The Sixers are coming back!
As you know by now, a last second deal saved the NBA season, and games will resume on Christmas Day.
While this is likely more exciting for fans of the Heat, Knicks, Thunder, Mavs, etc…, Sixers fans have plenty to look forward to as well.
For me personally, here are the 10 questions I have heading into the 2011-12 season.
1. What will we learn about the new owners?
They have gotten off to a good start by slashing ticket prices, reaching out to the fans and killing off Hip Hop. They seem to have a genuine passion about the team and turning us into a contender. Chances are anything will be an upgrade over Ed Snider, but nothing is certain. This question, above all else, could determine what kind of Sixers team we see over the next decade or so.
2. Will we trade Andre Iguodala?
Before the lock-out, this was the biggest story on the Sixers’ front. It will be interesting to see if they pull the trigger on a deal now, though I doubt it. If they do, I would hope that instead of trading for a player (Monta Ellis, for example), they would go after picks and an expiring deal. This would be a great year to get a top-5 pick in the draft.
3. How will Evan Turner look in year 2?
Or maybe more specifically, how will his new jump shot look? Turner showed some flashes near the end of the year. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to morph into pre-knee injury Brandon Roy, but I think everyone is expecting some serious improvement out of the #2 overall pick.
4. Will we use amnesty on anyone?
Each NBA team will be able to rid themselves of one bad contract from their cap. They still have to pay the salary, but it doesn’t count against the cap. Andres Nocioni is the most likely option, though some might think Elton Brand should go despite his solid comeback year in 2010-11.
5. Will we re-sign Thad Young?
Using amnesty on Nocioni would seemingly make this a no-brainer. Young wants to come back, and it seems like we want him back.
6. Will Nikola Vucevic be horrible?
The Vucevic pick was soundly blasted by almost everyone, including myself. But, for a team desperately needing a center, we can all hope he’ll prove us wrong.
7. Can Jrue make another leap?
The best thing that happened to the Sixers last year was the breakout of Jrue Holiday. The question now is whether he is what he is, or if he can continue to get better and turn himself into an all-star caliber player. Remember, he’s still only 21 years old.
8. Will Doug Collins message still be heard?
The Sixers played hard for Collins last year. However, historically, players have soured on him as time goes on. He seemed to have changed his tone last year from his previous stints.
9. Who will round out the roster?
There will likely be 3-4 open spots on the roster that will need to be filled by low-end FA (assuming we re-sign Thad) and un-drafted FA.
10. What do we want from this team?
The Sixers have been stuck in mediocrity hell for the last several years. Over the last 8 seasons, we have gone 298-358, had 7 coaches (yes, 7), and made 4 meaningless playoff appearances. So what do we hope for? A 7th seed in the playoffs? A horrible season and high draft pick? A complete blow-up of the team save a couple players? The great part is since the players and owners stopped acting like children (kind of), we get to find out.
I’m so pumped for this season. I don’t even know where/how to begin
Let me get this out of the way: RE-SIGN THAD! Ok, I’m good, moving on.
Speaking to #10: I know what I do not want. I do not want another season of inconsistent play and a consolation bid to the NBA’s Little League Everybody-Gets-To-Play postseason. ANd the reason ZI do not want that is that I’m incapable of not getting my hopes up, even if it’s just a little. The last few years, every year, I remember saying to myself on the last day of the season, “No chance in hell. No way, they’ll get swept, not even going to bother watching the games.”
And within in the week it always turns into, “Well, I mean, it could happen. If they do blah blah blah and play blah blah blah they could pull it off. I mean, they do have some good players. And, you know what? If it does happen, that’ll be huge, I surely don’t want to miss that.” And I end up watching the games.
And then after the series, “Fuck.”
Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? Of course you do. Go Sixers!
I have high hopes for Turner this season. He is known for having a tough time adjusting to his surroundings early on but coming on strong later (his playoff “run” kinda proved that). He was also a guy that made it a point to work on his game in the off season with an experienced coach, understatement I know.
Jrue has gotten better and hopefully that continues I can’t see a ceiling with him and that’s a good thing.
