Northern Expedition: Sixers @ Raptors Game 5

[Negrodamus]

https://theathletic.com/968108/2019/05/08/joel-embiid-ben-simmons-and-the-76ers-are-staring-down-another-second-round-of-horrors/

Seems to me like you're simply reading your own agenda into an innocuous tale about one teammate supporting another.

So you tell me why Butler is sitting on the bench alone in deep thought after a poor effort by his teammates during a 2nd round playoff game.

I've followed Butler his whole career, I've seen this type of behavior from him. For a recent instance, after the poor effort by Towns(it's been said Butler thinks Towns cares about his numbers more then wins) in the playoffs he didn't take the team plane back to Minnesota. Usually, there are exit interviews that have to be conducted in person after a season is over, which is interesting because Embiid was looking at the stats during the end of the game.

Read on Twitter

Luckily for the 76ers, it seems that Embiid and Butler have a real bond, that may help retain Butler.

That wasn't the stat sheet.

That was a contract for bottle service at a club the night before game 6. Comes with complimentary endless milkshakes and Shirley Temples.

[hookshot199]

The goal of the Process was to be a perennial title contender and I just don't see that.
The issue is the team is built around two guys who shrink in the playoffs for different reasons. Embiid has been truly great ONE game this series, ONE. He is injury prone and for whatever reason cannot stay healthy consistently.
Simmons is a good player who is great against sub par competition but shrinks when the competition gets really tough.
He did it last year against the Celtics, and he is doing it this year against the Raptors. Maybe next year the Bucks will be the one to embarrass him.

I'm not disputing your main point. But surely will concede that striking out on the Fultz pick (worse than that, we included the Sacramento pick) changed everything. So the only way you're going to see a perennial title contender is if soon-to-be-27-year-old Tobias Harris proves to be the third star. I'm not seeing it, but he does fit on paper. And, let's be fair, Harris put up better numbers for Doc Rovers than he has for the Sixers. It's shocking how his 3-point shooting has fallen. So I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I think a coaching change is in order.

But back to Fultz. He was supposed to be a scorer (the next James Hardin) and secondary ball-handler. So far, he's proven to be neither and, fortunately, he's no longer our problem.

We will know a week from now how badly we lost the Fultz trade. As things stand going into the lottery, the Celtics chances of picking 14th are 96.2%. Their chances of winning the 2, 3 or 4 pick are 3.8%. If they draft 14th, that's still a wasted pick but not devastating. Moreover, we did not see Tatum make the sort of progress that the Celtics were hoping for. As things stand today, he's looking like a very similar player to Harris despite playing for a far superior coach.

But my main point: Jerry C, Mr. USA Basketball, got the ear of Adam Silver and Josh Harris, then did the inexcusable by bringing in his incompetent son and derailing The Process. I could have lived with Bryan's pick of Fultz (people make mistakes) but to throw in one of Hinkie's assets, which itself has lost value, because D'Aaron Fox or Donovan Mitchell may prove to be the best picks in the 2017 draft.

As for Ben, let's see what happens if/when we get a better coach. I believe, given his inexplicable reluctance to shoot, that whoever the coach is next year, Brown or someone who takes a more hands-on approach, that Ben needs to take X number of shots per game and, if necessary, have plays drawn up for him.

And if can't shoot - hell, even Magic learned to make that ugly set shot - then we need to consider alternatives.

So while The Process was meant to build a foundation for sustainable contenders, we lost two picks, but maybe only one impact player. Let's cross our fingers next Tuesday.

BTW: I like having the 33 and 34 picks (the former by way of the Fultz trade to Orlando) than the 14 pick. We never do it, but if we can batch them and move up to 25, we might get the next Clint Capella. Or the next Marc Gasol, Lou Williams, Kyle Korver or Pat Connaughton, all of whom were drafted in the 40s. Also Patrick Beverly.

Couple things.

