Does Anyone Else Feel Like We Must Do This?

[STChaser]

This draft is full of 7 footers. I know we need a PF and this is still my 1st priority, but with the plethora of 5's available, I REALLY feel we need to pick up another 1st round pick (using the Utah pick and WG or Jason Smith) and select a 5 with it. I'm thinking someone like Hibbert, who's projected to go in the late teens early 20's. I personally, would feel so much more confident if we could go into next season with both Speights / Thompson / Author and Hibbert on our roster. Even McGee or Jordan would be nice to have backing Sam up at the 5. Point is, I think there are too many 5's to pass up on in this draft and we need some size up front. Both Booth and Sam are twigs and get overpowered by the bigger frontcourt players in this league. I really think we need a 7 footer with some girth coming off the bench behind Sam.

STChaser

[Johnny Broad-Street]

Hey man....I'd love a second pick in the first...but I think that's REALLY hard to get done unless somebody wants to sell one like NO did.

[SendEm]

I completely agree. If we can come away with 2 PF/C prospects then one of them should work out. Even a very early 2nd round pick would be good move.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

I definitely think we should grab a second rounder no matter what. Never hurts to take a flyer and DiLeo has a good reputation with his staff and seconds

[51X3RF4N]

SendEm, that logic makes no sense.

Just because you take more than one, doesn't mean one should work out. They might both work out, they might both be busts.

Either way, I am against the idea of two bigs from the same draft, especially considering the propensity to sign the starting PF in F. Agency a few days later.

I say, if you are gonna buy or trade for another first, make it a PG.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

I'd get a second and take Dragic. If we had 2 firsts I'd take another big and up your chances of coming out of the draft with at least one solid big. If there's a point we like available late, flip that logic and use a second on Jawai or Pekovic

[STChaser]

I don't see the need for another PG. We have Miller at the moment and Lou Williams should be integrated at the point as this season progresses. Also, what is the rush to get a PG when we could always trade Miller midseason or at next year's draft for a point?

I think this draft is too loaded with bigs to pass up the opportunity to get a PF and a Center. True, I know we're looking to bring in Josh Smith but I really see him as more of a tweener, high energy guy, who will share minutes with Thaddeus at the 3 and play the 4 in situations where he's not out-muscled by larger 4's.

The PG situation can wait until we're ready to jettison Miller. If we're that high on getting a point now, we should be looking at possibly getting TJ Ford. But again, I think Lou needs a fair shot at the point before we start overreacting.

STChaser

[SendEm]

SendEm, that logic makes no sense.

Just because you take more than one, doesn't mean one should work out. They might both work out, they might both be busts.

Either way, I am against the idea of two bigs from the same draft, especially considering the propensity to sign the starting PF in F. Agency a few days later.

I say, if you are gonna buy or trade for another first, make it a PG.

No, YOUR logic makes no sense. Do you know why? Because you are approaching the draft as if every year every position has the same amount of strength when this is not the case. This years PF/C position is VERY strong. There will be guys drafted at the top of the second round that are better prospects than Jason Smith was at the 20th pick last season. This draft is weak at the PG position. It is so weak at the PG position that teams are reaching for combo guards with some PG ability like Westbrook and even 5'10 scoring guards like Augustine are mentioned being lottery picks. So approaching drafting players with a historical perspective is the best way to get the job done. You do better as a franchise if you can understand and utilize this concept. Therefore if we can walk away with two of these Big guys we can hedge our bets because it's 50/50 with these guys. Normally it's 50/50 with guys drafted in the mid teens, but some of these big guys will fall to the late first and early second. That's insane value. Again, not every draft holds the same amount of talent at all positions. A PG drafted late in this years draft would probably not have even been drafted in 2005 if he came out with the same age and skill level as this year.

[shadowTerp]

I don't think 'must' is the right word... it'd be nice, though. If we sign a PF, to me the bigger issue is C, since Booth is 31 and it doesn't look like Smith can really play there. We'll need a backup for Sam... and potentially a starter in 3-4 years.

The question is, who do you want to give up to get another first round pick? No one is going to give a first-rounder for Green or Booth, unless we take on salary. And I don't think Snider will let us buy a pick like Portland is doing. I'm not ready to give up on Smith or Carney for a different project.