I hope everyone come to camp in decent shape therefore staying healthy and ready to hit the floor running.
This team will retain most of their players and chemistry could be a huge factor in this abridged series. In a shortened season, the 8th seeded Knicks went to the NBA Finals, only to lose to the Spurs in 5.
The ownership is not Mark Cuban, personality wise, but they are certainly making an effort to reach out to the fans. Having Will and Jada is a plus, asking fans for ideas is a plus, cutting costs in tickets is a plus, retiring Hip Hop a plus (great story behind the retirement on Sixers.com), having Jim Henson and Raymond Entertainment create the new mascot a plus. This should be interesting.
The Sixers need a true center after Dalembert was traded. Young and Hawes are our key restricted free agents that should be retained. If I had to pick one between the two– Young certainly. Who else could they pick up in such an abridged offseason?
What is interesting is that the players have had private workouts together and certainly establishing that chemistry, an underrated plus. If the schedule does stand somewhat, they have to play on a West Coast Trip starting at Sacramento (then Denver, Utah, LA Lakers, Phoenix, and New Orleans). A 3-3 could be reasonable.
Anyway, GO SIXERS and FLYERS!!
“The kidet” should Tweet when he surpasses brief former Sixers guard Andre Turner’s career point total of 767.
The NBA’s seen some good Buckeyes – Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Larry Siegfried, Jim Cleamons, Herb Williams, Clark Kellogg, Micheal Redd (to name the cream) - but ET, a legend in his own goofy mind, has a loooooong way to go. Unless he returns shooting it like Herb Magee, Buzz Braman and George Lehman combined, he and his 12 fans are in for Disappointment, Edition II. (Yes, those pesky defenders do change the aspects of Spalding flights.) Confidence & production OR cockiness & futility?… we’ll see post-Christmas in the Season That Care Almost Forgot.
Pete where is Dannie?
Working
Sixers-Clippers trade talks – I’m not saying any move will go down, but I hope to hear at least some rumors that we are engaged in trade discussions with the Clippers:
Clippers end - They have a GAPING hole at SF. They also need to make a decision about their frontcourt C position to tag team with Blake Griffin. They can’t go on with a two headed monster of Chris Kamen (perennial borderline all star when healthy) and De’Andre Jordan (young, defensive/shot blocking stud who will only improve).
From our end – We have a GAPING hole at C. And a log-jam at the SF position (borderline all star in Iguodala, up and coming talent in Thad Young).
Given the two teams needs, discussions should be explored. I’d also love to see us in discussions with the Denver Nuggets (Nene sign-trade) and the Warriors (Biedrins-Ellis for Iguodala + Lou or parts). Not saying these will or should happen, but for the love of god, I want to see Sixers brass at least IN DISCUSSIONS with other teams.
Thoughts on Thad – I still think we’d be making an enormous mistake over-paying for him. No one knows whether he’d be successful as a 32-35 mpg starter that can be relied on consistently to score and hold up the offense, and it’s not worth $8-9 million a year to pay for a super sub. I’m very worried about how we handle contract negotiations with Thad. We need to think “What will he be for us in the future, what is his role in our franchise?” as opposed to getting excited over the fact he had a very good year last season.
Who would you want from the Clippers? Kaman is essentially a salary dump, which wouldn’t be the end of the world, provided there is also a young player and a pick in there. I don’t think there is any chance they deal Jordan, who the Sixers should have picked themselves in the draft a couple years back.
I think we should explore a Thad Young for De’Andre Jordan trade. 21 year old, 6’11 defensive bigs are hard to come by, and I think having Jrue + De’Andre going into the future means we have the two most coveted positions in basketball locked up for years to come.
I agree that there’s almost no chance the Clippers would deal De’Andre. However, Thad’s stock is at an all time high right now, and I think we should take advantage and see if they bite.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I think we don’t know what Thad’s ceiling is. I don’t anyone could for-sure guaruntee that Thad is a legit caliber 18 ppg SF in this league on a champ team. And I think over paying for a super-sub is a big mistake. Even if Thad did pan out to be a legit starting SF, I’d trade a 20 ppg scoring SF for a double double defensive, shot blocking big with no offense without even blinking.
