Since breaking down the play of the Sixers is frankly a waste of all our time, my focus will be on non-game-specific talk. Namely: trade rumors, the draft and big picture discussion.
This morning I ran across this blurb from Mark Stein on TrueHoop:
The Sixers are only growing more determined to make a deal before the deadline. I’ve heard that in strong terms from three different sources this week already.
Which tells me we should expect to keep hearing more trade scenarios that include Andre Iguodala’s name.
Foiled in its longstanding attempts to move Samuel Dalembert and/or Elton Brand, Philly has apparently come to realize that its best shot at a shake-it-up move is convincing one of the risk-taking/big-spending teams out there – such Houston, Dallas and Cleveland – to absorb the four years and $56.3 million remaining on Iguodala’s contract after this season. – Mark Stein
So while no specific deal is imminent it sure as hell looks like Stefanski and crew don’t want to stand pat for the remainder of the season.
But that brings up a number of familiar questions…
What’s the plan?
Making a deal just because you are losing feel and you need to “shake things up” would be a mistake. I am all for making a move, but it needs to be calculated and with a purpose.
How does Stefanski feel about this roster?
Eddy S. has played a major role in sculpting this roster. No, he didn’t sign Sammy or Willie. No, he didn’t draft Iguodala, Lou or Thad. But he did bring in Brand, Kapono, Speights and Jrue. He did choose to resign Iguodala and Lou. And he has kept Willie and Thad on the team playing regular minutes. He also let Andre Miller walk and brought A.I. back.
I am confident in saying that this IS Stefanski’s team. Sure he is “stuck” with Sammy, but Dalembert has been the least of the Sixers’ problems lately. And in general it’s my opinion that Sam has done a solid job defensively and on the boards for most of his career. He is a goofball, sure. He is offensively inept when not catching lobs or putting back offensive rebounds. But so are a lot of players who aren’t half the player Sam is defensively. Sam’s not the problem!.
So first off, where is Stefanski? Well apparently he is out talking to teams about deals. But he hasn’t really said much about the roster in general. How he feels about the players. What the team needs to add or subtract. What the current goal is.
Does he still consider this roster a playoff caliber team or better? If so, what’s the problem?
What is Eddie Jordan’s status?
Making deals while not considering who the coach is or will be is a mistake. Unless you can substantially upgrade the talent, fit does matter both in the short term and long term. Trading Iguodala might make some sense if they plan on staying with Eddie Jordan and building a team around his offensive focus.
If not, shaking things up with an Iguodala trade would be premature in my opinion. I am not at all the biggest Iguodala fan, but I do believe he could shine under a coach that can do two things:
- Focus him and the rest of the team on defense
- Limit his half-court offensive usage.
Iguodala is a strong defensive player man-t0-man, which is hard to find. He isn’t as good off the ball as say LeBron or Wade is, but he is still good. Simply put he needs to be on a defense-first team surrounded by better offensive players.
If Eddie Jordan’s job isn’t safe and the team expects to go in a different direction, what that new direction is should be considered before trading an asset that might fight perfectly in that new system and style of play.
Don’t overreact!
At the end of the day that’s the worst thing Stefanski can do right now. Overreact to the team’s struggles and make a rash move for the sake of making a move.
To be very, very clear: I DO think changes MUST happen. To the coaching staff. The roster. The overall direction of the team and the style of play. Probably even the removal of Stefanski himself.
But if Stefanski is still the guy pulling the strings around here, I hope he is not considering making a move in a vacuum.
He doesn’t have to tell us he plans to fire Eddie Jordan, but if he thinks that is a likely outcome then that needs to be a factor in any potential trade.
If they are trying to make a move for cap or luxury tax purposes, don’t f’ing lie to us and think we are idiots and use his standard line of “it was a basketball decision.”
I’d love to see some shaking up, but make sure it has a targeted and useful purpose. And that purpose should be winning more games.
