***Sixerfan1976 Official Thread - Update Page 28***

[PhillyFan]

Nobody has lead us anywhere. Doug Collins has lead us to the playoffs. Lou isnt expendable unless the Monta trade goes through or you bring in another instant offense guy. Blake Griffin hasnt lead his team anywhere either.

As it stands, I agree Lou Will is the only instant offense guy on the roster when he is on that night. But I don't think anyone on the team is untouchable. Why not look to trade some of the pieces away instead? It makes as much sense as holding onto Iguodala for those who want him to be traded. They both have value to other teams in the trade market.

PS: Blake Griffin needs to know how to play team ball before he can lead a team to anywhere. Watching some of the Clippers games last year was basically him and Eric Gordon playing 2 on 5 on the offensive end.

[sweetlou23]

Why aren't we looking to trade Louis Williams? He has a reasonable contract for what he does and should have some value around the league for teams looking to add some sparks off the bench.

you will not get value for lou.

He is the only sixer who gets to the line with any regularity. he is arguably the teams best scorer and he scores in a variety of ways. he is the teams back up point guard. he has great chemistry with the squad and does a good job of getting the ball to thad, brand, where they can use it. he is a leader, competitor and a team player. His contract is only 5 million.

It is going to be difficult to find a player that brings all of the things to the table that he does for five million.

[ankle420breaker]

I wouldn't be shopping Lou around, but if the right deal came along he'd certainly be expendable. For example, if he could land us a solid big man like Varejao I'd consider moving him and hand the ball over to Evan Turner in the process.

Also, as PHILLYFINEST13 alluded to, he'd immediately become expendable if the Monta deal somehow went through today, which in all likelihood won't be happening.

That said, Lou did play a pivotal role for us last year, he's still young, and has a reasonable contract. I'd consider him to be a piece of the puzzle unless an irresistible trade scenario surfaces.

[Gsraider]

Also, as PHILLYFINEST13 alluded to, he'd immediately become expendable if the Monta deal somehow went through today, which in all likelihood won't be happening.

That window appears to have closed already per K. Fagen in yesterday's blog:

Also, for those of you asking, that also means a halt to potential trades. In fact, since there is a 48-hour window for traded players to pass their physicals, the time has passed for trading Iguodala before the impending lockout.

[tk76]

Fagan has been on a mission to run Iguodala out of town.

I can't remember a beat writer ever being so pro-active in trying to get a guy traded. It's one thing for a writer to say that they think a trade could benefit the team. But IMO it is unprofessional and fan-like for a beat writer to spend an entire year trying to get a guy traded. IMO she is not reporting on the news as much as she is trying to make it.

I'm not saying she is wrong in her beliefs, just that it is odd for a beat writer to be son focused on trying to get a guy traded. Much like she was focused the year before on getting the coach fired (was correct in her assessment but unprofessional in her approach.)

[Winejk]

Fagan has been on a mission to run Iguodala out of town.

I can't remember a beat writer ever being so pro-active in trying to get a guy traded. It's one thing for a writer to say that they think a trade could benefit the team. But IMO it is unprofessional and fan-like for a beat writer to spend an entire year trying to get a guy traded. IMO she is not reporting on the news as much as she is trying to make it.

I'm not saying she is wrong in her beliefs, just that it is odd for a beat writer to be son focused on trying to get a guy traded. Much like she was focused the year before on getting the coach fired (was correct in her assessment but unprofessional in her approach.)

I totally agree, but I thought I was the only one who felt that way about Fagan. I almost think some of her columns should be put in the editorial section and not in the sports page.

I"m not sure if she just doesn't have good contacts or she is just lazy, but most of her articles have no quoted sources to back up anything she posits. She doesn't seem to do much, if any, research. It seems like she just pulls things out of the air whatever comes to her mind. In my mind, she does a very poor job of journalism, but what do I know, I'm an engineer.

The worst part is because she is published, enough people start to believe what she writes regardless if it has any merit or not. It is kind of like a case of if you tell everyone the sky is purple and you say it enough times, eventually someone is going to believe you.

I, for one, always read her articles, if I read them, with a grain of salt.

[steveb21]

Kate was spot on with her assessment of Eddie Jordan. I assume she's also got reason for wanting Igoudala traded...after all she watches the team day in and day out. I also like how she speaks her mind and is not afraid to write it down. Much better IMO than the fluff pieces put out by the Dave Spadaros of the world...

[corwin]

I think her writing & analysis of this team are spot on. If you watch news, you know that in this day & age the line between reporting & editorial comment has been blurred badly. The other thing is that we don't know how much of the Iguodala story she is sitting on. Management minimized his missing the end-of-the-season (doctor's appointment anyone?) meeting & it was later reported that he had skipped it. I'll bet she know that. It wouldn't surprise me if Iggy's agent has asked out for him & she is likely sitting on that as well. Tough spot to have credibility and to demonstrate fairness but that's her job. It's not like anyone else in town is really tuned in. After all, the proposed sale was reported on the wire service or ESPN or some other national source if I'm not correct.

[Gsraider]

Kate was spot on with her assessment of Eddie Jordan. I assume she's also got reason for wanting Igoudala traded...after all she watches the team day in and day out. I also like how she speaks her mind and is not afraid to write it down. Much better IMO than the fluff pieces put out by the Dave Spadaros of the world...