So many things wrong...the (1) Fultz pick and trade was the biggest disaster of all though.
The pick of (2) Okafor, (3) Noel, (4) blowing every other pick. Not getting ONE rotational player out of all the picks Hinkie accumulated.
(5) Trading away all assets that were left for a "good" rental player.
(6) (Sorry, Harris isn't a max player, no where near it)
(7) Simmons and Embiid both shrink in the playoffs.
The team was bad for years and years and hit rock bottom only to get right where they left off, not good enough to get past the second round and not even good enough to not get embarrassed in the second round.
(8) If they get blown out in 6 I could see them moving on from Brown.
What can you do....this is the team they have. Go Eagles !

1) The Fultz pick. Agreed. Either way, we should have let Ainge choose between Fultz, Ball and Tatum or deal with the Lakers (who had the three pick) and not thrown in the Sac pick.

2) Hinkie picked Okafor.

3) Noel, a good rotation big, wanted star money. We would have lost him anyway. Jeremi Grant: We didn't want to pay him $9 mil x 3. Perhaps we should have, but I believe management had set its sights on LeBron.

4) Carter-Williams got us last year's Lakers pick (Mikal Bridges), which in turn got us Zhair and the Miami 21 pick, which together with Shamet (a 26 pick) got us Tobias and Scott.

I don't know what sort of contract we should offer Tobias, but hopefully less than the max but more than other teams can offer him. After all, he's still young, which is my biggest concern with offering Jimmy max money. It's the same sort of risk the Celtics took with Horford and lucked out. He's still going strong at 33.

Luwawu (24), Kork (26) and Pasecnicks (25) were Bryan's picks or trades. None of them were key pieces in The Process. Kork turns 22 in July. I wouldn't write him off yet, but clearly he's not going to be the next Korver.

5) RoCo and Saric landed us Butler. Saric, although not a blown pick, was not going to become a star, and he was going to demand Marcus Smart money - $12 mil x 4. Lest we forget, we can sign Butler if we wish. But he'll be expensive.

6) What would you say Harris is worth?

7) Criticizing Embiid is not fair in my opinion. Last year he played with a mask. This year, Brown ran him into the ground before the all-star break rather than demand that Brand bring in a backup center/power forward after trading away Saric in November.

Ben is a different matter.

8) That might be good. As I've already stated, I don't see Brown as a top-tier coach. But he deserves his chance. This is it.

[76ciology]

this escalated quickly

[76ciology]

Even if Sixers didnt do the Fultz trade, the team was headed nowhere. Tatum and that non lottery kings pick wouldn’t help.

Nobody wanted Okafor and Noel, other than bias Sixers fans. Like me back then.

We were just not lucky if you ask me. We had to use the BPA on bigs when the entire league is going on the opposite direction. Looking back, the league had the entire trend figured out. It was a bad idea using top picks for bigs, unless its a generational talent. Kings and the Lakers pick’s value is way lower than what we’ve expected.

I thought Brand did a good job. The two trades this season allows us to stay on course on our vision of getting two star caliber guys with accumulated assets.

This thing is far from over. We carry on this team for next season, we’d still be one of the most talented team out there. We just need to figure out the fit. And I don’t think Ben and the sixers, and Biid is fit for one another.

[Bum Adebayo]

Ok so after thinking more about it, the conclusion I've reached is Embiid can be an MVP caliber player, but not with Sixers. Think about it, it is always problems with this org. Mismanagement of Embiid initial injury, Fultz forgetting to shoot, Simmons being allowed to refuse to shoot all year, Zhaire with food ailment. The common deniminator is Sixers organization, when all your top players have a glaring issue when developing, it HAS to be something in the organization. So what makes anyone think the organization cares enough about Embiid's diet? my conclusion is a better organization would take care of Embiid wayy better and instill in him a better diet and training program.
The only redeeming factor could be Jimmy if he resigns. He is the only one that truly cares and could make Embiid work harder and convince him to improve his diet.

[hookshot199]

Even if Sixers didnt do the Fultz trade, the team was headed nowhere. Tatum and that non lottery kings pick wouldn’t help.

