ATL -Fizdale Fizzles Out in NY

[emunney]

Feel like the Sixers are really easy to overreact to when the lose.

So you think they won't do anything?

[blazza18]

Feel like the Sixers are really easy to overreact to when the lose.

So you think they won't do anything?

Not what I was suggesting. Just think that they're an easy punching bag because of the obvious flaws of the team get highlighted when they lose.

[HurricaneKid]

Just a 16 team tourney is 4 games for the teams that make it to the final. Even Chris Paul is getting 2m to play 4 games in Dec as is. Why would any stars do this? And without their buy in this doesn't even budge moving forward.

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[H2tObes]

Why do people hate the tourney idea so much? It adds a little flavor to a dull regular season, I don't see the harm. I would watch it and probably find enjoyment out of it

[paulpressey25]

SO. What happens first? Simmons traded, Brown fired, or both on the same day?

Simmons isn't Jabari. But there is a parallel in that he's got a big trade asset value that may have some half-life to it. But the team has to have the guts to pull the trigger on it. Like now.

Recall last year at this time Bill Simmons wondering if a "Simmons for AD" swap wouldn't be a great idea for both teams. In hindsight, that probably might have been the move to make for both squads. Then have Philly us their cap room to get one or two higher ranked guards.

[Plossum]

Simmons would work well on a team like the Suns. Involve a third team and send some solid shooters back the Philly. That could be the deal. Something like Rubio, Oubre and Bertans to Philly. Philly’s pick to the Wiz and Simmons to the Suns.

Philly probably couldn’t sell that to the fan base but I reckon it’d open their game up a lot. Let Embiid work inside the arc where he needs to be. Simmons and Booker would be pretty workable with decent shooting around them.

[FlagsFlyForever]

I think the mid-season tournament could be great if the games/stats count towards the regular season. It will motivate players to care and the winner of the tournament will gain the advantage in playoff seeding in the form of extra wins.

I do like the play-in tourney for the 7-8 seeds.

The reseeding conference finalists is an improvement but I wish they just did away with conference locking playoff seeds in the first place. Seed all teams 1-20 at the start of the playoffs regardless of conference.

[paulpressey25]

Something like Rubio, Oubre and Bertans to Philly. Philly’s pick to the Wiz and Simmons to the Suns. .

That feels like a trade Herb Kohl would make to get the 8th seed on behalf of Philly. You can get a lot better long-term asset for Simmons.

That said, I'd concede that scanning the league rosters, it looks hard to find a "win-now" trade partner for Philly. Here might be some options I'd look at:

Portland: Lillard (or the fallback of CJ plus something else pretty good coming back with him)

Kings: I would try Vivek into both Buddy and Bogdan.

Charlotte: See if Jordan would part with PJ Washington, Devonte Graham and one of their bad contracts

Probably some other obvious trade out there. But just as we missed the Jabari to the Celtics in 2016, they might have missed their window here.

[BroncoBuck]

Why do people hate the tourney idea so much? It adds a little flavor to a dull regular season, I don't see the harm. I would watch it and probably find enjoyment out of it

It’s a cheap gimmick that will probably have too much effect on something of importance (draft, playoff seeding, etc.). The MLB used to give home field advantage to the team that won the all star game and it was one of the dumbest things they ever did. It looks like the NBA is ready to go down that same path.

We already have the Summer League tournament in Vegas, and I don’t know a single person who watches that. People follow their own teams and will tune in to watch big matchups same as ever. Nobody is going to tune in just because it’s a “tournament” instead of a regular season game. It’s the same viewers.

[4xBuck]

Recall last year at this time Bill Simmons wondering if a "Simmons for AD" swap wouldn't be a great idea for both teams. In hindsight, that probably might have been the move to make for both squads.

The Pels got a better deal than that.

[MVP2110]

Why do people hate the tourney idea so much? It adds a little flavor to a dull regular season, I don't see the harm. I would watch it and probably find enjoyment out of it

It’s a cheap gimmick that will probably have too much effect on something of importance (draft, playoff seeding, etc.). The MLB used to give home field advantage to the team that won the all star game and it was one of the dumbest things they ever did. It looks like the NBA is ready to go down that same path.

We already have the Summer League tournament in Vegas, and I don’t know a single person who watches that. People follow their own teams and will tune in to watch big matchups same as ever. Nobody is going to tune in just because it’s a “tournament” instead of a regular season game. It’s the same viewers.

I'd be willing to bet more people watch the Summer League tournament then people watched random summer league games before. It's the same idea here, if you had a tournament this year consisting of the Bucks, Heat, Celtics, Lakers, Nuggets, Mavericks, Clippers, & Raptors or something like that, that would make for some pretty fun matchups. I'd be all for the winning team adding those 3 wins to their regular season win total, I think that's a great idea

[Ron Swanson]

Sixers missed their opportunity last season to deal Simmons to Charlotte for Kemba and other pieces. That a team would struggle in the modern NBA after essentially trading all their shooting for defense was pretty damn predictable. This ain't the '99 Spurs and you're not gonna be a legit contender trying to win 96-89 every night.