[SendEm]

I'll give up on Smith and keep Carney. Smith's slow release and short arms are insurmountable.

[Sandalf42]

It would be a great idea to get an early 2nd round pick. The Sonics have 4 picks, and both the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves have 2 2nd round picks in the top 6. All we would have to do is buy it.

[CPops57]

Adding two more marginal talents to what is already one of the youngest teams in the league doesn't seem like a great strategy to me.

In addition, adding another player with guaranteed money reduces the amount you have available to try and make a serious run at Brand or make an offer to Ellis that GS won't match. Ed would know the exact numbers better than us, but I'd think that every million you don't spend at the draft would help.

[The Guilty Party]

I'd be all for grabbing another player later in the draft but by no means do I feel like we "must" do it. As others have said, when you consider the fact that we're probably going to draft a big at #16 and then obtain a veteran during the off-season, well... it leaves little time to develop a 2nd young big. Then again, I'm pretty sure Shav Randolph and Lou Amundson are gone and Herb Hill might not make the team this year so there could be roster space for another young big.

There are rumors flying around that the Nets are looking to straight up sell pick #21 so perhaps that makes some sense for the Sixers to buy. Then again, an additional pick will trim (even if slightly) into our cap space.

[SendEm]

Adding two more marginal talents to what is already one of the youngest teams in the league doesn't seem like a great strategy to me.

In addition, adding another player with guaranteed money reduces the amount you have available to try and make a serious run at Brand or make an offer to Ellis that GS won't match. Ed would know the exact numbers better than us, but I'd think that every million you don't spend at the draft would help.

That's only if we buy the pick instead of trading away a player ALREADY on our roster. There is nothing wrong with adding more youth to a team filled with youth when the team doesn't have much talent to begin with. I didn't see any of these young Sixers at the ALL STAR game the last couple of seasons. I didn't see any of these young Sixers on the ALL NBA teams the last couple of seasons. I don't see any of these young Sixers on any Olympic teams with the exception of maybe Sammy. You can't fall in love with young NBA players that aren't at least showing flashes and producing like Thad and Iggy.

[STChaser]

That Nets pick at 21 would be ideal. Hibbert is slated to go 23 on many boards. Hendrix is slated to go even later, which means we could pick up the best available 5 with our 16th pick and take a chance on Hendrix, Hardin, or Hickson. Some mock drafts even have Speights going at 21 and Jason Thompson going at 28. Having the 16th and 21st pick would mean that we're potentially getting any two of the following players: Jordan, McGee, Author, Speights, Hibbert, Hendrix, Hardin, Hickson, Greene, Koufos, Lopez, Ajinca, Ibaka, and even Randolph, who seems to be falling according to many mock drafts. That is an incredible array of 4's and 5's to choose from.

Stop and consider how many bigs have gone in the top 5 picks in past drafts just based on size alone - Kwame, Bogut, and Darco come to mind - all busts based on their selection but we're not talking about taking that kind of risk with the #1 pick. We're talking the 16 - 21 range. Because of the amount of bigs in this draft, they've all been pushed down. Here we are with a plethora of potential bigs - many of them 7 footers, going in the mid to late 1st round. In my opinion, you HAVE to get that 21st pick from NJ. Going into next season with a future 5 and backup to Sam, as well as a solid PF with back-to-the-basket moves might just be enough to push this team over the hump and get us deeper into the playoffs.

And to all those who actually believe that our picks aren't going to get much playing time, think again. That is Stefanski's way of alleviating pressure on the player and scouting team. The truth is, he was the one responsible for telling Mo to play the young guys and there is NO reason to believe that his mentality will change this season. Expect our picks to be getting significant playing time by mid season - especially at the 4, where we are extremely limited on offensive production.

STChaser

[bedjaw]

I guess I am failing to see the logic of trading Jason Smith for a late 1st rd pick in hopes of picking up a b/u C/PF.