I repost this here, since its on topic:
I guess its official Sixerfan 1976 rumor season, so I thought I’d pass this along: “sixerfan1976 wrote:I know we tried to get houston to do Lou, Dalembert and Iguodala for McGrady, Cook and Lowry but they declined.”http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=978960&p=22015062#p22015062\
-Keep in mind SF1976 has not had a real scoop in the last 2 years…
“If they are trying to make a move for cap or luxury tax purposes, don’t f’ing lie to us and think we are idiots and use his standard line of “it was a basketball decision.”
I’d love to see some shaking up, but make sure it has a targeted and useful purpose. And that purpose should be winning more games.”
Agree. IMO the only move that make sense in terms of clearing cap is moving Brand- which might be impossible.
Any other major cap clearing moves that involve dumping talent (Igudoala) +/- prospects (Speights/Thad) seems counterproductive if Brand’s contract is still on the books.
I’m not even in a rush to move Sam. He comes off the books next year and is their only center. If they do move Sam it will probably cost them a young player and would really only save them 1 year of lux tax, in exchange for having to use a lottery pick to replace the prospect they lose in the deal.
I think they should definitely go after T-Mac. Having 2 of the 2010 All-Star starters on the roster would make this the team to beat!!!!
Maybe they can trade for Shaq, sign Marbury and roll with
Marbury
AI
TMac
Brand
Shaq
Funny thing is that team is not even that old compared to a vet squad like Boston. But they are broken down.
I think the best move the team can make is to fire Jordan. Period. Bring in someone with a defensive focus who also understands rotations.
The Sixers are not going to be able to make any moves that will make them better. No one they can offer up will net them anyone in return worth crap. The only thing they can do is try and clear cap space and start over.
They are pretty much stuck with this roster unless they want to blow it up, save for Jrue, Thad and Speights. They can’t just add a piece here or there and suddenly become good. Not with the clueless coach that is Eddie Jordan running the show.
Ed R. – Why Save for Jrue, Thad and Speights?
Also, I think this team could make a move here and a move there and get better IF they had some clear direction. They just don’t under Stefanski and Eddie Jordan. They don’t know how they want to play offensively or defensively and the players are confused.
I think they have some decent parts. They are still missing the major part and they need to rework the fit between some of the existing parts.
None of that can or will happen under Eddie Jordan.
And I also don’t want to let the players off the hook which I will probably be writing a post on soon.
The reason I said I would trade Jrue, Thad and Speights is that they are all young, fairly cheap and still have time to develop given a coach who will actually work with them. I don’t think all is lost with those three. But with the rest of the roster, what you see is what you get and its all you ever get.
Like I posted elsewhere, Right now the best thing that can happen is the Sixers continue to lose games. They have the 4th worst record right now, which gives them a great shot at a top 3 pick- maybe even a franchise saver like Wall.
But they are 2 wins away from the 8th pick, and5 wins from the 15th pick (making the 8th seed in the EC playoffs.) Missing out on a top 5 pick after all the crap this team has put us through would be a worst case scenario…My biggest fear is that Stefanski and Jordan feel they need to steal some wins to save their jobs. That is why I believe Ed needs to be fired. He’s not in a position to make the moves this teams needs to take a step back in order to take 2 steps forward- because another step back might help the franchise, but it will cost Stefanski his job.
Well if they are trading for Tmac the season is half way over. How many games do they expect to get out of him in hopes to win games now? Then lose him for nothing when his salary comes off the books. To me, they need to make a move they can look forward to that has some type of future ramifications. If T mac does come here there should be some conversation with him about staying put after this year. With this numbskull coach what high caliber player will want to come here during free agency this summer? nobody.
So what’s the plan? I would go after Tmac and Scola for Thad/Iggy and throw in whatever else needs to get it done. Brand is here for the duration unless ES can find a former Duke Alumni to take him off their hands. In Tmac you get playmaking, in Scola you get toughness and rebounding. I’m sure Houston wouldn’t move Scola though. With all the money involved there maybe 3 teams in any deal they make.
