RealGM

No disrespect and no intention of trolling...

But are you guys happy with actually being in the playoffs right now ?

I mean, we probably will have to agree that you guys don't have a realistic shot beating either Detroit or Boston.

Wouldn't you rather want to have a chance for the 1st pick in the draft than being in the playoffs for an automatic loss ?

I'm happy to be seeing positivity surrounding the Sixers, and I'm not concerned about being in a cycle of mediocrity. For the first time in ages I trust the front office to get us to where we need to be.

Look at the Wizards...they got the first pick in the draft once (Kwame) and never really improved until their front office made the appropriate moves. Now true, Washington isn't in an elite category, but my point is that there are many ways to improve, and I'm happy we're not quitting in order to take on MAYBE improving.

I would much rather have a top chance at a top 5 pick at this point in the season. I don't put much weight into getting into the playoffs and getting your doors blown off. Which will probably be the case if we face Detroit or the Celtics. I'm happy the younger players are playing well but we would be a lot better off with a stud top 5 pick than making the playoffs.

The Celtics quit and didn't get the pick the expected but were able to make something out of it. I would much rather be put in that situation than hoping to hit on a pick from 12-16 each year.

Just something I looked up...Going back 3 years to allow for development

2004 Draft
#1 - Orlando - Howard (GReat pick...desired effect..success)
#2 - Bobcats - Emeka (Nice pick...he's not winning you any titlesOR getting you to a playoff)
#3 - Chicago - Gordon (Arguably hasn't been the reason for Chicago's success, or helped them in their slide)

2003 Draft
#1 - Cavs - Lebron (No explanation Needed)
#2 - Detroit - Darko (Didn't make them better...they didn't need him to be good. Total bust at 2)
#3 - Denver - Carmelo (Great player...still needs lots of help)

2002 Draft
#1 - Houston - Yao (Great center...still no rings. Won't be available to help this playoffs)
#2 - Chicago - Jayson Williams (Hasn't played due to accident. Nothing to show for pick)
#3 - GS - Dunleavy - (No real impact...good contributor though)

2001 Draft
#1 - Washington - Kwame (Bleh)
#2 - Clippers - Tyson Chandler (Nobody's franchise...playing pretty well)
#3 - Memphis/Vancouver - Gasol (Making Lakers better...they didn't draft him)

2000 Draft
#1 - NJ - KMart (Good player...not a guy to build around...nice piece)
#2 - Memphis/Vancouver - Swift (Bleh...Memphis still sucks)
#3 - Clips - D Miles (I was a HUGE fan...I was wrong. They didn't get better for a while)

My point is just that having that top 3 pick isn't a necessity to turning it around. You have to make smart choices with WHATEVER assets you have and make your situation work in your favor.

My point is just that having that top 3 pick isn't a necessity to turning it around

It is a virtual necessity to building a title contender, though. You would be very hard pressed to find champion (outside of the pistons, who are the exception) who didn't draft an all-league caliber player themselves, most of which come from the top 5. Does having a top 5 pick guarantee you a championship? No. But is it a virtual necessity? Yes.

Champions it the last 20 years
2007: Spurs (Duncan, #1)
2006: Heat (Wade, #5)
2005: Spurs (Duncan, #1)
2004: Pistons (exception)
2003: Spurs (Duncan, #1)
2002: Lakers (Kobe, #13)
2001: Lakers (Kobe, #13)
2000: Lakers (Kobe, #13)
1999: Spurs (Duncan, #1)
1998: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1997: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1996: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1995: Rockets (Hakeem, #1)
1994: Rockets (Hakeem, #1)
1993: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1992: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1991: Bulls (Jordan, #3)
1990: Pistons (Isiah, #2)
1989: Pistons (Isiah, #2)
1988: Lakers (Magic, #1, Worthy #1)
1987: Lakers (Magic, #1, Worthy #1)
1986: Celtics (Bird, #6, McHale, #3)
1985: Lakers (Magic, #1, Worthy #1)


You get the point. Every team on that list, with the exception of the 2004 Pistons, drafted a player who turned into an all-league caliber player. Every one of them (outside of the Lakers with Kobe) drafted at least one in the top 5, and many had other players (Kareem, Shaq, Billups) who were drafted top 5, but on other teams. If you want to build a champion, much less build a dynasty, a top 5 pick is a virtual necessity. Which is one of the reasons that, while this winning is nice, a top 5 pick is (IMO) more important. It's not a lock that a top 5 pick gets you a championship, but it sure is tough (RE: virtually impossible) to do without.

No, I'd rather have my team suck and lose lots of games, because we all know that is the way to build a winner.