[trwi7]

We’re all gonna watch.

Don't speak for all of us. I'm not going to waste my time watching that **** show.

Bet you will.

I will bet whatever the **** you want that I won’t.

[paulpressey25]

Sixers missed their opportunity

That's why this situation has so many parallels with Jabari. Neither team wanted to take a chance alienating the fanbase and risking that the guy would blow up elsewhere. Yet, as the months/years went on, the loss of the mystique killed the trade value.

Simmons is obviously a far superior all-around player to Jabari, but if they don't deal him this season, that trade value window is going to further plummet.

[drew881]

I've mentioned this in other threads. This is the system: have an NIT-like tourney for all the non-playoff teams and have it decide the draft order. Winner takes first seed, finalist gets second seed, etc. You could even have it in regionalized cities (or even non-NBA cities like Las Vegas, Seattle, St. Louis, London, etc.) with multiple teams hanging out at one time in the city.

- This system satisfies the NBA because it adds extra games and extra revenue.
- It makes the product better because it diminishes tanking, and doesn't reward crap franchises with lotto picks.
- The players would have to buy in, but there is extra revenue, perhaps extra salary, and I think the player would want to play for a chance at a top guy like Zion. In a tournament format of the non-playoff teams, even a mediocre team could win 4 in a row.
- This grows the product beyond existing markets, much like the preseason.

Minuses:
-Gets rid of the draft lottery show
-Would people watch? I'd watch the finals, but not sure I'd watch the other rounds, unless my team was in it.

[RRyder823]

SO. What happens first? Simmons traded, Brown fired, or both on the same day? My personal hot take is that they are doing Simmons and themselves a huge disservice playing him at PG and living with a skill deficit every minute he's on the court by choosing size over skill. Embiid and Simmons should be the bigs.

Play him as a big, get a super skilled PG, must be able to shoot the **** out of the ball, and Philly is right there. If I was the GM? Do whatever I can to move Horford and Tobias for the most skilled perimeter players I can find. Those contracts, given how the players fit with Embiid and Simmons, are catastrophic, but the players themselves are obviously not bad. A couple good trades and Philly is fully in the mix. One thing they have working for them is that Brand is not afraid to make them. Working against them is it's very unclear if he knows what he's doing.

Honestly if Philly was smart theyd offer Simmons and filler for Dame. But they won't.

And that's a good thing for us

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[Ron Swanson]

Sixers missed their opportunity

That's why this situation has so many parallels with Jabari. Neither team wanted to take a chance alienating the fanbase and risking that the guy would blow up elsewhere. Yet, as the months/years went on, the loss of the mystique killed the trade value.

Simmons is obviously a far superior all-around player to Jabari, but if they don't deal him this season, that trade value window is going to further plummet.

I mean, maybe? Injuries killed Jabari's value more than his actual fit next to Giannis. If you're talking about post-2nd ACL then sure, they probably could have still salvaged an asset, but the major difference is obviously that we've seen almost 3 full seasons of Simmons/Embiid to ultimately conclude that they may never work together.

[rilamann]

Even if they stand pat and don't make a trade, Philly still scares me the most out of the teams in the east. They seem like a team that doesn't take every regular season game super seriously. When they get serious and come to play they're dangerous and IMO, our most legitimate threat in the east.

[H2tObes]

Why do people hate the tourney idea so much? It adds a little flavor to a dull regular season, I don't see the harm. I would watch it and probably find enjoyment out of it

It’s a cheap gimmick that will probably have too much effect on something of importance (draft, playoff seeding, etc.). The MLB used to give home field advantage to the team that won the all star game and it was one of the dumbest things they ever did. It looks like the NBA is ready to go down that same path.

We already have the Summer League tournament in Vegas, and I don’t know a single person who watches that. People follow their own teams and will tune in to watch big matchups same as ever. Nobody is going to tune in just because it’s a “tournament” instead of a regular season game. It’s the same viewers.

I really don't think the winning team would get a crazy advantage like that, maybe a guaranteed playoff spot at worst.

Maybe it wouldn't attract new viewers. I don't really care about that, it's cool for fans who enjoy watching the product already

[randy84]

Something like Rubio, Oubre and Bertans to Philly. Philly’s pick to the Wiz and Simmons to the Suns. .

That feels like a trade Herb Kohl would make to get the 8th seed on behalf of Philly. You can get a lot better long-term asset for Simmons.

That said, I'd concede that scanning the league rosters, it looks hard to find a "win-now" trade partner for Philly. Here might be some options I'd look at:

Portland: Lillard (or the fallback of CJ plus something else pretty good coming back with him)

Kings: I would try Vivek into both Buddy and Bogdan.

Charlotte: See if Jordan would part with PJ Washington, Devonte Graham and one of their bad contracts

Probably some other obvious trade out there. But just as we missed the Jabari to the Celtics in 2016, they might have missed their window here.

Why do I get the feeling that we will be saying this about Middleton in two years?