Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid Duo

[ericd7633]

Do you see a clear path for this team to even get back to an 8 seed? Not without trading away some of the roster duplication and eventually luring better free agents.

8 seed this year? No probably not, but that's okay. As a sixers fan, I've seen them be the 8th seed plenty of times(or 7th). Also, Philly has never been a destination for free agents. Sixers need to build this thing through the draft, which they are doing.

 

[ericd7633]

Not true. Simmons and Luwawu are Colangelo picks. Henderson, Bayless, Rodriquez, Paul, Long, Webb III are Colangelo signings. That's 8 players added since Hinkie left (a few may not make the 15 man roster though). You could argue that Simmons was the target all along regardless of GM, but that's still 7 more players, including 3 important vet signings and a 1st round pick in Luwawu.

Also drafted Korkmaz in the first round too. Point is though the more assets you have the better the odds are of finding a contributing player(speaking of the late first round picks) Although I don't expect Korkmaz and Luwawu to play in the NBA this year, possibly Luwawu.

 

[knowyourenemy]

Do you see a clear path for this team to even get back to an 8 seed? Not without trading away some of the roster duplication and eventually luring better free agents.

Well, there's the draft. But isn't that exactly what any team's problem is? How do you put together a balanced roster and how do you lure quality free agents? The 76ers have a tremendous amount of cap space, what appears to be one of the best prospects to come out in the past few years, a group of very talented big men, and a ton of future draft picks. I don't see how you view their future so bleakly. Sure, they may not compete right away but there is definitely a clear path. Plus, they're in the Eastern Conference. They could potentially be in the playoffs this year if things were to fall perfectly for them (unlikely, but reality is that the East is full of many mediocre teams.)

 

[ericd7633]

My point is that Hinkie's fingerprints are not a good thing. He gave you 3 centers and and forward (Saric) that will sit behind Simmons. The backcourt Hinkie left was atrocious.

If you've seen Saric and Simmons play, there's no doubt they can play together. Also, I've always thought Noel is a better piece off the bench than starting anyway. Only issue is having Okafor and Embiid. I don't really like Okafor's game, but he's certainly a good asset to have.

 

[knowyourenemy]

Take off those Sixers colored glasses, lol.

BTW, the West was only 14 games over .500 last year vs the East, down from 76 games in 14/15, 118 games in 13/14, and 74 games in 12/13.

You're saying that the Lakers should win at least 35 games and I'm the one wearing Sixers colored glasses? C'mon man.

You are right about the East vs. West . . . but I still see the West as significantly better than the East, even if the numbers don't totally back it up. There isn't a team in the East, outside of Cleveland, that would be above a 6-seed in the West. Golden State, San Antonio, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland, and probably Oklahoma City would all dominate them.

 

[tlance]

My point is that Hinkie's fingerprints are not a good thing. He gave you 3 centers and and forward (Saric) that will sit behind Simmons. The backcourt Hinkie left was atrocious.

Yes the backcourt is atrocious, but Hinkie did what he needed to do in accumulating future assets and young players. If the Lakers had drafted Okafor last year as expected, they would have a much better core group. I think Hinkie exucuted his plan very well, and we are about to find out if it works. The 6ers are 1-2 players away from having everything they need to build a future contender.

 

[knowyourenemy]

My point is that Hinkie's fingerprints are not a good thing. He gave you 3 centers and and forward (Saric) that will sit behind Simmons. The backcourt Hinkie left was atrocious.

Agreed about the backcourt. I think he predicted the market poorly and assumed he could swap one of the big men for a perimeter player relatively easily. It obviously didn't turn out that way.

 

[Sparhawk]

That's the most important one though because of how the roster was constructed and the overall lack of assets. Unless you honestly think the Sixers could have been competitive with a core of Jrue, Turner and Young, the only thing to do was blow it up, and try and acquire as many assets as possible. And even before that season they finished as the 8th seed, 7th seed, 13th seed and 6th seed(with a .500 record) in the Eastern Conference the previous 4 years, not like the Sixers were lighting it up or anything.

