BobThornton wrote:Another source, an Eastern Conference executive, said Sunday that the 76ers' rebuilding plan is doomed if Embiid is unable to remain healthy or play at a high level.
"He was their guy," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They were hoping he was a franchise player.
If he's not a franchise player, their whole plan is gone. . . . If Embiid can't play or if he can't reach a superstar level, their plan is really in trouble."
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Noel, Saric, #3 Pick this year, 4 first rounders next year. Infinite cap space.
This.
This is called optionality.
The East is the weaker of the two conferences because it has weaker management, hence an Eastern conference executive quote generally fails to impress me.
Embiid and Noel were both risk/value picks, we hot on one and there is no guarantee either way with Embiid, even if he requires more surgery he might or might not develop, the only sure things is that his development would be delayed.
If any team is capable of taking a worst case Embiid scenario hit, it is the team with all of those assets still in its arsenal.
Truthfully I am getting pretty bored with the whole Embiid thing, when we know we will know, until then I am getting back to thinking about the draft, which for me is in no way affected by Embiid's situation (because I would always have taken one of the top bigs if they fell to three, and continued with BPA after that).
The funny thing is that Embiid and Noel slipped because of injury concerns that cut down their perceived market value, while Okafor could expose a market inefficiency by slipping due to an over reaction by the league to the Warriors and others style of small ball play and copycatting that is always rampant in any pro sports league.
Embiid has never been the crux of the process, an important and high risk/huge reward piece of it, but that is why it is a process and not merely about any one player.