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For months now, I've been studying mock drafts. I've been reading article after article after article on players and who Ed Stefanski is interested in. Saturday, May 24th was the day the great Chad Ford put out the first version of his mock draft. His prediction, along with the majority of other mock drafts was Philadelphia selecting Marreese Speights. A month later, Marreese Speights is a Sixer. Am I satisfied? Ehh. More importantly, are you?

The draft came and went Thursday night and beside a false rumor of Kosta Koufos being the Sixers pick it was pretty uneventful. The Sixers were extremely quiet, while Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers are taking over the NBA with genius trades and stockpiling talent (According to Jason, Blazers fans refer to it as "Pritch-slapped") the Sixers seemed to be satisfied with remaining at 16 and having it as their only selection of the evening. Coming in, I thought the Sixers had a solid chance of moving up to grab Kevin Love. Didn't happen. Then Mario Chalmers unexpected fell to the 34th pick, who was then traded to Miami for two future second rounders and cash. Your telling me Stefanski couldn't put together a package like that to acquire a candidate for the point guard of the future? I love Lou Williams and all, but Chalmers is more of a pure point guard. We won't know how these players will pan out yet, but it's situations like these that make me wonder why Stefanski couldn't pull a Kevin Pritchard (Write him down for Exec. of the Year when the Blazers make the playoffs) and basically rob other NBA teams. Bill Simmons said it best, when he called it the "No Balls Association."

Now, for the pick itself. Sitting at pick number 16, I thought Speights was the guy all along. DeAndre did not interest me at all and Donte Greene, J.J. Hickson and Darrell Arthur are all undersized power forwards, which we already have in Thad Young. JaVale McGee seemed like too much of a project and not a true post-player and I didn't want Kosta Koufos anywhere near a Sixer uniform because he seems like Jason Smith 2.0 with a way goofier name. The only player I was really starting to root for at pick 16 was Anthony Randolph, but that was quickly squashed when the Warriors took him, which lead to me convincing myself, "He's just a tall small forward, I'm glad we didn't get him." Speights fits the team perfectly. He's a good post-player and has a real nice NBA body at the power forward. He can also score in bunches. He was everything the Sixers needed and should have a good amount of time to develop, assuming Philly signs a big name power forward in the coming weeks. So, he'll be playing behind Player A (Elton Brand please), Jason Smith and Reggie Evans. The Sixers received an A- from Chad Ford on their pick. Here's his analysis:

Analysis: Speights is a really nice pick for the 76ers. While I had him rated slightly behind Darrell Arthur, Speights might be a better fit for Philly. He's the kind of low-post bruiser and rebounder they need. And he's much more skilled than people realize. If he stays in shape and works hard, he could end up being like Sixers forward Thaddeus Young, one of the steals of last year's draft.


Don't get me wrong, I like the Speights pick. I'm just disappointed Ed Stefanski couldn't be more like Kevin Pritchard. I think we missed a big opportunity in not trading for Mario Chalmers. If I was a grade-giving guy, I'd give the pick an A, but I'd give the overall draft and B- just because I feel that there were some moves out there Stefanski could have made. My advice to Eddy is to put a poster of this man above his bed for the rest of the off-season.

I have never seen Chalmers play but it is hard for me to believe that he is anywhere near the player that Lou Williams is. Lou Williams is younger and would have probably been the 4th pick in the draft had he came out of college this year. I couldn't imagine how he would have dominated college if he stayed till he was a junior. He'd average 25ppg and 5 assists in his sleep. I wanted the Sixers to acquire Jordan in the 2nd round.

im happy with the pick. we get a young power forward who looks like he could be even bigger than he is now, who is from a major program with an nba style offense and a terrific coach... and we kept all of our assets for free agency/trade opportunities

I wanted Chalmers, you wanted Jordan, apparently Stefanski wanted Donte Greene. The point is, "We tried to make trades, but failed" is no excuse. Obviously it's not that difficult to pull off one trade, let alone six, like the Blazers do every year. It's inexcusable that Stefanski couldn't match Miami's offer for Chalmers. I'm not bashing Ed Stefanski, nor am I as upset at it seems. I'm disappointed, that's all. Not every team can have Kevin Pritchard.

jsams wrote:It's inexcusable that Stefanski couldn't match Miami's offer for Chalmers.

