The vacuum of mediocrity

[roseorbust]

This is what is so dangerous, especially in the NBA. I've seen it happen to a lot of teams, and right now I think we are in/slash falling into this thing.

I am a extremist. Me and my friend were having a arguement today. He says your goal should be to make the playoffs. I disagree, I believe the ultimate goal is to make the championship. Anything else, and your still a loser. I think that were a team that seems to be doing this.

I'd rather be dead last then 15th to last. Our picks have been hovering around the mid teens, and I hope Ed realizes that's unacceptable. Obviously we don't seem to understand that we either need to acquire a franchise player either draft and free agency, and draft isn't going to work out. and we don't have enough caproom as of now to acquire one through free agency. If this trade deadline passes, without a couple of changes, it could be a couple more years of being nothing but average

[SendEm]

Trade Iggy...



Please.

[tk76]

Last year yes. This year I don't think the draft has the same promise of a franchise altering player... so no.

[LieCheatSteal]

Anything can happen in the playoffs. If you've got a chance, you take it. The East is weak this year (and so, apparently is the draft) so the playoffs could be a crapshoot. Just get in. Anything can happen.

And just because you draft high, doesn't mean you'll draft well. The Clippers have been drafting top 10 for years. Ditto for the Bobcats and Hawks. You could easily get duds in the top 10. Kwame, Marcus Fizer and Rodney White are players that come to mind that are complete busts and were drafted top 10. You could draft effectively in the mid to 1st round. Granger was a mid 1st rounder. The Laker bench are all mid to low 1st /2nd rounders (Farmar, Turiaf, Vujacic). Josh Howard and Barbosa are low 1st rounders... etc, etc, etc.

Just play.

[Sixers24]

And the answer is definitely no. Dead last means unsubstantiated potential across the board, both in basketball talent and the ability to compete in the NBA (two slightly different things).

Being where they are is frustrating, but it also means the pieces they have (Lou, Thad, Iggy, Dalembert, Miller, etc.) are much better than we all thought (and everyone else though) heading into the season.

[panacea]

I wouldn't necessarily want to be dead last, but I also wouldn't want to continually hover in this 8-15 range year after year.... just barely missing the playoffs and missing the best shot at a franchise player. We'll be in that range again this year, and unless something significant changes, we'll probably be in that range next year.

[dond]

The problem with all these sorts of discussions is that the ones that say they would rather be dead last really mean they would like to be dead last without having a dead-last team. They want to be given the top draft choice and still have a team that is only 1 player away from a championship. That doesn't happen unless you throw games in one form or another. I don't want to be dead-last because that would mean the Sixers have terrible players. I don't want the Sixers to have terrible players.

[CPops57]

Ed's one move so far has been a future-oriented trade, so I've got a decent amount of confidence in him that he knows that mediocrity sucks.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

Dond makes a great point. You have to improve....well....to improve. It's up to the GMs of the mid-range teams to take them out of the vaccum. It's doesn't take a great GM to pick the first player in the draft, or manage a well balanced championship squad. It takes a great GM to take a team from where we are to where the Spurs are.

[roseorbust]

Dond, I would rather be dead last with this team then were we are. Were not that good at all, and if our prospects were having a good year then I would be hpapy still.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

They aren't?

[Rickdiculous]

The majority of teams that have won the championship have done so with a star player that was drafted by that team. If your stuck in this vaccuum it isn't likely that you'll get that franchise player anywhere above the 10th pick in the draft. So the cycle continues, and you are pretty much stuck unless you get really lucky with a pick or you team tanks.

The exception to this is what the Pistons achieved by trading and signing key players that eventually led to a championship. I believe that this is the true mark of a great gm; the ability to build a championship team through free agency and trades.

I think Ed realizes that the sixers are in this vaccuum, and the most likely way to build us up into a contender is to emulate the pistons' strategy. He knows the team is good enough to just miss or make the playoffs which leads to a 1st round draft pick in the teens (not good enough). Hes given us more flexibility in the korver trade which is definitely a good thing for our situation, and signifies that fact that Ed is concentrating on this other avenue (pistons strategy) of building up the team. I like.

Also, if I'm not mistaken I believe Ed was also a part of the management team that put together the nets run of two consecutive finals appearances. Thats a good sign of things to come.

[UptownPhilly]

You don't necessarily need a #1 draft pick to win a Championship.

Kobe was drafted #13 in 1996. The lakers traded for Shaq(although he was a #1 pick)

Miami drafted D-Wade #5 in 2003. They received Shaq through a trade. One of the players they sent out Caron Butler was a lottery pick in 2002.

Drafting well, no matter your position, great team chemistry, and trades that fill needs get you to the grand prize.

I think that if we do become contenders, our core will be shaken up, but we will win because of a history of drafting good players(Iguodala, Young, Williams, etc), and making the right trades.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

I agree. A stretch of quality decisions can yield a solid overall product. It's not alwasy feast or famine anymore.

[IggyTheBEaST]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

[dond]

Dond, I would rather be dead last with this team then were we are.

Of course you would ... That was exactly my point. You want the top draft pick without having the worst team in the League. The Sixers are not even close to having the worst team in the league and to give them the top draft choice would certainly not be fair to the Heat or those teams way at the bottom. As I said, yes I would like a high draft choice ... but not the top pick if it means I have to cheer for a team like the Heat or the Knicks ... no way ...

[tk76]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

Way off. His numbers project us to go 14-13 the rest of the way. I'll be really surprised if we win 38 games.

I think we have a shot at making the playoffs, but no way are we a 83% probability.

Of course, with the way Young has been improving, maybe I'm missing the boat.
----

Back to the original arguement...

We should never of gotten Miller and Joe Smith last year. That team was heading for a top 5 pick before they stabilized last years free falling squad.

Any of the top 3 picks would have been great- but I can't find a reason to complain about Thad. We have way too much young talent right now to be losing enough games to be high in the lottery. How can you be upset when out young core beats up on the other bad teams in the league.

It stinks that we don't likely have a rising superstar on this team, but we are likely to be a 500+ team next year with nearly the entire roster 20-27 years old and with salaries under 10M (except Sam and Miller.) If our young talent continues to win games, their value will rise, putting us in great position to trade for a star who moves us into Eastern Conference contention in 2 years. How can having a roster like the Grizzlies, Wolves or Knicks be better for this town?

[tk76]

The worst kind of team is when you have your core pushing 30 and are still not a playoff team- like the Sixers pre-AI trade. We are in so much of a better position right now moving forward.

[roseorbust]

Ah.. can you imagine how much better off this franchise would have been if we would have traded miller soon afterwards for a pick in the mid teens and expirings? we got thad and oden... hahaa... enough dreaming

[tk76]

Ah.. can you imagine how much better off this franchise would have been if we would have traded miller soon afterwards for a pick in the mid teens and expirings? we got thad and oden... hahaa... enough dreaming

No need for the #1, I would have been plaent happy with Horford and Thad...