How are we feeling?

[76ciology]

I don’t think anyone on this team is worth building around, at least not in the sense of being a true top-5 player in the league. Realistically, we’re either going to try winning with Embiid until his contract runs out, or we’ll take a Pacers-style approach with our guards and try to make a deep run between now and 2028. If we’re talking about a potential franchise cornerstone, that’s probably not coming until 2028, maybe with someone like Mohammed Dabone.

Do I care that we don’t have a clear guy to build around right now? Not really. I don’t think it’s even necessary in today’s NBA. Take Tatum, people talk about him like he’s that guy, but honestly, he just benefited from having GOAT-level complementary players around him. That’s the model I think we should follow.

Morey’s strength has always been finding high-impact role players. Just keep rolling the dice until we luck into the right mix. If we land someone like Dabone in 2028, great. If not, we keep swinging through trades, free agency, or the draft. And he has a long proven track record that he can do that.

This strategy makes more sense in today’s league. Chasing a top-5 player at all costs often creates a toxic culture, players start to feel like disposable assets if they’re not seen as “the guy.” I’d rather have a deep, well-constructed team than go all-in on a star that might never come.

[FlyingArrow]

I don’t think anyone on this team is worth building around, at least not in the sense of being a true top-5 player in the league. Realistically, we’re either going to try winning with Embiid until his contract runs out, or we’ll take a Pacers-style approach with our guards and try to make a deep run between now and 2028. If we’re talking about a potential franchise cornerstone, that’s probably not coming until 2028, maybe with someone like Mohammed Dabone.

Do I care that we don’t have a clear guy to build around right now? Not really. I don’t think it’s even necessary in today’s NBA. Take Tatum, people talk about him like he’s that guy, but honestly, he just benefited from having GOAT-level complementary players around him. That’s the model I think we should follow.

Morey’s strength has always been finding high-impact role players. Just keep rolling the dice until we luck into the right mix. If we land someone like Dabone in 2028, great. If not, we keep swinging through trades, free agency, or the draft. And he has a long proven track record that he can do that.

This strategy makes more sense in today’s league. Chasing a top-5 player at all costs often creates a toxic culture, players start to feel like disposable assets if they’re not seen as “the guy.” I’d rather have a deep, well-constructed team than go all-in on a star that might never come.

Irony. What Morey is best at is not what he leans into. He's best at finding good roleplayers and drafting well. But he'll trade all the roleplayers and draft picks to chase a star if necessary. And that's what blows up in his face.

[Peak Brunson]

I think it's just better to have realistic expectations, a team can be fun without the pressure of "winning a ring" or "getting out of 2nd round", as long as expectations are in check. It's evident we are so far away from having a championship team.
We did all the process BS supposedly to avoid being a treadmill team, but we ended up being a treadmill team anyway.

[the_process]

I don’t think anyone on this team is worth building around, at least not in the sense of being a true top-5 player in the league. Realistically, we’re either going to try winning with Embiid until his contract runs out, or we’ll take a Pacers-style approach with our guards and try to make a deep run between now and 2028. If we’re talking about a potential franchise cornerstone, that’s probably not coming until 2028, maybe with someone like Mohammed Dabone.

Do I care that we don’t have a clear guy to build around right now? Not really. I don’t think it’s even necessary in today’s NBA. Take Tatum, people talk about him like he’s that guy, but honestly, he just benefited from having GOAT-level complementary players around him. That’s the model I think we should follow.

Morey’s strength has always been finding high-impact role players. Just keep rolling the dice until we luck into the right mix. If we land someone like Dabone in 2028, great. If not, we keep swinging through trades, free agency, or the draft. And he has a long proven track record that he can do that.

This strategy makes more sense in today’s league. Chasing a top-5 player at all costs often creates a toxic culture, players start to feel like disposable assets if they’re not seen as “the guy.” I’d rather have a deep, well-constructed team than go all-in on a star that might never come.

I'll go one further and say next gen team building, especially in a scenario with expansion, is going to focus on acquiring a bunch of "Robins" and "Alfreds" because of a scarcity of "Batmans" (and also to stay below the 2nd apron).

[76ciology]

I don’t think anyone on this team is worth building around, at least not in the sense of being a true top-5 player in the league. Realistically, we’re either going to try winning with Embiid until his contract runs out, or we’ll take a Pacers-style approach with our guards and try to make a deep run between now and 2028. If we’re talking about a potential franchise cornerstone, that’s probably not coming until 2028, maybe with someone like Mohammed Dabone.

Do I care that we don’t have a clear guy to build around right now? Not really. I don’t think it’s even necessary in today’s NBA. Take Tatum, people talk about him like he’s that guy, but honestly, he just benefited from having GOAT-level complementary players around him. That’s the model I think we should follow.

Morey’s strength has always been finding high-impact role players. Just keep rolling the dice until we luck into the right mix. If we land someone like Dabone in 2028, great. If not, we keep swinging through trades, free agency, or the draft. And he has a long proven track record that he can do that.

This strategy makes more sense in today’s league. Chasing a top-5 player at all costs often creates a toxic culture, players start to feel like disposable assets if they’re not seen as “the guy.” I’d rather have a deep, well-constructed team than go all-in on a star that might never come.

I'll go one further and say next gen team building, especially in a scenario with expansion, is going to focus on acquiring a bunch of "Robins" and "Alfreds" because of a scarcity of "Batmans" (and also to stay below the 2nd apron).

Yeah.. and guys who can dribble, shoot, pass, defend, and generate extra possessions do so much more than just fill a role, they space the floor, punish defenses that overhelp on your star, and cover ground defensively to lower opponents number of possessions and points per possessions. They make your alpha more efficient by giving him cleaner looks and letting them breathe on defense, while also helping the team win the possession battle to offset shooting variance.

They bridge the gap between stars, and in a lot of cases, they give you the edge, allowing you to win with a lower talent threshold for your alpha (batman).

[Negrodamus]

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[Jailblazers7]

Im so excited to watch this group of guards play. I’m actually happy that PG & Embiid will likely miss the start of the season as they take a cautious route to injury mgmt. I don’t need them messing up the flow and pace that the young guys are gonna play with.

[Arsenal]

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SUPERSTAR

[Negrodamus]

The lineups of:
McCain
Maxey
PG
Oubre/Watford/Walker
Embiid

are going to slap so hard. Maxey and McCain are going to let it fly.

[zaz102]

The dog ratio imbalance between back court and front court is obscene.

[the_process]

I want to see a lot of McCain-Edgecombe in the backcourt this year.