Miami offered two future second-rounders, which may be better picks than two of our future second-rounders. Therefore, we may had to go to three second-rounders for Chalmers. I am not going to criticize Ed for not trumping Miami's offer of 2 second-round picks. I like Chalmers, but giving more than Miami's two second rounders is not what I consider a strong move.

SendEm wrote:I have never seen Chalmers play but it is hard for me to believe that he is anywhere near the player that Lou Williams is. Lou Williams is younger and would have probably been the 4th pick in the draft had he came out of college this year. I couldn't imagine how he would have dominated college if he stayed till he was a junior. He'd average 25ppg and 5 assists in his sleep. I wanted the Sixers to acquire Jordan in the 2nd round.

It's rare when it happens but I COMPLETELY agree with SendEm. The other thing I will add is that I would not have traded 3 second round picks to Portland for Jordan at #36 which was the cost they got from the Bulls. I was all aboard the Arthur Bandwagon for 8 months but there were too many iffy things about him and so I think Stefanski made the right pick and did the right thing by staying put.

Keep your eyes on the prize, gents and the prize is Tuesday Night at Midnight.

I thought it was a great draft, but if you would have gotten Jordan in the 2nd round people would been really talking about how the sixers were one of the BIG winners of the night.

Personally, I would have liked to have gotten Jordan as well as I think we're still missing two critical pieces - a backup 5 with real size and a 3 point specialist. That said, I'm extremely happy with the Speights pick. I would think that our opponents are going to have their hands full dealing with both Thaddeus and Speights inside. For once, Sam's midrange J might actually turn into a really effective weapon. He can now pull opposing 5's away from the rim, leaving Thaddeus and Speights to dominate opposing 4's and 3's.

STChaser

"I'm not bashing Ed Stefanski, nor am I as upset at it seems. I'm disappointed, that's all. Not every team can have Kevin Pritchard."

your an idiot. just because you like Chalmers, then Ed should like him as much? so he should do whatever to get a player you like? Maybe they should have hired you as GM. Stepanski has done nothing but great things since he got here. I think I will have to trust his opinion on personnel over yours mr donkey. And I find your man crush with Kevin Pritchard even more interesting. Do you always just listen to the ESPN draft anyalsts and reporters when they toot his horn the whole show and buy into it? why dont wait and see how Portland turns out before we make him super GM of the century. Obviously it wsnt hard drafting Greg Oden or B Roy. Lets see how the rest of his moves pan out before we get so excited.
Stepanski has a plan and he was hired to make it happen. Speights was a phenominal pick at 16 and has more upside than almost anyone in the draft. Lets enjoy the anticipation of seeing him run with the rest of our young studs and trust our current mangament(which hasnt let us down yet) rather than being negative about some 2nd rd talent we didnt give up the world for..

thanks,
CT

jsams wrote:For months now, I've been studying mock drafts. I've been reading article after article after article on players and who Ed Stefanski is interested in. Saturday, May 24th was the day the great Chad Ford put out the first version of his mock draft. His prediction, along with the majority of other mock drafts was Philadelphia selecting Marreese Speights. A month later, Marreese Speights is a Sixer. Am I satisfied? Ehh. More importantly, are you?

The draft came and went Thursday night and beside a false rumor of Kosta Koufos being the Sixers pick it was pretty uneventful. The Sixers were extremely quiet, while Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers are taking over the NBA with genius trades and stockpiling talent (According to Jason, Blazers fans refer to it as "Pritch-slapped") the Sixers seemed to be satisfied with remaining at 16 and having it as their only selection of the evening. Coming in, I thought the Sixers had a solid chance of moving up to grab Kevin Love. Didn't happen. Then Mario Chalmers unexpected fell to the 34th pick, who was then traded to Miami for two future second rounders and cash. Your telling me Stefanski couldn't put together a package like that to acquire a candidate for the point guard of the future? I love Lou Williams and all, but Chalmers is more of a pure point guard. We won't know how these players will pan out yet, but it's situations like these that make me wonder why Stefanski couldn't pull a Kevin Pritchard (Write him down for Exec. of the Year when the Blazers make the playoffs) and basically rob other NBA teams. Bill Simmons said it best, when he called it the "No Balls Association."