It’s realistic for us because we could keep Iggy as the SF, or groom Turner to be a SG with similar production (all around versatility), but we need a center. It’s realistic for the Clippers because a Thad/Blake/Kaman 3-4-5 combo, along with Eric Gordon, is one hell of a starting lineup. I think this is at least worth exploring to see whether the Clips are interested.
Pleasant surprise that we get basketball for Christmas. I had written it off weeks ago. It’s shame they didn’t go with a hard cap. Baseball can get away without a serious cao because of their massive minor league system and the fact that they have a draft like every other month. Basketball has neither offsetting factor. Oh well. Not going to whine about it now.
The shortened pre-season could go either way for us. I could see it really hurting us because all the young guys need that extra practice time, or i could see Collins being able to make more of the limited time than some other coaches. Anyway, I think it would be a mistake to approach this season with any serious expectations. I still think the smart approach is to do whatever tinkering you can, but mostly just focus on player development and getting things lined up to make real moves when Brandt’s value peaks as a expiring contract.
Hoopshype report on 76ers – “May start shopping Lou Williams.” There’s a piece of turd trade rumor if I’ve ever heard one…a tweet from a guy named Alex Kennedy. Why do they bother reporting this stuff?
Looking forward to it.
Our ceiling is right at what it was last season, maybe a little higher depending on Jrue, Thad, and Turner progressing and the team responding to Collins. I know that reaching the playoffs and getting bounced in the first or second round might not be the best for the future of the team, but I can’t help rooting for this team to win. Even last year I enjoyed watching them battle in the playoffs.
I feel like there were a lot of unknowns going into last season. I feel the same way this year. A lot of interesting questions (or maybe uninteresting, depending on who you ask), but very difficult to answer.
Pete, after Collin’s comments about Turner playing with Iggy it looks like we will finally see if the Jrue, Iggy and Turner trio canraise havoc defensively and survive offensively. I want young additions that may grow into something under Collins added. A couple of suggestings; trade Spieghts to Houston for Jordan Hill and see if Collins can turn him into a factor defensively. Spieghts’ contract is a year shorter so Houston may bite.
Try to acquire G. Lawal from Pheonix for a future 2nd rounder. They drafted M. Morris and have a loaded frontcourt. And we lack roll players willing to screen and do the dirty work. I think we have one or two spots to fill if Hawes and Young are back. I like Collin’s thought of Brackins playing backup s.f. because he seems to not have the bulk to guard the post where his length and ability to shoot from deep may serve him well at s.f. .
Suede – I’m a big Jordan Hill guy, and think that with the right coach and consistent p/t he’d be a great “first big off the bench” for defensive/rebounding/banging purposes, and even capable of starting. I’d love to have him on the Sixers, but I don’t see why Houston would bite on Speights. Houston in particular does a great job scouting their players comprehensively, both in the traditional and the analytics-deeper stats way, and I think Speights league-wide has garnered a reputation of “a black hole that will shoot every time he gets that plays no defense and can’t pass to save his life”. You do have a point though with the shorter contract, and the fact that as a 22 year old 6’10 guy with legit size, the potential for him to put the pieces together offensively (his strength) still exists.
I also agree with Gani Lawal…big fan of his as well, and you’re right, Phoenix is loaded with 6’7 – 6’9 players, mostly SF/PF hybrids (Childress, Warrick, Frye, Dudley, Morris, Lawal), so it would actually make sense for them to move him. Speaking of Phoenix bigs, it really is a shame the Sixers didn’t pursue (as far as we know) Marcin Gortat harder via trade when he was with the Magic. I’m still pissed off about that, he would have been a wonderful piece for us to have moving forward.
DaveT., It seems Hill has a similar rep as a guy that doesn’t always give effort but I have seen glimpses, a weakside block on T. Duncan was one, where his athletism intrigues me. If Houston strikes out on free agent bigs, a good possibility with Gasol, Chandler and Nene, they may take a shot on Spieghts in a platoon situation with Thabeet as the other guy.