[The Guilty Party]

And to all those who actually believe that our picks aren't going to get much playing time, think again. That is Stefanski's way of alleviating pressure on the player and scouting team. The truth is, he was the one responsible for telling Mo to play the young guys and there is NO reason to believe that his mentality will change this season. Expect our picks to be getting significant playing time by mid season - especially at the 4, where we are extremely limited on offensive production.

The question isn't whether the team would WANT to play their young bigs but how they can play them. If we acquire a veteran PF this summer, you have to figure that he will eat up at least 35 minutes at the 4. Dalembert will eat up another 35 minutes at the 5. That leaves a combined 26 minutes of playing time for Reggie Evans, Jason Smith, and the TWO young bigs you drafted. You also have to figure that Mo will run with a small lineup at some point in the game with Thad taking a couple of minutes at the 4.

Point being: there simply aren't enough minutes in a game to get two rookie big men consistent minutes . That said, I don't think there would be anything wrong with drafting a project big man like Jordan or Ajinca and letting them ride the pine for the year or putting them in the D-League.

[SendEm]

What veteran PF will the Sixers have? I thought that expectation died with the report on Elton Brand not wanting to come to Philly for a pay cut. Are you all still believing the Z-Bo and Sheed rumors? No veteran starting PF will be in a Sixer uniform next season. I feel that Jason Smith will start, Evans will back him up, and the rookie will be Dalembert's backup if he is a PF/C. If the Sixers draft a PF or SF/PF Evans will most likely start and Jason Smith will be the backup C. Thad, Iggy, and Carney are the SG and SF rotation. Willie Green is going to be the 3rd PG and get "Ollie" minutes. The only way that Willie Green gets minutes is if they decide that they want to showcase him before the trade deadline and/or if Carney absolutely sucks.

I could be wrong. But I don't believe that will be the case.

[jmon]

This draft is full of 7 footers. I know we need a PF and this is still my 1st priority, but with the plethora of 5's available, I REALLY feel we need to pick up another 1st round pick (using the Utah pick and WG or Jason Smith) and select a 5 with it. I'm thinking someone like Hibbert, who's projected to go in the late teens early 20's. I personally, would feel so much more confident if we could go into next season with both Speights / Thompson / Author and Hibbert on our roster. Even McGee or Jordan would be nice to have backing Sam up at the 5. Point is, I think there are too many 5's to pass up on in this draft and we need some size up front. Both Booth and Sam are twigs and get overpowered by the bigger frontcourt players in this league. I really think we need a 7 footer with some girth coming off the bench behind Sam.

STChaser

I think you fail to realize that even if this is a stacked draft, you are still rolling the dice. Smith is a proven commodity. I would not want to part with him. He does have short arms as sendem mentioned which is a bit of a red flag. Guy will have NBA 3 point range though... he could pan out into a Memo Okur-type of player.

We also still have Hill who we just drafted and did just make the team before getting hurt. We still are bringing him back as well, showing that the coaching staff think he probably has something.

Adding two more marginal talents to what is already one of the youngest teams in the league doesn't seem like a great strategy to me.

In addition, adding another player with guaranteed money reduces the amount you have available to try and make a serious run at Brand or make an offer to Ellis that GS won't match. Ed would know the exact numbers better than us, but I'd think that every million you don't spend at the draft would help.

That's only if we buy the pick instead of trading away a player ALREADY on our roster. There is nothing wrong with adding more youth to a team filled with youth when the team doesn't have much talent to begin with. I didn't see any of these young Sixers at the ALL STAR game the last couple of seasons. I didn't see any of these young Sixers on the ALL NBA teams the last couple of seasons. I don't see any of these young Sixers on any Olympic teams with the exception of maybe Sammy. You can't fall in love with young NBA players that aren't at least showing flashes and producing like Thad and Iggy.

Sixers would have to match money seeing as how they aren't under the cap until July 1, so they would lose cap space long story short, unless it involves big contracts due to the 125% + 100,000 rule.

[SendEm]

Sixers would have to match money seeing as how they aren't under the cap until July 1, so they would lose cap space long story short, unless it involves big contracts due to the 125% + 100,000 rule.

I'm not convinced that you presented all of the facts and explored all of the possibilities of the Sixers acquiring a second player drafted in the first round where the Sixers also have LESS or EQUAL cap space as they did before making this deal.