Nobody wanted Okafor and Noel, other than bias Sixers fans. Like me back then.

We were just not lucky if you ask me. We had to use the BPA on bigs when the entire league is going on the opposite direction. Looking back, the league had the entire trend figured out. It was a bad idea using top picks for bigs, unless its a generational talent. Kings and the Lakers pick’s value is way lower than what we’ve expected.

I thought Brand did a good job. The two trades this season allows us to stay on course on our vision of getting two star caliber guys with accumulated assets.

This thing is far from over. We carry on this team for next season, we’d still be one of the most talented team out there. We just need to figure out the fit. And I don’t think Ben and the sixers, and Biid is fit for one another.

I think Hinkie's miss on Porzingis was a big deal. On the other hand, you have to put the pick into the context. Embiid went down for a second time a week or two weeks before the draft. Until Hinkie writes his autobiography, we won't know his motivation. I suspect drafting Okafor was a) insurance in case Embiid never played and b) he was considered a safe pick and c) he had Dario stashed overseas. Rightly or wrongly, I suspect he felt Dario would be the stretch 4 he would eventually need.

Secondly, D'Lo played excellent ball this year, but would you really pay him what the Bulls paid Zach LeVine?

Third, I felt that if LeBron were making a basketball decision we were the only destination for him. He chose not to and, frankly, lost his claim to be the greatest of all time.

I concur that Brand has done a good job - whether it's decision-by-committee including Josh Harris and Bret Brown or by himself. Either way, I still believe that we have our two star, but one of them (Ben) needs to have some performance targets set for him. Notably, X shots per game from X feet.

[76ciology]

Ok so after thinking more about it, the conclusion I've reached is Embiid can be an MVP caliber player, but not with Sixers. Think about it, it is always problems with this org. Mismanagement of Embiid initial injury, Fultz forgetting to shoot, Simmons being allowed to refuse to shoot all year, Zhaire with food ailment. The common deniminator is Sixers organization, when all your top players have a glaring issue when developing, it HAS to be something in the organization. So what makes anyone think the organization cares enough about Embiid's diet? my conclusion is a better organization would take care of Embiid wayy better and instill in him a better diet and training program.
The only redeeming factor could be Jimmy if he resigns. He is the only one that truly cares and could make Embiid work harder and convince him to improve his diet.

Because of Sixers organization, you’re not looking at Oden 2.0

Take note that one point after we have drafted him, even Embiid himself thought he was done from basketball.

[Bum Adebayo]

Ok so after thinking more about it, the conclusion I've reached is Embiid can be an MVP caliber player, but not with Sixers. Think about it, it is always problems with this org. Mismanagement of Embiid initial injury, Fultz forgetting to shoot, Simmons being allowed to refuse to shoot all year, Zhaire with food ailment. The common deniminator is Sixers organization, when all your top players have a glaring issue when developing, it HAS to be something in the organization. So what makes anyone think the organization cares enough about Embiid's diet? my conclusion is a better organization would take care of Embiid wayy better and instill in him a better diet and training program.
The only redeeming factor could be Jimmy if he resigns. He is the only one that truly cares and could make Embiid work harder and convince him to improve his diet.

Because of Sixers organization, you’re not looking at Oden 2.0

Take note that one point after we have drafted him, even Embiid himself thought he was done from basketball.

Oden was more damaged goods than Embiid, as simple as that. Embiid doesn't really have a leg shorter than the other, or degenerative conditions like that. He is closer to Davis health wise than Oden. Health in doubt but no major injuries where he misses one year.

[76ciology]

Ok so after thinking more about it, the conclusion I've reached is Embiid can be an MVP caliber player, but not with Sixers. Think about it, it is always problems with this org. Mismanagement of Embiid initial injury, Fultz forgetting to shoot, Simmons being allowed to refuse to shoot all year, Zhaire with food ailment. The common deniminator is Sixers organization, when all your top players have a glaring issue when developing, it HAS to be something in the organization. So what makes anyone think the organization cares enough about Embiid's diet? my conclusion is a better organization would take care of Embiid wayy better and instill in him a better diet and training program.
The only redeeming factor could be Jimmy if he resigns. He is the only one that truly cares and could make Embiid work harder and convince him to improve his diet.