Now, for the pick itself. Sitting at pick number 16, I thought Speights was the guy all along. DeAndre did not interest me at all and Donte Greene, J.J. Hickson and Darrell Arthur are all undersized power forwards, which we already have in Thad Young. JaVale McGee seemed like too much of a project and not a true post-player and I didn't want Kosta Koufos anywhere near a Sixer uniform because he seems like Jason Smith 2.0 with a way goofier name. The only player I was really starting to root for at pick 16 was Anthony Randolph, but that was quickly squashed when the Warriors took him, which lead to me convincing myself, "He's just a tall small forward, I'm glad we didn't get him." Speights fits the team perfectly. He's a good post-player and has a real nice NBA body at the power forward. He can also score in bunches. He was everything the Sixers needed and should have a good amount of time to develop, assuming Philly signs a big name power forward in the coming weeks. So, he'll be playing behind Player A (Elton Brand please), Jason Smith and Reggie Evans. The Sixers received an A- from Chad Ford on their pick. Here's his analysis:

Analysis: Speights is a really nice pick for the 76ers. While I had him rated slightly behind Darrell Arthur, Speights might be a better fit for Philly. He's the kind of low-post bruiser and rebounder they need. And he's much more skilled than people realize. If he stays in shape and works hard, he could end up being like Sixers forward Thaddeus Young, one of the steals of last year's draft.


Don't get me wrong, I like the Speights pick. I'm just disappointed Ed Stefanski couldn't be more like Kevin Pritchard. I think we missed a big opportunity in not trading for Mario Chalmers. If I was a grade-giving guy, I'd give the pick an A, but I'd give the overall draft and B- just because I feel that there were some moves out there Stefanski could have made. My advice to Eddy is to put a poster of this man above his bed for the rest of the off-season.

You make very good points. I unlike you, was disappointed we did not get jordan in the second round. You are right about the blazers, they are turning the draft into their own lets make a deal. Stefanski did a good job on draft night, but it was not like king was bad at the draft, in fact that was the one thing he did do fairly well. I'm beginning to think tony dileo is the real mvp of the front office and that he is making his boss no matter who it is, look pretty smart. Time will tell.

Sixers1983 wrote:I'm beginning to think tony dileo is the real mvp of the front office and that he is making his boss no matter who it is, look pretty smart. Time will tell.

I think he is likely the best talent evaluator in the organization. You are only given so much information to make this judgment, but over five years of Billy King praising Tony's selection of certain players and Tony's press conferences giving his opinions on these players, it is clear he was the driving force behind most of our picks since Brown left.

I wouldn't be surprised if Midnight is not all that exciting.

I wish I could say otherwise, but I don't like Stefanski's tone when interviewed. I don't remember where I heard it, but he was asked about what will happen Midnight Tuesday, and he responded, and I'm paraphrasing, like this, "Midnight? You know, I am getting old. We will be active July 1. That's all I'm saying."

That is not the attitude I'm looking for. He was implying that he'd be asleep at midnight and maybe start making calls at some point throughout the day. I know this isn't true, but I would've liked to see more of a positive response than that.

And it may very well be nitpicking, but the guy has made exactly 2 moves since becoming our GM. I think he needs to show some more passion.

We may or may not be able to sign anyone because of people sleeping or whatever, but I don't want to see Memphis's GM calling and waking up agents to get contract offers out there while Ed sleeps.

And being active IMO is going to be a trade or two. Not a signing.

Add me to the "disappointed" club. I'm not trying to be overly critical of Stefanski or anything, but like you, I thought it was reasonable that Philly could have acquired another 2nd rounder like Miami did. I was kind of rooting for Jordan at that point, but would have also been happy with Jordan. It would have been nice to get another PG prospect, but it would have also been nice to get another prospect like Jordan, who might have been ready to replace Booth after next year.