Go to Golden State and get one of those shooters they have. Somehow they have plenty of them every year.
A new GM would come in without baggage. He would be secure enough in his job to let the team lose enough to ensure a top 5 pick this year (that would not be tanking, it would simply require playing the young guys and cutting AI.)
A new GM could try and make a big move, but would not have to right away. They would have the rope to wait for the right move, whether its at the deadline, this summer (when some teams will have cap space but not land a big name) or next year when we have expiring assets.
I don’t think Stefanski has the rope needed to carry out this type of plan. too many of the problems are on his head (Brand, Jordan.)
No reason to trade away Iguodala right now. he is young and talented.
If you feel it is best to trade Iguodala then wait for this summer. Then go to a team with cap space who lost out on the big name FA’s. That team will be desperate to land a big name to save face and might give back picks and value in exchange for Iguodala.
I don’t think the Sixers would trade for TMac with the thought that he is going to do much for them this season, it’s more for the expiring contract.
RRose – What do you think T-Mac can provide past this season? Are you basing this on his previous performance?
He hasn’t been on a team that won a first round playoff game and he hasn’t been able to stay on the floor let alone play at a high level.
Resigning him would be the worst possible move Stefanski could make.
Right now I have 2 simple goals for the Sixers:
1. Get a top 5 pick this year.
2. Try and trade Brand in the next 18 months.
Where do you place the odds of these coming to pass?
BTW, Stefanski on 950 suggesting:
1. Brand will be a starter soon
2. Iguodala/TMac is not out of the realm of possibility
This is the quote from their twitter:
Elton Brand should be in the starting line up -Ed Stefanski14 minutes ago reply
Ed Stefanski says aquiring Tracy Mcgrady is “in play”
List of teams that could conceivably have an interest in Iguodala, solely for basketball purposes due to having a hole at the SF position, that could use an upgrade (note: I am ignoring the upcoming ’10 free agent market and that many teams would be trying to get Bron…just bball, and having weakness at SF):
-New York (W Chandler, Al Harrington)
-New Jersey (CDR, B Simmons, T Hassell, Yi)
-Milwaukee (H Warrick, J Alexander, C Delfino)
-Atlanta (M Williams…J Smith often plays the wing)
-Miami (Q Richardson, D Wright, J Jones (Beasley sometimes plays SF)
-Orlando (M Barnes, M Pietrus…R Lewis plays SF)
-LA Clippers (Al Thornton, R Butler, R Davis)
-Phoenix (G Hill, J Dudley)
-Houston (T Ariza, S Battier)
-N Orleans (Peja, Posey)
-Minnesota (C Brewer, D Wilkins, R Gomes)
-Portland (T Outlaw, M Webster, R Fernandez, N Batum…obviously they are loaded the SF spot, but Iguodala is more talented then the lot, unless you argue Rudy or Webster down the road will improve and become a better pro)
-Utah (AK47, CJ Miles, Korver)
…as we can see, many teams don’t have GLARING holes at the SF spot, but many teams are patching 2-3 guys in at the wing spots that are more solid to good defensive/versatile pieces, but where a borderline all-star player is lacking. Again, this list was made ignoring salary numbers.