Because of Sixers organization, you’re not looking at Oden 2.0

Take note that one point after we have drafted him, even Embiid himself thought he was done from basketball.

Oden was more damaged goods than Embiid, as simple as that. Embiid doesn't really have a leg shorter than the other, or degenerative conditions like that. He is closer to Davis health wise than Oden. Health in doubt but no major injuries where he misses one year.

You can’t blame this organization for their health and development. We drafted injury prone players that nobody wanted, to begin with. Guys like Embiid and Roco improved a lot. TJ even had a jumper. We built the most advanced training facility, hires the best conditional trainer (KD’s/todd wright) and so on.

The lack of development on ben is totally on him.

I dont think Ben needs to write an autobiography for us to know that Ben doesn’t want to defer. He has always been a primadona. Accepting his limitation would really kill his upside and probability to get a super max. For now, he’s a snake oil salesman trying to sell us that he is a generational player and not a more athletic version of Kyle Anderson.

[76ciology]

Guys.. why do we sound like the program is a failure.

We’re far from a failure.

We keep this team going next season. And if KD walks away from GSW. We’d be the most talented team in the league.

Raps were just lucky Embiid is sick. We almost beat them in g4 with embiid playing like Nerlens Noel. On average and without any sickness issue, both teams would be playing like it’s g3.

The guys just didnt come to play in g5. It was embarrasing. But let’s not judge the entire team base on game 5.

Ben is a problem. But at the end of the day, he’s an asset other team would want. And for now, he’s still useful if used correctly.

If you want a failure, then look at the Celtics

[James40]

Guys.. why do we sound like the program is a failure.

We’re far from a failure.

We keep this team going next season. And if KD walks away from GSW. We’d be the most talented team in the league.

Raps were just lucky Embiid is sick. We almost beat them in g4 with embiid playing like Nerlens Noel. On average and without any sickness issue, both teams would be playing like it’s g3.

The guys just didnt come to play in g5. It was embarrasing. But let’s not judge the entire team base on game 5.

Ben is a problem. But at the end of the day, he’s an asset other team would want. And for now, he’s still useful if used correctly.

If you want a failure, then look at the Celtics

I like the bright side, but the real side is Giannis isn’t likely to be questionable for every playoff game he’s in, whether it’s his knee, or a cold. He’s a true superstar in the NBA. Just look at his health, body, and his year to year improvement, Simmons could learn a lot from him.

Yea Boston’s a failure, on paper they had a great team, but like Larry Brown, Stevens does a better job with less talent, than more. Plus Kyrie has attitude issues.

Embiid really improved this year, and should have been an MVP candidate as late as January, Simmons basically stayed the same, but as for this year being a failure, it will be for BB if they lose tomorrow.

[Foshan]

I think it is understated how much we have changed our offense and what affect that is having on how we play. Personally I hate our DHO, so I’m cool that we have gone to more pick and roll... but when JB runs a pick and roll everyone else is just standing around. We went from a movement heavy offense to a stand around one. I’m not super surprised Ben is having a hard time knowing where to go or what to do since our wholeness offense has stalled into ice JB the ball and watch.

[hookshot199]

I think it is understated how much we have changed our offense and what affect that is having on how we play. Personally I hate our DHO, so I’m cool that we have gone to more pick and roll... but when JB runs a pick and roll everyone else is just standing around. We went from a movement heavy offense to a stand around one. I’m not super surprised Ben is having a hard time knowing where to go or what to do since our wholeness offense has stalled into ice JB the ball and watch.

This is not an anti-Ben comment because we need him for the future of the franchise more so,
frankly, than JB. But think about what you just said (and I'm not disputing it): that Ben is "having
a hard time knowing where to go and what to do."

