Minnesota Sports Forum

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Clearly, this is all part of the Sixers' master plan. Embiid will need at least another season to lose the weight, so Philly is just assuring they'll be tanking for a high pick this year and next. Then, right about the time Noel starts to become a good player, I expect they may actually trade him for more future picks, then tank some more to get more high draft picks.

It's genius actually. If you need to be bad to get good, imagine how good they'll be if they are intentionally bad to get high draft picks for nearly a decade! Look at us. We've been sh*tty for nearly that long and we're clearly on a cusp of a championship dynasty thanks to all these high picks that have netted us transformative players like Johnny Flynn, Wes Johnson, Derrick Williams, the list goes on. It's like an All-Star roster, this team. And all we had to do was be terrible for a decade to get it.

So be patient with your fat Embiid and your D League team Philly, it's all part of the plan. I'm sure your team will be as great as ours one day.

Sam Hinkle (Philly GM) is buying himself more time. Savvy.

But, considering he comes from the Daryl Morey "GM tree", being unconventional should be expected. Personally, I think the 76ers are doing a disservice to the fans. Telling fans to "wait some more while we try to lose, but we'll still take your money" is a bit insulting. I hope the grand experiment fails miserably, so other teams don't try to emulate it.

Hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for Philly. One thing I will give coach Brown credit for is taking this mess of players and getting them to play defense. They are much better than us in this area. However.....

It's always been my belief that GMs build great offenses and coaches build great defenses. In other words, it's tough for a coach to suddenly turn someone into a brilliant shooter, passer, dribble-drive penetrator, post-up player, etc., etc. But they can turn a cast of mediocre players into a halfway decent defense.

The problem for Philly is on offense. Michael Carter-Williams does a lot of things well, but he can't shoot. Nerlens Noel is a defensive pogo stick, but he can't score. Joel Embiid....well, he will invariably have some struggles when he finally does play. And then there will be another rookie learning curve with whoever they draft this summer.

I really think they need to cash in some of their young assets/picks and find a way to get some offensive talent. If they end up with Towns or Okafor, then they will have a glut of young bigs, most of whom are best served playing Center (although Okafor and Noel could end up being very complementary). Someone will need to get moved, preferably for a young-ish wing scorer.

Q12543 wrote:

I really think they need to cash in some of their young assets/picks and find a way to get some offensive talent. If they end up with Towns or Okafor, then they will have a glut of young bigs, most of whom are best served playing Center (although Okafor and Noel could end up being very complementary). Someone will need to get moved, preferably for a young-ish wing scorer.

Would think they would have interest in Shabazz or LaVine for Noel?

bleedspeed177 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

I really think they need to cash in some of their young assets/picks and find a way to get some offensive talent. If they end up with Towns or Okafor, then they will have a glut of young bigs, most of whom are best served playing Center (although Okafor and Noel could end up being very complementary). Someone will need to get moved, preferably for a young-ish wing scorer.

Would think they would have interest in Shabazz or LaVine for Noel?

Boy, Noel can defend and covers a lot of ground, but his offense is so raw that he is probably more of a liability on offense than he is an asset on defense. If he could at least demonstrate the ability to be a strong finisher at the rim or get to the line, it would help.

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a trade like this to bolster our frontcourt and overall defense, but it would be a gamble because he has to get better offensively.

Q12543 wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

I really think they need to cash in some of their young assets/picks and find a way to get some offensive talent. If they end up with Towns or Okafor, then they will have a glut of young bigs, most of whom are best served playing Center (although Okafor and Noel could end up being very complementary). Someone will need to get moved, preferably for a young-ish wing scorer.

Would think they would have interest in Shabazz or LaVine for Noel?

Boy, Noel can defend and covers a lot of ground, but his offense is so raw that he is probably more of a liability on offense than he is an asset on defense. If he could at least demonstrate the ability to be a strong finisher at the rim or get to the line, it would help.

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a trade like this to bolster our frontcourt and overall defense, but it would be a gamble because he has to get better offensively.

I would rather have the guy that can put the ball in the hole. I realize Noel's defensive ability is a big deal, but I feel like scoring (efficiently) is more valuable as long as there are other defensive players to help the effort on that side of the ball.