Dannie do you think it’s a coincidence that no one, and I mean no one on this team is improving under Eddie Jordan? Thaddeus Young has regressed period… it shouldn’t surprise one person that Andre Igudola hasn’t flourished under this system.. who realistically thought Andre Iguodala would play well in a half court system.. it makes no sense given that his strengths are all associated with a team that loves to run.. Lou Will can score but he could always score, his defense is what needs improvement and that certainly isnt happening under Jordan’s watch.. Jason Smith doesn’t even get enough playing time to improve.. don’t even get me started with Elton Brand.. whenever he shows signs that hes back his minutes get yanked.. one of the strangest things ive ever seen is the “relationship” between Eddie and Brand. Seriously who has improved since Eddie Jordan has come here… you can blame the players all you want.. to me this falls squarely on the shoulders of the worst coach in the NBA. We have a player in Andre Iguodala who has showed flashes of NBA stardom in his 5 plus seasons but we have a system in place that is the exact opposite to his strengths.. did Ed Stafanski even consider this? It would be like Andy Reid drafting Running Back after Running Back despite the fact that we throw all the time.. it makes no sense. We also have a player in Elton Brand who I have heard some people question if hes a winner.. the dude won 2 illinois state championships in high school.. led Duke to the 99 finals… was one win away from the Leading the Clippers… yes the Clippers from the Western Conference Finals with Sam Cassell being his second best player… yet he magically can’t play now that Eddie Jordan is the coach? Yeah we all know he has some serious injuries and was rusty in the beginning but whenever he shows signs that hes back his minutes are reduced. Some people on this board were calling Young are best player and had the potential to be the next big thing.. some people even said they liked him better then Kevin Durant.. yet all of the sudden now that Eddie Jordan is the coach he has regressed in every facet.. is anyone else seeing a trend here? Nothing will work her until Eddie Jordan is FIRED PERIOD. Some might say well the Sixers must have a plan to just tank the season thats why their keeping Eddie Jordan… but at what point does this have to stop… Jordan cannot remian the coach at the expense of Andre’s, Jrue’s, Speights, Young’s growth. To keep Eddie Jordan as the coach to increase our chances of the number 1 pick is not worth all of this.. plus its not even a guarantee we get the number 1 pick and John Wall is the only sure thing.. although I am sure Eddie Jordan could mess his game up to… this franchise is a joke
I agree. they should not keep Jordan on. They are a joke.
But if they make a new hire let him be a “developmental coach.” I don’t want to see a 4th straight season where they have a fools gold late season push.
That’s fine if its the difference between a #10 pick and making the playoffs. But it is not acceptable to give minutes to vets like AI over younger players in the hope of getting to 32 wins instead of 25.
@Dannie.. He hasn’t been healthy for the past few years granted. But let me say he is far more talented then any player on this team. A healthy Tmac in his Orlando days was all they had. Yet he got his team to the playoffs just like Ai. Houston with Tmac and Yao take your pick with the injury bug for both. Take a top 5 center off any team they’ll struggle especially when the team is built around 2 players.
Iggy has hit his ceiling. I like him but his game hasn’t really improved to star status since his rookie year. He’s not an All Star. He’s not a clutch go to player, although he’s hit some game winners. He misses far more important shots than he makes. Free throw against Minn, last night against Blazers.. Has a very well rounded game but there are plenty of those types in the NBA. This team needs a difference maker. If Tmac is or isn’t that guy anymore, rent him for 40 games and find out. Right now this team as constructed doesn’t work. The idea of being a running and jumping team has gotten them 2 playoff 1st round exits. 16th best team is average amongst 32. Can’t blow it up if you don’t lite a match.
Hmmm.
Really?
T-Mac compared to Iguodala
Major difference? Shot attempts.
Dave T: be careful what you post, dont wanna start another Iguodala discussion. that topic has been regurgitated so many times.
hey to everyone, I was thinking; quickest way to improve this team is get a high pick since we are obviously not going anywhere even if we play real good. granted EJ is doing all he can to help us out, they wont really start nose-diving unless something happens. given that a trade is quite unlikely, I was thinking……. injury.
yeah thats not cool (I dont wish that on any player) but remember when Speights and Lou went down and we started to suck even more. might not be such a bad thing.
so question is: which one player on this team, would an injury to, hurt most our win total? I’m not talking one game, I’m talking the rest of the season.
I ranked them in this order;
#1 Samuel Dalembert (contrary to popular opinion, its not the leading scorer)
#2 Andre Iguodala (provides a lot but is possible to plug in some of the holes)
#3 Elton Brand (bench production will be at 7-8ppg exactly, which will be what Speights would average)
#4 Allen Iverson (would have been higher but he’s a sieve)
Really? Please list me the “plenty” you speak of, who aren’t also the creme of the crop elite players.
