PorkChop wrote:If we give up players and 3-4 first round pics for Simmons and he doesn't work out where does that leave this team going forward? Small market team doesn't simply pick up the pieces and go after the next top free agents and forget about the past like the Lakers can. It could ruin this team for a long time. Not only would Ben be gone but wasted would be Towns prime and DLOs. With no picks to show for it. This guy isn't a prime Lebron James type player. He's a top 25-30 player in this league.
Missed this thread last weekend. Pork, I see you in the wins prediction thread at 32 wins- I won't be surprised if you win this year, because I'm just 3 more at 35 and I tend to overvalue this team's prospects year after year.
I think you would have to admit 32 wins would be another very unsatisfying season, and unfortunately, would also only put us deep in the lottery...say, maybe 10-12. That seems to be the worst of all possible situations...no chance of sniffing the playoffs, but also not in position to likely pick up a gamechanger in the draft. And that's the problem. With guys like KAT, Dlo and Ant, this team is always going to be good enough to win enough games to position them poorly in the lottery, but not good enough to be anywhere near the playoffs this season. It's difficult for me to get very excited about the prospects for a team that is going to win 31-36 games, but only has a string of late lottery picks to look forward to.
And that's why I'm fully on the Simmons train (although not very optimistic about it happening). Picking him up immediately adds several things this team needs...elite defense, size, a starting PF, and our only All-Star. And rather than the 32 wins you're projecting, most here see Simmons instantly transforming us into a playoff team and perhaps a top 4 playoff team. Simmons has been a key piece of 50+ wins teams almost every year of his career, and I don't see his Philly supporting cast being much better than the one he would have here. And if it doesn't work, we blow it up with almost unlimited cap space like Cam says above and we still likely have a more promising future than I see right now.
Pork, doesn't that sound a lot better than another season far out of the playoffs combined with little hope of getting a high draft pick for many seasons?