76ers assets before/after Hinkie

I started a thread on the 76ers board showing our assets before and after Hinkie.

 

[Sparhawk]

My point is that Hinkie's fingerprints are not a good thing. He gave you 3 centers and and forward (Saric) that will sit behind Simmons. The backcourt Hinkie left was atrocious.

And they have two potential 2017 lottery picks and FA to find them.

 

[ericd7633]

76ers assets before/after Hinkie

I started a thread on the 76ers board showing our assets before and after Hinkie.

Yeah it's really crazy. Everything Hinkie did in acquiring assets was amazing. Could he have drafted a little better, sure I guess so, but he traded MCW(a back up PG in this league) for what's almost guaranteed to be a top 10 pick...great value. Got Noel at #6, who's probably been the 7th or 8th best player to come out of that draft, so again not bad value with where we got Noel. 2014 could be boom or bust, Saric looks good, and if Embiid stays healthy those are two huge building blocks for the future. 2015 was fine with Okafor, we'll see what happens with him.

 

[Sparhawk]

Given the cap room and potential future draft picks (thank you Vlade!), what's not to like?

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Embiid has to prove he can stay healthy. Simmons & Okafor is the duo I'm interested to see develop. Saric needs to work on his jumper. He's a terrific passer, but right now the jumper needs work.

 

[mannyz]

My point is that Hinkie's fingerprints are not a good thing. He gave you 3 centers and and forward (Saric) that will sit behind Simmons. The backcourt Hinkie left was atrocious.

Really, what better choices did he have at the time?

 

[knowyourenemy]

So. In case you missed this. Brett Brown says that Simmons will play some point guard this year.

"I can't wait for the season to begin and all over the place I'm very, very excited to start our season," Brown said. "I think [Simmons] is going to have some taste of [point guard] for sure. He'll dictate that himself when he rebounds and leads the break. I've said it many times, I think the NBA point guard is the hardest position in the NBA.

"He's never played point guard, let alone NBA point guard, so what do you think he's going to be? He has a real good chance to be that. I think initially we're going to play him in different positions and that [point guard] will certainly be one of them. I believe he's an elite passer. He has the mentality to do that first--and in a 6-foot-10 frame that weighs 240, 250 pounds, at 20 years old. That's a great package to work with to play multiple positions.

"He's going to be a facilitator. You're going to see [Simmons] making plays. The ball will be in his hands and you can call what position you want. He's certainly going to have the ball in his hands a lot, and everybody will certainly be reaping the benefits of that and truly enjoy playing with him. What we will say is we will give him the ball as much as we can."

Brett Brown: Ben Simmons will play some point guard his rookie season

 

[shopson67]

Really, what better choices did he have at the time?

Better than that lot of castoffs (and one ok prospect in Stauskas)? There had to be better options than Pressey, Canaan, Ish, Marshall, McConnell, etc.

 

[Sparhawk]

Nerlens Noel with some interesting Twitter changes....
NBA Trade Rumors: What’s going on with Nerlens Noel’s Twitter?

 

[shopson67]

Given the cap room and potential future draft picks (thank you Vlade!), what's not to like?

Cap room is worthless if the good free agents won't even look your way.

 

[Sparhawk]

Better than that lot of castoffs (and one ok prospect in Stauskas)? There had to be better options than Pressey, Canaan, Ish, Marshall, McConnell, etc.

Not if you want the best odds of taking Simmons with the 1st pick.

 

[shopson67]

Nerlens Noel with some interesting Twitter changes....
NBA Trade Rumors: What’s going on with Nerlens Noel’s Twitter?

That would figure, get rid of the one center prospect that actually fits the modern NBA.

 

[shopson67]

Not if you want the best odds of taking Simmons with the 1st pick.

That explanation doesn't work with the claims that there weren't better options and that Hinkie has set up a great foundation.