Iguodala is a flawed player, most are. But I think he is in a weird segment of the player pool that is actually pretty small in terms of production and perceived value.
Not many consider Iguodala amongst the most elite players in league, but his production, save points per game very well may suggest he is elite.
So from a production standpoint he is build around/with material so long as you can pair him with an elite half court offensive player. But his perceived value amongst fans and probably most/all media people isn’t of that level.
I think he is a good player and one that contributes to a lot of areas on the floor which most players don’t. He isn’t a high volume shot taker in the half court nor should he be or is even capable of being, so his ppg numbers are always 19ish or lower and that’s what most people equate to elite players.
I personally think elite players do everything or nearly everything well and at a high level and that includes scoring as well as defense. So for me Iguodala is not an elite player because of his scoring deficiency. But my definition of elite is tougher than most I think.
Current standings:
4th Pick: 13W Sixers
8th Pick: 15W (Det/Sac)
10th pick: 17W (NY/Mil tied)
15th Pick: 18W (Chi)
Each of the last 3 years they took a win now mentality and made up a ton of ground in the 2nd half. This from Tom Moore: “Brand on all the close losses: “We can pinpoint 12 games. We had opportunities to close those games out. (If we did) then we’re the darlings instead of close to last place in the East.”
Say they win half of those 12 close losses. That would make them 19-22 for the second half, 32W overall… and probably the #11 pick. Way to aim high
So will the team get a top 5 pick?
Current standings:
4th Pick: 13W Sixers
8th Pick: 15W (Det/Sac)
10th pick: 17W (NY/Mil tied)
15th Pick: 18W (Chi)
the art of losing ehh? … interesting …
If Brand starts, then which one of Lou or Thad goes to the bench? Again, perhaps the most short sighted move EJ (with ES’ tacit approval one assumes) has done was to move Brand to the bench. Pretty hard to sell a rejuvenated Brand in a trade if he can’t break the starting lineup of the 4th worst team in the league.
Morty – Ed Stefanski had an interview today on 950 and was very clear in his opinion that Elton should be starting again.
I am writing a very brief post on it now.
If they trade Iguodala I will officially stop caring about Sixers basketball until the draft. That would be a ridiculous decision in my opinion.
Dannie, I’m guessing you watched the UNC vs. Wake game last night?
What do you think about Ish Smith? He clearly doesn’t have much of an outside shot, but is a huge playmaker and Jeff Van Gundy talked him up to be one of the premiere PG’s in the league. What are the chances he makes it into the NBA? I went to High School with him is why I ask.
Danny, this is starting to scare me; if E.Jordan can sell himself to our G.M. for a coaching job, could he possibly sell him on McGrady as more than an expiring contract ? I have a vision of Sam, Elton, McGrady, Lou and A.I. on the court together . Ahhh!!!!
I dont see why ppl talk about dalamebert being traded. He only has 1 more yr left after this yr (unlike AI who has 3 yrs left after this yr, and E.B. who has 4 more after this 1). Dalewmbert even has a clear role that he sometimes plays really well (energetic shot blocking center who can offensive rebound).
I think the sixers would be better off biding there time this yr and just playing who they have. Every yr its more likely a team would be open to taking on a salary such as E.B.
Next yr a few teams might actually want dalemberts game @ expiring contract.
Time seems to be the winning equation now, and not trading AI or Dalembert. In 18 months, Dalemberts big deal will be gone, AI will be in the 4th yr of his 5 year deal (almost expiring contract AND a borderline pippen to a team), and E.B. would be in his 4th out of 6 year deal (over halfway done, every month his contract lowers in amount by 2 mill).
If the team keeps turning over contracts big (dalembert) and moderate (J Smith, kaponno etc), and replaces them with 1st and 2nd round rookies they will eventually get back on track.
I didnt mention E Jordan or ES.
Do the sixers have an extra #1 pick coming up? I know when the traded I believe korver to the Jazz they got a conditonal and lottery protected #1.