Jimmy played 55 games with the Sixers this year. That's two-thirds of the season; more counting
10 games in the playoffs. Ben is many things - including being only 22), but I've never heard that
he's stupid. We've played ugly, turnover-laden basketball for most of the season. There's no excuse
for us to have gone into the playoffs without Plan B and Ben to have trouble making adjustments.

I hope we win tonight. I think we have a chance because I sincerely believe we have more talent,
just not the best player. But if we lose, I hope we move quickly to save The Process by bringing
in a different coach. You can't have your future all-star point guard handing off the ball and not
looking to drive. You can't have him making as many bad plays as he does.

One of the posters, I believe 76iology, cautioned that the sky isn't falling (my words). It isn't. But
we need to make adjustments. Unfortunately, it will have to be in the post-season. We didn't
complete the roster this year. Even with the slim pickings for months, Brown didn't develop a
bench. We beame too dependent on JJ and, with the advantage of hindsight, probably should have
move TJ and/or Amir.

Moving forward, we have some nice pieces if we can re-sign them (Ennis and Scott).

But Ben didn't improve his game offensively (yea, yea his turnovers are down marginally, I suspect
in part because Jimmy handles the ball more in crunch time).

The other thing 76iology said: I would much rather be us than the Celtics. For different reasons
(Kyrie and Hayward IMO), they have succeeded in devaluing Tatum. And their treasure trove of picks
- one given to them by the Colangelos - are not likely to be enough to trade for Anthony Davis. At
least we can hope.

[Foshan]

I think it is understated how much we have changed our offense and what affect that is having on how we play. Personally I hate our DHO, so I’m cool that we have gone to more pick and roll... but when JB runs a pick and roll everyone else is just standing around. We went from a movement heavy offense to a stand around one. I’m not super surprised Ben is having a hard time knowing where to go or what to do since our wholeness offense has stalled into ice JB the ball and watch.

This is not an anti-Ben comment because we need him for the future of the franchise more so,
frankly, than JB. But think about what you just said (and I'm not disputing it): that Ben is "having
a hard time knowing where to go and what to do."

Jimmy played 55 games with the Sixers this year. That's two-thirds of the season; more counting
10 games in the playoffs. Ben is many things - including being only 22), but I've never heard that
he's stupid. We've played ugly, turnover-laden basketball for most of the season. There's no excuse
for us to have gone into the playoffs without Plan B and Ben to have trouble making adjustments.

i'm about to be anti e veryone if we lose tonight

I totally agree there should have been some practice or just some general 'i'm a professional bballer, so i know what to do when someone else is running a pick and roll' but its not just ben, it seems like eveyrone just watches the pick and roller, no off ball movement at all. i don't like it.

WHile we played turnover heavy ball in the reg season, it was a lot of movement and a lot of passes, so i didn't mind it so much. we've gone like 180 from that to where we are now.

[AirP.]

One of the posters, I believe 76iology, cautioned that the sky isn't falling (my words). It isn't. But
we need to make adjustments. Unfortunately, it will have to be in the post-season. We didn't
complete the roster this year. Even with the slim pickings for months, Brown didn't develop a
bench. We beame too dependent on JJ and, with the advantage of hindsight, probably should have
move TJ and/or Amir.

Moving forward, we have some nice pieces if we can re-sign them (Ennis and Scott).

But Ben didn't improve his game offensively (yea, yea his turnovers are down marginally, I suspect
in part because Jimmy handles the ball more in crunch time).

The other thing 76iology said: I would much rather be us than the Celtics. For different reasons
(Kyrie and Hayward IMO), they have succeeded in devaluing Tatum. And their treasure trove of picks
- one given to them by the Colangelos - are not likely to be enough to trade for Anthony Davis. At
least we can hope.