As JBS pointed out unless you get very lucky and have a dominant big man or PG to draft, being in the top 5 means nothing. A week ago I looked at this same issue in another forum, I've reprinted it below. Bottomline is that its great to have top 5-10 picks on your team, but most of them were originally picked by bad teams and got to a good team through trades or free agency:

How many teams on pace to win 50+ games this year have home grown top 5 picks-

Boston - None, Pierce was 10, Garnett and Allen came from elsewhere.
Detroit - None, Billups nobody wanted, Sheed was basically thrown out of Portland.
Lakers - None, Kobe was 12, Bynum was 10, Odom and Gasol came from elsewhere.
Spurs - Duncan - Sixers had the second pick that year, lots of good it did them.
Hornets - Chris Paul - Chandler was dumped by the Bulls (who collected lots of top 5 picks post-Jordan), David West wasn't close to top ten.
Houston - Yao - Although they are playing like they don't really miss him.
Utah - Deron Williams - Boozer was a second rounder in Cleveland.
Phoenix - None - Amare was 9, Shaq is on his 4th team.
Orlando - Dwight Howard - Rashard Lewis was a second rounder.
Dallas - None. Dirk was 9, Howard late first, Kidd is on his 4th team.
Golden State - None, unless you count Chris Webber's lukewarm body in its current reincarnation.

Of those top 12 teams, 5 have one top five player they drafted (3 dominant big men, number one picks and two great PG's from the same draft), 7 have no home grown top 5 players and none have more than one. A lot of the players that make these teams good or great were later draft picks, including second rounders, and most of the top 5 players on those teams were acquired in trades or free agency, while the teams that drafted them languish at the bottom of the standings.

Lets look at some of the teams that have visited the top 5 frequently:

Clippers
Hawks
Bulls
Grizzlies
Sonics (two top 5 picks this year)
Bobcats

Only Portland seems to have had luck building that way and they had no choice due to the salary cap constraints and malcontents they had from the jailblazers period. Continually sucking for several years to gather high draft picks is not a blueprint for winning, it is a blue print for continuing to suck.

Great post Johnny Broad-Street. I think how you draft is more important than where you draft. Billy King, for all his weaknesses, was great at evaluating talent (let's hope it wasn't all BK). Louis Williams, Kyle Korver, Willie Green, Thaddeus Young, Dalembert, Jason Smith, etc., etc., These were all very nice picks that were not top 10 picks that have contributed regardless. My hope is that we're able to still draft a decent PF; perhaps he will be another sleeper like LW, or another pick drafted on potential, like Sam or Thaddeus. Regardless, I have much faith in our evaluation personnel.

STChaser

Great post. Thats why I think the playoffs will help this team more in gaining exper and getting better. Look at those top picks over tha last 5 years. 5 of them are trash, 5 are ok but wont change a franchise around and only 5 of them are capable of turning franchises around. The way we will get better is thru free agency and a trades. The draft has to much uncertianty to trust in it. Its like an add on that if we end up with a good player from it then thats the cherry on top. We cant base our future on it. Look at the Hawks, Clippers, Bobcats, Bulls, and GS ( before the trade ). Look at the Pistons. Traded for Wallace, Hamilton and I think they traded for Billups and Ben. Same thing as the Lakers.

Exactly, Skates.

Dbods,
My point was that having YOUR OWN pick isn't necessary. You can acquire those guys a number of ways. Obviously you need top talent to win in the NBA...I don't think that's news to anyone.

I'd just rather grow organically and do an effective job of managing our assets to get where we need to be.

My point was that having YOUR OWN pick isn't necessary. You can acquire those guys a number of ways

And my point the majority of "those guys" are acquired via the draft. Sure, you can trade for a top 5 pick, but it's not exactly the easiest thing to do (especially in our position of looking for youth without having too many established veterans, and without a top pick of your own).

Trading up from 7 to 3? Possible. From 17? Very, very hard.

It's a classic catch-22...

Would I rather have a better draft pick or make the play-offs??? I would rather have a better draft pick...

Would I rather have the youngsters play well and the team starting to show some chemistry or would I rather be concerned about the youth and our future? I'd rather see the kids play well and see some real chemistry developing...

I don't think you can have it both ways... It is what it is... While Beasley or Rose would be nice, I don't want to become a perennial lottery team...

One option that we have is to move up in the draft this year.

Our pick is projected to be somewhere from 16-18.
We still have Utah's Pick, and several young players that would interest other teams(Williams, Smith, and Carney)

We also have cap space that will interest other teams.

A combination of these factors can get us into top 5 range. Of course we won't get Beasley or Rose without giving up a core piece(Iguodala, Young), but we can easily get Bayless, Gordon, Jordan, etc.

Our best choice this season would be to package our 08 first + our Utah + second rounder to get at least in the 5-10 range.

If both are available we take either Gordon or Bayless.

This allows us to keep our cap space to spend on a player, or reserve it for next year.

We can continue this process for several years. Next year we can maybe trade our cap space, a pick and a player like L.Williams/Smith to get a top 3 pick.

