'm glad the Sixers didn't already fuck this up by trading away a big already. So I guess so far so good, but the talk is friggin aggravating.

What good is a roster built solely of bigs? You have to build a balanced roster, and having 3 lottery centers is not doing that. If the Sixers can get a promising PG or shooter out of trading a big, they should do it. I think you're a little ahead of yourself worrying about falling short IN the playoffs, when the more pressing issue is falling short OF the playoffs, or even getting out of the bottom 5 in the league.

 

[shopson67]

Looks like Celtics are still pursuing for Noel, and not Okafor.

They value defense and are paying attention to the league trend towards small ball.

 

[eaglesnut]

What good is a roster built solely of bigs? You have to build a balanced roster, and having 3 lottery centers is not doing that. If the Sixers can get a promising PG or shooter out of trading a big, they should do it. I think you're a little ahead of yourself worrying about falling short IN the playoffs, when the more pressing issue is falling short OF the playoffs, or even getting out of the bottom 5 in the league.

How about 3 lottery bigs and 2 lottery guards? Because there's plenty of future draft picks to draft guards with. You don't sack all these years to get back to the playoffs. You do it to overwhelm opposing teams with the amount of talent on the roster.