My guess is that all things being equal, Miami's two 2nd rounders trumps Philly's. I also believe that max. that you can give in cash for a trade is $3 million, but that could be off-base and may only apply to first rounders. If it is the case, I wonder if Miami gave that much. Perhaps Philly could have leapfrogged them there. Whatever the case, other teams always seem to be able to pull off these types of deals. I cannot really recall one that has jumped out at me since B. King was able to move down and get W. Green in the 2nd round a few years back and acquire another pick to get K. Korver, for cash.

I wasnt real happy with what the sixers did on draft night. Worse, the Nets had a really good draft. Ed seems happy with the nuclious he has and doesnt want to add too many rookies to the team. He'll just have to be more active during the offseason. Here's hoping that they can add a free agent or make a trade, or we have the same team as last year.

I'm actually happy knowing the front-office is a bit disciplined and won't overpay for marginal prospects even when they easily had the assets to get an additional late-first or early second round pick if they wanted to.

I wanted Chalmers, you wanted Jordan, apparently Stefanski wanted Donte Greene

Stefanski wanted Jordan.

sixers hoops wrote:

Sixers1983 wrote:I'm beginning to think tony dileo is the real mvp of the front office and that he is making his boss no matter who it is, look pretty smart. Time will tell.

I think he is likely the best talent evaluator in the organization. You are only given so much information to make this judgment, but over five years of Billy King praising Tony's selection of certain players and Tony's press conferences giving his opinions on these players, it is clear he was the driving force behind most of our picks since Brown left.

True. I'd say if these young players keep panning out some team will try and get him to run their front office.

I just hope Speights turns out to be the man.

People are always out to quickly praise Kevin Pritchard - and I agree he seems to have done a good job here - but I think it's a big stretch to be disappointed because the Sixers didn't make a whole series of moves.

Let's face it - when you have Paul Allen's billions backing you up - it makes life a lot easier. Most teams (and thereby, their GMs) - don't have the leeway to basically spend to their hearts content. You want to buy a first round pick from New Orleans (for what turns into Darrell Arthur) - sure, $3M is pocket change to Paul Allen.

And frankly, that kind of purse string also lets them draft so many European players - oftentimes teams won't draft them because their buyouts are so expensive - but again, knowing that your owner will easily sign off on large contracts for int'l 2nd rounders and paying for buyouts makes it a lot easier to make these kinds of moves.

Frankly, I'm glad that the Sixers didn't overpay (multiple 2nd round picks) - to grab a 2nd rounder - although it sounds like they did try something. Personally, I thought Billy King was way too loose with giving away 2nd rounders (case in pt - last year's Jason Smith trade where it probably wasn't necessary) - leaves us with no 2nd rounder next year. Not mention the reason we didn't have a 2nd rounder this year was because BK would just throw them into any old trade. If Stefanski is being more cautious I saw kudos to him. First off, we didn't even have multiple 2nd round picks to deal because of the Miami deal. Our only additional trading chip is Utah's 1st rounder next year.

And you never know what the draft will bring - maybe in two years someone else falls into the 2nd round but you can't grab him because you traded away your 2nd rounders away willy nilly. Sounds like ES tried to make a reasonable deal to acquire a 2nd rounder (and had something in place at 36 if Jordan had still been there) - but when the price got up beyond his limit he wisely just backed away.

Sorry, but I think you're asking too much here. I can't blame Stefanski unable to pull a trade like KP because unlike with stefanski, KP has Paul Allen's money backing him up. This makes him able to do this kind of deals.

With this year's draft, Stefanski IMO just make sure that he would make a good use of what we have. And he did a good job by drafting Marreese Speights, who IMO should have been a lottery material player. A player who should be in the same echelon with guys like Kevin Love in the draft. Why trade up when you can get a kind of player in the 16th overall pick?

You want to acquire a second rounder to select the player that you want in Chalmers. But do we honestly need Chalmers? Louis Williams is our back-up PG and might be the PG of our future. Louis Williams is a BETTER pg than Chalmers and has BETTER upside than Chalmers. And btw, if we do have a second rounder, I'd rather spent it with DeAndre Jordan, who IMO is a better prospect than Mario Chalmers.