With Embiid's knees possibly going to shorten his career(hence the window with Embiid being much shorter then someone at his age), the simplest solution I can think of this summer, retain Butler(this is key to keep a high-level playmaker) and if you do, move Simmons in a package for A.Davis and then try to find a solid low priced PG who can play some defense. A defensive PG, Butler, Harris, A.Davis, and Embiid would be an incredible defensive team with incredible size and with those 4 players, I would expect some of the better vet min players would end up coming to Philly to try to get a ring.

If you have Embiid and Davis on the same team(while retaining Harris), you can do load management for both Embiid and Davis throughout the year with Davis playing "some" games at center and Harris moving from SF to PF those games where one of them sits.

Another possibility is that you retain Butler and he recruits Kyrie to the 76ers(means letting Harris go in free agency), I do believe his friendship with Butler would be enough to keep him happy since he's an odd duck like Butler is(reference his list of teams he wanted to be traded to, Minnesota with Butler on it was one of them). I'm not sure if Kyrie had a Celtics teammate that liked him this year.

If this team is going to stay together after this season, I suggest removing any idea of B.Simmons being a PG, have him concentrate on being a point PF / small ball center, let him go get those defensive rebounds and start fast breaks, in the half court he's the pick setter and playing the dunker spot while very rarely handling the ball in the half court(unless he gets a jumper). Ben Simmons could be a devastating big with his speed, agility, and vision.

I don't think this was the year Philly was "going for it", there wasn't an offseason to gameplan how to utilize this talent nor the time for them to really create good chemistry on both sides of the ball, the trades were made in hopes this team could mesh(they didn't really) and the ability to keep everyone and build a much better team for the next 3-4 years.

[eagereyez]

Guys.. why do we sound like the program is a failure.

We’re far from a failure.

We keep this team going next season. And if KD walks away from GSW. We’d be the most talented team in the league.

Raps were just lucky Embiid is sick. We almost beat them in g4 with embiid playing like Nerlens Noel. On average and without any sickness issue, both teams would be playing like it’s g3.

The guys just didnt come to play in g5. It was embarrasing. But let’s not judge the entire team base on game 5.

Ben is a problem. But at the end of the day, he’s an asset other team would want. And for now, he’s still useful if used correctly.

If you want a failure, then look at the Celtics

If the Sixers lose in the 2nd round, would you really lock the Simmons/Butler/Harris/Embiid core into long-term contracts that go well into the luxury tax? That is a huge bill to foot for a team that hasn't even made the ECF. The Sixers FO will have an incredibly hard decision to make if they can't attract a true star FA and both Butler and Harris demand the max.

[hookshot199]

I think it is understated how much we have changed our offense and what affect that is having on how we play. Personally I hate our DHO, so I’m cool that we have gone to more pick and roll... but when JB runs a pick and roll everyone else is just standing around. We went from a movement heavy offense to a stand around one. I’m not super surprised Ben is having a hard time knowing where to go or what to do since our wholeness offense has stalled into ice JB the ball and watch.

This is not an anti-Ben comment because we need him for the future of the franchise more so,
frankly, than JB. But think about what you just said (and I'm not disputing it): that Ben is "having
a hard time knowing where to go and what to do."

Jimmy played 55 games with the Sixers this year. That's two-thirds of the season; more counting
10 games in the playoffs. Ben is many things - including being only 22), but I've never heard that
he's stupid. We've played ugly, turnover-laden basketball for most of the season. There's no excuse
for us to have gone into the playoffs without Plan B and Ben to have trouble making adjustments.

i'm about to be anti e veryone if we lose tonight

I totally agree there should have been some practice or just some general 'i'm a professional bballer, so i know what to do when someone else is running a pick and roll' but its not just ben, it seems like eveyrone just watches the pick and roller, no off ball movement at all. i don't like it.

WHile we played turnover heavy ball in the reg season, it was a lot of movement and a lot of passes, so i didn't mind it so much. we've gone like 180 from that to where we are now.

I have just opted out of NBA TV in my cable package and have no intention of resubscribing if Brett
Brown is coach. Fortunately, I didn't sign up for League Pass which, as it turned out for Sixers fans,
was a ripoff, I've been told.

