Billy King

[Louis Williams]

I guess we all are impressed by the run the Sixers are on. It would be a shame not to give some love to King. This team has his prints all over it, from the head coach all the way down.

Don't get me wrong. King made horrible business decisions, which eventually led to his firing. But his vision for the post AI era now seems to be coming together.

A few of his moves that many thought were questionable that have worked out:

Hiring Cheeks
Keeping Andre Miller
Not tanking at the end of last year
Trading Hunter for Evans
Thaddeus Young

Due to the run the Sixers are on, he may find himself up for another GM gig very soon.

[ITK9]

^i agree.bk made some decent moves but his problem was with giving horrible contracts to players.

[Swoll Cracker]

I guess we all are impressed by the run the Sixers are on. It would be a shame not to give some love to King. This team has his prints all over it, from the head coach all the way down.

Don't get me wrong. King made horrible business decisions, which eventually led to his firing. But his vision for the post AI era now seems to be coming together.

A few of his moves that many thought were questionable that have worked out:

Hiring Cheeks
Keeping Andre Miller
Not tanking at the end of last year
Trading Hunter for Evans
Thaddeus Young

Due to the run the Sixers are on, he may find himself up for another GM gig very soon.

You left another recent one out of your list.

Jason Smith.

He was very good in his role last night and has been that way during this run now that his ankle is better.

[phiphan]

Man, I was just thinking about this last night. My opinion of him has changed a bit with the Sixers' recent success. I agree that he deserves some credit. Even the Willie Green contract hasn't been looking so bad lately.

[freshie2]

Wasn't BK due a new contract the end of this season? Probably was just good timing...the Nets had made moves that were considered to be good over the past few years, Ed is a Philly guy, BK was due more money, attendance and attachment to the team was very low...bring in a cheaper name, with a nice resume, who is a Philly guy to run the team.

BK will get another shot somewhere...if not, TV's not a bad gig either.

[ankle420breaker]

-= original quote snipped =-



You left another recent one out of your list.

Jason Smith.

He was very good in his role last night and has been that way during this run now that his ankle is better.

Speaking of Jason Smith... that block he had on Melo last night was ALL BALL!! Most rookies wouldn't step in front of Melo when he's got a head of steam going for a hear me slam.... he impressed me there.

[SendEm]

I thought that Billy King might NEVER get another NBA FO job. But now I can see him being in someone's front office next season, maybe even the Knicks. I seriously doubt that he will be a GM anytime soon. Perhaps the league office might be a fit.

[Mozy-76er Fan]

I guess we all are impressed by the run the Sixers are on. It would be a shame not to give some love to King. This team has his prints all over it, from the head coach all the way down.

Don't get me wrong. King made horrible business decisions, which eventually led to his firing. But his vision for the post AI era now seems to be coming together.

A few of his moves that many thought were questionable that have worked out:

Hiring Cheeks
Keeping Andre Miller
Not tanking at the end of last year
Trading Hunter for Evans
Thaddeus Young

Due to the run the Sixers are on, he may find himself up for another GM gig very soon.

King also drafted Louis Williams, Willie Green, and Samuel Dalembert.

He also got us Korver, which is giving us some cap relief this summer. If Carney can keep up his recent play will have to add his name to the list too.

[STChaser]

For the sake of this franchise, we better all hope that it was Tony DiLeo who was making many of those personnel calls....

STCHaser

[STChaser]

Great timing. This was just posted on the Philaphans forum:

Ed snider was on,and he gave all the credit for the last few years drafts to tony dileo.Said as an organization its the scouts who do the draft not the gm,not the coach.Said he loved BK and that says something cause he had to fire him,but the drafting credit goes to tony.

Also said stephanski has really helped turn around the team,and that he did not know if trading korver was the right move,but ed wanted to get thad more minutes or something to that effect,and it has worked out good for the team.

Don't kill me,just passing on what I saw,maybe somebody else saw as well and can correct any mistakes if I made any?

[The Guilty Party]

I think most of us have given King credit for his draft picks and that he did a good job is some aspects.... HOWEVER... let's not forget that this team played a dull style of ball at the start of this season which helped them dig a hole for themselves. After Mo got the extension, Stefanski was on with Gargano and Steve on 610 and said that when he took the Sixers job, he talked to Mo about playing the more up-tempo style that the team has been playing during this great run.