In fairness, a lot of people were spot on about E. Jordan very early on in his tenure. That said, if there is one thing I do like about Fagen is her candor. However, like others have pointed out, she often writes strictly opinion pieces that are not backed up by anything other than her own, subjective opinion, which can be dangerous for a writer who is supposed to be attempting to be objective. What's really odd to me though, is that I thought I recall her being pretty positive about Iguodala prior to this year. Not sure what changed or if my recollection on this subject is just poor.

Then again, maybe she has nothing against Iguodala at all, other than coming to her own conclusion that he must be traded for a different piece in order to advance to the next level. Meanwhile, after having thown out M. Ellis' name as a potential target for Iguodala prior to this rumor catching steam, perhaps she just wanted to be proven prophetic.

[GoSixersBro]

Doug Collins has mentioned that Lou Williams is a leader on the team. When Williams got injured at the end of the season, according to Collins it was hard to replace his leadership not to mention the other things he brings to the team.

I won't say never, but I doubt you see Williams moved as long as Collins is the coach.

Lou Williams and leadership in the same sentence?? I dont know about all this crazy talk. Lou is a great scorer , maybe they couldnt replace that , but him being a leader? Where did Collins say this? I would like to see it.

Didnt Lou go to a lil Wayne rap concert before one of the playoff games and then stay for the after party and shoot like 2-13 the next game? Dont get me wrong , you wanna go to concerts and whatever fine , but dont stay out till 4 am when you know you got a playoff game against the Heat the next day and the show up and dont show out.

I think the whole Lil Wayne concert the night before thing was the night before that Sunday game where we hosted Sacramento and lost in OT. Lou hit that huge three at the buzzer to send the game to OT. I may be wrong, but I don't think it was before a playoff game.

I don't think it is too farfetched to label Lou a leader. He's got six seasons under his belt and his spark off the bench has to motivate his teammates. Not all players are leaders vocally. Lou may take a lot of boneheaded shots, but when he goes off, it has got to fire the entire team up.

[The Sixer Fixer]

I think the whole Lil Wayne concert the night before thing was the night before that Sunday game where we hosted Sacramento and lost in OT. Lou hit that huge three at the buzzer to send the game to OT. I may be wrong, but I don't think it was before a playoff game.

I think you are correct. If I remember that was the only shot he hit in that game though. Wasn't he like 0-10 or 0-12 before hitting that shot?

[sixerswillrule]

Why aren't we looking to trade Louis Williams? He has a reasonable contract for what he does and should have some value around the league for teams looking to add some sparks off the bench.

you will not get value for lou.

He is the only sixer who gets to the line with any regularity. he is arguably the teams best scorer and he scores in a variety of ways. he is the teams back up point guard. he has great chemistry with the squad and does a good job of getting the ball to thad, brand, where they can use it. he is a leader, competitor and a team player. His contract is only 5 million.

It is going to be difficult to find a player that brings all of the things to the table that he does for five million.

Huh? By your description, Lou does have a lot of trade value based on how much he provides relative to his contract, so we can get value for him.
If the problem is the player in return makes too much money for salary to match, then it's as simple as adding someone like Speights or Nocioni.

[sixerswillrule]

Lou is a solid player but not someone I like here going forward with Jrue and Turner, and especially if we keep Iguodala. He has his days but overall he's too inconsistent and often takes the flow out of the offense. I would look to trade him.

[83SixersRocked]

I think her writing & analysis of this team are spot on. If you watch news, you know that in this day & age the line between reporting & editorial comment has been blurred badly.

Agree.

She doesn't rely on quotes for her articles because if she's not reporting news, she's communicating her opinion. When there's no news, I haven't seen her ask provocative questions to manufacture a story, which I like; articles based on 'he/she said' usually aren't very informative basketball-wise. I'd rather have her commentary/opinions over her picking apart every word of a GM or player; there's way too much of that already IMO, and that doesn't require any basketball knowledge.

[The Sixer Fixer]

Hearing rumors that Omri Casspi has been traded for JJ Hickson. Seems like Sacramento may have a loaded front court.

Edit: Deal apparently alos include a future 1st rd pick going to the Cavs.

[tk76]

I'd be bummed if Hickson is available and the Sixers did not try and acquire him. he would be a great athletic PF complement to Jrue and Turner.

[Tension]

Danny Ferry is no RC Buford lol

[51X3RF4N]

Links? Yea I would have loved Hickson..if all it took was Casspi, you'd think Thad could've been in that deal and a future 2nd instead of future 1st coming from Philly. Or even Iggy for Hickson and one of their future 1sts...LOL

[tk76]

As for Fagan, I'm not criticizing her opinions. Just saying she behaves more like a blogger tha a beat writer. I'm sure a lot of fans prefer that, but I find it a bit odd.

It is one thing for a beat writer to have opinions. Tom Moore has opinions and gives them freely (but is clear to make the distinction.) IMO Fagan has an agenda, more like what I expect to see from a blogger or radio personality. But maybe it makes sense now that Philly.com wants its writers to be bloggers as well.

[The Sixer Fixer]

Interested in Jason Thompson?

I'm sure he becomes extremely available as a result of that deal. The again, maybe not if they don't resign Dalembert.

Would you do Speights for Thompson? Change of scenery may help both guys.