I don't know if there's a young Hubie Brown, Jerry Sloan or Jack Ramsey out there, but I simply can't
stand to watch the Sixers "product". I get more enjoyment watching Blue Bloods reruns, even Rocky
movies for the hundredth time.

The point is: Brown should know that the regular season is different than the playoffs. If they want to
pass the ball around the perimeter and play H-O-R-S-E during the regular season, that doesn't necessarily
work in the playoffs - especially when one or more of your stars won't shoot and your best rebounder,
biggest body and below-average 3-point shooter, is encouraged to chuck 'em from 25 feet.

Tim Duncan shot 168 3's in his career (1,392 games). Embiid shot 263 this year (just 64 games). What
part of it doesn't Brown get. And that's separate from people standing around and watching.

[Ferry Avenue]

One of the posters, I believe 76iology, cautioned that the sky isn't falling (my words). It isn't. But
we need to make adjustments. Unfortunately, it will have to be in the post-season. We didn't
complete the roster this year. Even with the slim pickings for months, Brown didn't develop a
bench. We beame too dependent on JJ and, with the advantage of hindsight, probably should have
move TJ and/or Amir.

Moving forward, we have some nice pieces if we can re-sign them (Ennis and Scott).

But Ben didn't improve his game offensively (yea, yea his turnovers are down marginally, I suspect
in part because Jimmy handles the ball more in crunch time).

The other thing 76iology said: I would much rather be us than the Celtics. For different reasons
(Kyrie and Hayward IMO), they have succeeded in devaluing Tatum. And their treasure trove of picks
- one given to them by the Colangelos - are not likely to be enough to trade for Anthony Davis. At
least we can hope.

With Embiid's knees possibly going to shorten his career(hence the window with Embiid being much shorter then someone at his age), the simplest solution I can think of this summer, retain Butler(this is key to keep a high-level playmaker) and if you do, move Simmons in a package for A.Davis and then try to find a solid low priced PG who can play some defense. A defensive PG, Butler, Harris, A.Davis, and Embiid would be an incredible defensive team with incredible size and with those 4 players, I would expect some of the better vet min players would end up coming to Philly to try to get a ring.

If you have Embiid and Davis on the same team(while retaining Harris), you can do load management for both Embiid and Davis throughout the year with Davis playing "some" games at center and Harris moving from SF to PF those games where one of them sits.

Another possibility is that you retain Butler and he recruits Kyrie to the 76ers(means letting Harris go in free agency), I do believe his friendship with Butler would be enough to keep him happy since he's an odd duck like Butler is(reference his list of teams he wanted to be traded to, Minnesota with Butler on it was one of them). I'm not sure if Kyrie had a Celtics teammate that liked him this year.

If this team is going to stay together after this season, I suggest removing any idea of B.Simmons being a PG, have him concentrate on being a point PF / small ball center, let him go get those defensive rebounds and start fast breaks, in the half court he's the pick setter and playing the dunker spot while very rarely handling the ball in the half court(unless he gets a jumper). Ben Simmons could be a devastating big with his speed, agility, and vision.

I don't think this was the year Philly was "going for it", there wasn't an offseason to gameplan how to utilize this talent nor the time for them to really create good chemistry on both sides of the ball, the trades were made in hopes this team could mesh(they didn't really) and the ability to keep everyone and build a much better team for the next 3-4 years.

I think your idea of a defensive-oriented point guard is much better than the other idea. When stars are all over the floor, somebody has to be a role player. And I don't want Kyrie on the team. He isn't a leader.

[AirP.]

I think your idea of a defensive-oriented point guard is much better than the other idea. When stars are all over the floor, somebody has to be a role player. And I don't want Kyrie on the team. He isn't a leader.

Sure, but it's an option.

Although their value is vastly different, right now, if you could turn B. Simmons into R.Covington, this team would be a much better team in these playoffs. Philly would have Butler and Harris who can initiate the offense and have another person to spread the defense.