McHale may be able to get on floor and build both of their confidences with his quirky personality. I could see him, as a coach, being able to relate to Spieghts in some ways.
Suede – What’s so odd about Jordan Hill is that at Arizona, he was Mr. Motor. The guy was a bundle of athleticism and energy that did all the little things right. He would harass people on defense, get right up in people’s faces, cut off the passing lanes with his long arms, and was off the chart as a help defender.
For some reason that hasn’t been translating to the Pro level yet, but I’m absolutely convinced from what I saw in college he’s still capable of being an impact NBA player.
With Houston, I think they’re going to wind up signing Nene as a FA.
It seems the overspending may continue. I read on hoopsworld that Chandler is looking for 20 mpy, Gasol 14 mpy and Nene 16 to 17 mpy, yikes !!!!
Disclaimer: I read this blog for the Phillies coverage.
Can somebody explain to me why a mediocre team like the Sixers need to continue to try to improve and continue to be mediocre?
Hasn’t the blueprint to success in the NBA = be really really terrible and get a superstar in the draft? No, I am not talking about Evan Turner. I am talking about Durant, Rose, LeBron, and what the Celtics did to get Garnett.
Wouldn’t you guys rather the Sixers stink and have a chance at Jared Sullinger/Austin Rivers/etc than have Chris Kaman?
You are right that you want to be really good or really shitty in the NBA.
The Sixers two best scenarios are as follows, IMO
1. Jrue (21 years old), Turner (23) and Thad (23) all take a considerable step forward this year, and we become a 4th or 5th seed in the East and can prepare to operate with some cap space next year if we amnesty Elton Brand.
2. Those same three guys show promise, but we suck enough to get a top pick in the draft and get lucky enough to grab a franchise player.
The middle road of going .500 is the worst possible thing you can do in the NBA.
Unfortunately the most likely scenario is middle of the road.
Turner doesn’t have athletic capacity for his ceiling to get me excited at this point. What is a step forward? What is best case scenario of his step forward? What SG/SF that isn’t an elite athlete or very strong shooter is an true impact player in the NBA? He would need to become an excellent shooter for his potential to be anything more than a solid NBA player in my mind – which still leaves us missing an elite player. Hope I am wrong.
Jrue’s potential is better and going into this season his step forward is the #1 reason to watch this team.
Thad, meh. At what point do we stop saying before every season, if this guy takes a step forward (a big one)? You can’t pay him a long term contract hoping for a step forward. If he hasn’t made it by now coming out of his rookie contract, it’s much less likely to occur. Rather sign and trade him for a player with a true position and valuable skillset.
IF we sign Thad, I’d LOVE for them to go for broke with the young guys and trade Iggy and give Thad the starting SF spot and leave the excuses about him (not getting minutes, not getting a chance to play his true position, etc.) at the door.
Dannie, good to hear from ya; my brother and I were discussing why Iggy for Odom would work and the main benefit was Odom would allow Thad to play the 3 and play through his weakness’s because of Odom’s ability to handle the ball and make decisions.
It was mentioned that Odom would play next to Brand at the 5 and Thad could be the 3rd frontcourt guy. If Odom expires the same year as Elton it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Thad becomes our future s.f. .
Sude – urious where you heard the Iggy for Odom rumor reported?
While it would be nice to basically swamp in a guy whose contracts comes off the books one year sooner like Odom, while being able to finally see what Thad can do as a starting 3 man (I think probably he’d be solid but nothing amazing)…the big downside is that essentially we’d be trading Iguodala for only the extra cap room a year earlier.
Which doesn’t really make sense; if we’re going to trade Iguodala, we have to get some kind of young talent an/or draft picks that have value in return. The Lakers have neither.
That was a big rumor before the lock-out. I wasn’t thrilled with it. For Iggy – I’d either want a good young piece (like a James Harden) and picks, or an expiring contract and picks, but from a bad team, not the Lakers who will be picking 30th.