King did a nice job of starting the construction of this team but I have a LOT more faith in Stefasnki to spend the cap space wisely and to have this team playing a better style of ball.

[Louis Williams]

I can't give Stefanski credit for the turn around of this team.

1) Andre Miller wasn't playing that well at the beginning of the year. Now he is playing like an all-star

2) The starting 2 guard spot hadn't been cemented. You had Green, who had never been a starter and coming off a shaky season, and Carney, who is in his second season

3) Iggy was entering a contract year after turning down an extension, so he was pressing and turning the ball over

4) Reggie Evans just came over from Den, so it wasn't clear how he was going to fit in

5) Dalembert had never played a consistent stretch of ball in his career

I give the credit to Cheeks and the players, not Stefanski. He has implemented a style that suits this team, and the players have brought in to it.

[The Guilty Party]

Wait... you credit Cheeks for the style and yet where was that style before Stefanski? Did you watch the first 20 games of this season? Also... when the GM goes on Philly airwaves and says that he told the coach to play a different style... I tend to believe him.

King did some nice things and now Stefasnki needs to build on what is already here. Let's not kid ourselves and believe that a title is just around the corner. Am I happy we're relevant again? Yes but forgive me if I don't do a backflip over a 34-34 record.

[Louis Williams]

I gave a list in my previous post of why the Sixers had trouble in the beginning of the season.

I don't see how Stefanski simply saying to Cheeks, "Play an uptempo style" would translate into victories. Did Stefanski run practices, draw up plays, or break down film? If not, then I can't give him credit.

The Sixers were playing hard from the beginning of the year. They are now winning these games they were losing before. This is a young team that is starting to learn how to win.

[The Guilty Party]

First of all, I don't think it's as simple as Ed Stefanski telling Mo, "Hey, play an up-tempo style of ball from now on, mmmkay?"

Mo deserves most of the credit for the way he's gotten these guys to play, but if I'm going to credit one GM credit for obtaining these guys (BK), I'm going to give the other GM credit for clearing up the rotation so that Young could play by trading Korver and I'm going to give him credit for instructing his coaches that they are to play a faster style of ball.

In the end, the majority of the credit goes to Mo and the players.

[sec-106]

I'm so giddy after last night, I'll give everbody credit.

[LieCheatSteal]

I think this team found a style because of the coach (defend like hell and run off of a turnover) not the GM. Cheeks deserves a lot of credit for recent play.

Yes, BK assembled this team. However, he's given way too much credit for drafting a lot of the good young players the team now possesses. Ultimately, he does have final say but let's not forget the work of the scouting staff that contributed immensely to the decision process. There was a reason why there wasn't a front office purging after BK was fired and this is it.

[Louis Williams]

I do believe King had an eye for talent, and was involved in the scouting process. Wasn't King at the workouts when draft prospects were brought in to work out? I remember him traveling to China to scout Yi Jialian during the Chinese Championships.

Like I said, King's downfall was his horrible business decisions. The team is at a point where they will have cap space for the first time in a decade. They need to have a good financial plan to ensure that this team never again goes into cap hell.

Chicago was on the rise, then made the terrible decision to give Ben Wallace all that money. Cleveland gave Hughes the max. Rashard Lewis got way overpaid. I would argue that none of these teams got significantly better as a result of those pickups.

The Sixers absolutely can not squander the cap flexibility they will have this offseason and next. I believe the Sixers did not think King could be fiscally responsible (his track record proves this to be the case), so he was shown the door.

[Maf]

Chicago was on the rise, then made the terrible decision to give Ben Wallace all that money. Cleveland gave Hughes the max. Rashard Lewis got way overpaid. I would argue that none of these teams got significantly better as a result of those pickups.

I would argue that Magic are MUCH better team with Rashard. And he works damn well with Hedo. Is he overpaid? Yeah, kinda.
Magic was 0-4 swap before, now they fight for division... All I need to hear



I'm all with sec 106- giving credit to anybody

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

The offseason and draft will really determine what direction we are headed in.