It's a very important offseason for Elton Brand this year, he has some very important decisions to make with the roster and with the head coach(more importantly how the head coach will utilize the roster moving forward).

[hookshot199]

One of the posters, I believe 76iology, cautioned that the sky isn't falling (my words). It isn't. But
we need to make adjustments. Unfortunately, it will have to be in the post-season. We didn't
complete the roster this year. Even with the slim pickings for months, Brown didn't develop a
bench. We beame too dependent on JJ and, with the advantage of hindsight, probably should have
move TJ and/or Amir.

Moving forward, we have some nice pieces if we can re-sign them (Ennis and Scott).

But Ben didn't improve his game offensively (yea, yea his turnovers are down marginally, I suspect
in part because Jimmy handles the ball more in crunch time).

The other thing 76iology said: I would much rather be us than the Celtics. For different reasons
(Kyrie and Hayward IMO), they have succeeded in devaluing Tatum. And their treasure trove of picks
- one given to them by the Colangelos - are not likely to be enough to trade for Anthony Davis. At
least we can hope.

With Embiid's knees possibly going to shorten his career(hence the window with Embiid being much shorter then someone at his age), the simplest solution I can think of this summer, retain Butler(this is key to keep a high-level playmaker) and if you do, move Simmons in a package for A.Davis and then try to find a solid low priced PG who can play some defense. A defensive PG, Butler, Harris, A.Davis, and Embiid would be an incredible defensive team with incredible size and with those 4 players, I would expect some of the better vet min players would end up coming to Philly to try to get a ring.

If you have Embiid and Davis on the same team(while retaining Harris), you can do load management for both Embiid and Davis throughout the year with Davis playing "some" games at center and Harris moving from SF to PF those games where one of them sits.

Another possibility is that you retain Butler and he recruits Kyrie to the 76ers(means letting Harris go in free agency), I do believe his friendship with Butler would be enough to keep him happy since he's an odd duck like Butler is(reference his list of teams he wanted to be traded to, Minnesota with Butler on it was one of them). I'm not sure if Kyrie had a Celtics teammate that liked him this year.

If this team is going to stay together after this season, I suggest removing any idea of B.Simmons being a PG, have him concentrate on being a point PF / small ball center, let him go get those defensive rebounds and start fast breaks, in the half court he's the pick setter and playing the dunker spot while very rarely handling the ball in the half court(unless he gets a jumper). Ben Simmons could be a devastating big with his speed, agility, and vision.

I don't think this was the year Philly was "going for it", there wasn't an offseason to gameplan how to utilize this talent nor the time for them to really create good chemistry on both sides of the ball, the trades were made in hopes this team could mesh(they didn't really) and the ability to keep everyone and build a much better team for the next 3-4 years.

There are other options short of blowing it up and moving Ben. As you've pointed out, turn him into a point/PF and share playmaking duties with somebody. Please, no, to Kyrie. Ben still needs to learn to shoot, even if it's a Magic Johnson-type set shot. And he has to start attacking the basket. I find it not believable that he's not smart enough to realize his unwillingness to shoot will prevent him from reaching his potential.

As for Anthony Davis: Without a commitment (i.e., sign-and-trade), no way. Despite their excellent season, I would expect Toronto to lose to Milwaukee (we will too) and Leonard to walk. In which case: Toronto will be a .500 team.

Lastly, Embiid: We're having this discussion because Brown and/or Brand didn't bring in a backup center after we traded Dario in early November. I posted at the time that if Embiid goes down because he's playing too many minutes (my opinion) it's on Brown.

So there's middle ground, which of course seems to be anathema to some: Play him 30 minutes (give or take) and have a physical backup (a guy like Baynes). Let him play the way Duncan did the last seven or eight years of his career. If we don't overplay him, he can have a long and successful career. But if we treat him like Thibodeau treated his stars, he won't have a long career.





don't touch Kyrie.