I can see the Sixers packaging Dalembert in a trade also.

Dalembert + Cap Space + Utah first could possibly get you Brook Lopez

Only way Sam is being packaged is if we bring in another 5. I don't see Sam going anywhere just because big men are too hard to come by - even slightly above average ones. This team should stick to their core and try to bring in Josh Smith or Okafor. That failing, try to get Tyrus or Villanueva on the cheap.

STChaser

I haven't seen him play much, but would anyone risk trading Dalembert if we received DeAndre Jordan + another potentially good young player and/or bad contract in return?

Say Memphis ends up with the #4 or #5 pick...

We send them Dalembert

We receive #4 pick, Javaris Crittenton, and Jason Collins

Collins plays C, so that fills a need. We have the option to take Jordan, Gordon, or Lopez.

Crittenton plays PG so that fills a need.

If Lopez is gone by the #4 pick, do we take Jordan or Gordon?

Debods and Skates both provide good backround info- and clearly we don't have the talent base to project into a contender unless we get tremendous progression from several of our young players.

The original question about missing or making the playoffs is somewhat of a moot point. We have been destroying the bottom 10 teams pretty consistantly, so I doubt there would have been a way to get a top 5 pick this year. Sneaking into the lottery aat #12 doesn't give you much of a shot of a top 3 pick (but it did get us Young.) Outside of the top 5 its more of a crapshoot and your lucky if you get a star regardless of whether you are picking #9 or #15.

Yes, for this season I am Happy. My 76ers are doing what most including myself did not expect, 31-34 were looking to continue to improve everyday. For what the sixers have, are making the best out of it. Their core looks strong in Andre Miller,Lou Will sharing the point guard duties,Igoudala/Young continue to improve their game and could be a nice duo on the perimeter for years to come. Dalembert showing signs that he can be the 76ers starting center moving forward into the new era.

Although im not fully satisfied we still have a lot of holes to fill for one is a big hole, is the big man playing next to Dalembert for Power Forward slot. Reggie Evans has been great on the offensive rebounds and putbacks and the energy he gives off the bench is great, but hes not a starter. So we need a post-up player who can score in the paint to complement this developing core who continue to improve everyday. They also need some three point shooters, and a big time post up player. Don't tell me Jason Smith is the future starter no way, it will be interesting though if he can improve. Great season, better then expected but as a 76ers fan I expect and hope the 76ers make the right moves with their cap space this summer and can build this team to a title contender so we can truly have 76ers/Celtics rival again like the good old days and maybe snatch a title in the next decade,please.

Also I have to admit I feel alot better about making the playoffs and getting bounced when we're a team on the rise as opposed to doing the same thing some years back when we had AI and company and were a team on the decline. We have to remember that our current players are improving as well, so it's not like we have to rely on the draft for all of our progression. We're moving forward without having drafted in the top 5 for quite some time.

unfortunately, i really doubt we have the pieces to move from 17 into the top 5 of the draft...we say utahs pick carney and out pick but realistically, that wont come close to getting it done (unless of course ur dealing with phx)

basically, sometimes u need to get lucky and draft someone low who produces like a top 5 pick (see josh howard) if u dont have the assets to acquire one...hopefully thad does this...altho i love him, im not quite sure if he is going to be someone like that...the future holds alot of promise

i agree we are not championship contenders and not to be a hater, i dont think we are even if we acquire brand...we might be able to wiggle through the east (which i still think detroit and boston would be better) but once we got to the west, we would be dismantled...i really think the WHOLE front court needs to be changed w thad shifting to the 3, and replacements at the 4 and 5 who can win a title (and no, ive said before i dont think athletic sam gets us anywhere near a title esp against the west bigs and/or garnett nd sheed in crunch time)

I think if we put a guy like Okafor, averaging a double double, next to Sam, and got ourselves a poorman's version of Korver who could come off the bench and hit the 3, this team would have major potential in terms of competing at the highest levels in the NBA. We already have an allstar caliber PG in Miller, though his D leaves a little bit to be desired; we already have an up-and-coming SG in Iguodala, who has improved his jumper and plays solid D, we now have a very solid SF with major talent and potential in Thaddeus, we have the dirty-work / enforcer PF in Evans who could come off the bench behind Okafor, and we have a solid 5 in Sam who is still relatively young. Carney and Lou should only get better with more experience as well and WG plays solid D and has really shown nice improvement as this season has progressed. There is no reason to think this team can't go far. The existing powers in the NBA - the Spurs, Detroit, etc., are not getting any younger and as good as LeBron and Carmello are, I just don't see their supporting cast as long-term options with AI already in his 30's and Carmello surrounded by stop-gaps. The Suns feature Nash, who is also getting up there. I could very easily see this squad being at the top of the league in two years.

STChaser