I don’t think there is a desirable deal out there for him right now. I’d keep him. Once Brand’s contract, and Nocioni’s, is off the books (next year if we amnesty him) we get some flexibility back.
Yeah I wish I had more time to write – I just don’t. Job promotions and raises mean more work – so I do a lot more at home than even before (and I’ve always been a workaholic).
Stu, I agree with you but highly doubt that is the road they take. When they took the more proven player [Turner] over a 19 year old big [Favors] that could grow with Jrue that showed me they want to compete now. Would this work for you?
Trade Iggy for a young talent or #1 pick in this years draft and caproom, for trade purposes. Then amnisty Elton, lose this season and see what happens with 2 possible #1 picks in a strong draft. But there are no guarentees this works either.
I prefer to give the Jrue, Iggy and Turner trio a full year together first to see their ceiling, especially defensively. And our young center who, if he is better than Hawes could solidify the 5 spot by putting Hawes where he belongs, as a backup.
Turner is the key right now and if he reaches an Iggy like level this may become a top 4 team in this conference with Elton coming off the books 2 years from now for the final piece to the puzzle.
Possible roster 2 years from now;
Vucevic, [Plumlee?], Hawes
[ free agent?] Thad, Plumlee
Iggy, Turner
Turner, Meeks
Jrue, [defensive veteran p.g.]
I think if Turner pans out we are already in a rebuild mode through the draft. Let’s see what him and Vucevic can do before we blow it up.
Cool, I trust the analysis from Pete and most of the commenters here.
Suede, I agree that seeing how Turner improves in Year 2 is the key before making any rash decisions.
I guess my overall point is see how this current group plays out before making some sort “splash” and going after another rotational player that is given too much money and will blow a chance to draft high in 2012.
Suede – I really hope two years from now we don’t have our SG/SF positions manned by Turner and Iguodala. Neither can shoot effectively, and while I believe Turner could improve his midrange J enough to be an effective weapon, no way any pro basketball team can compete with a total lack of 3 pt shooting from both wing man spots.
Also, would you really be happy with a 5-6 seed in the East? Wouldn’t mean much…we’d be no where near the top 10 in the league, and far from contention. Especially, going into the future a bit…Miami and Chicago will only improve, if CP3 lands in NYC somehow they are just a filthy sick offensive lineup, and N Jersey with Deron saying “90% back with Nets” they will likely also land Chandler or Nene, and possibly a guy like Caron Butler or J-Rich to give them legitimacy.
The 76ers, if you look around the landscape of the league, are in one of the odder positions. Treading water, waiting for a lot of coulda/hopefully/maybe’s…and relying on future draft picks that we have no idea if we’ll even have. It’s nice to know we’ll be around .500 so we don’t suck…and it will be fun seeing how Jrue (mostly optimistic), Thad (curious), and Turner (pessimistic) will perform this year.
DaveT., I think we are already in the 4 to 6 area in the east without Turner being a factor at all. Everything hinges on Jrue and Turner becoming solid players to me and if that doesn’t happen than we aren’t doing anything for the next 5 years.
There is a chance we pass Atlanta, Orlando and Boston this season because of roster shakeups and age on those teams parts and growth from our young guys. I still feel we are ahead of the knicks and don’t feel their stars compliment each other. When the new cba kicks in how do they surround Melo and Stoudemire?
The fact Elton expires in a year is big and that will be when our big move happens hopefully with an up and coming athletic big traded for or signed whether it be Milsap, Favors or [fill in the blank].
ESPN’s Truehoop 5-man roundtable on 76ers – Somewhat interesting to hear a few national analysts take on our team:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-111204/philadelphia-76ers-roster-questions
Some very interesting rumors circulating about C.Paul. If he goes to Golden St. and they amnesty Biedrens to acquire Chandler I hope the Sixers target Biedrens in a silent bid . He would look good next to Vucevic and maybe they let Hawes go.
Yes, Biedrins > Hawes
Vucevic and Biedrins would give us an offensive and defensive options at center
I am very excited for this season!! It’s my favorite time of year!!