ATL - 2021-22 Regular Season Begins

[LuessiT]

I just want to leave this for all the doubters after year 1:

Watch on YouTube

[chonestown]

The key is losing weight as you age to slow down the athleticism loss, Lowry is a marvel hanging on while remaining fat.

Hold your insulting tongue and show the KING OF NORTH PHILADELPHIA the respect he is due.

[emunney]

Not to nitpick too much as it's a very hopeful thing that this wasn't called a foul, but Steph traveled.

Read on Twitter

[Baddy Chuck]

Scottie Barnes has some tendencies.

[emunney]

Scottie Barnes has some tendencies.

Raptors are sneaky good.

[tydett]

Scottie Barnes has some tendencies.

Raptors are sneaky good.

Some of us been on the Scottie B (homer) train since before he played a college game.

[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

Of course.

[Ron Swanson]

Of all the max deals that are getting handed out like candy these days, why on earth would Phoenix dick around their franchise cornerstone and risk alienating him?

[emunney]

Of all the max deals that are getting handed out like candy these days, why on earth would Phoenix dick around their franchise cornerstone and risk alienating him?

Ayton's gonna have goats in his locker today.

[paulpressey25]

Of all the max deals that are getting handed out like candy these days, why on earth would Phoenix dick around their franchise cornerstone and risk alienating him?

Lost in all their success last season is the fact Sarver is still the owner. He's going to Dan Gilbert this one.

[raferfenix]

This is the rare holdout where I support the player (and agent). Sixers told Simmons they didn’t want him and were going to trade him. Fanbase turned on him 100%. There is no point in him coming into camp and playing. It’s all about Morey simply wanting more trade leverage, after Morey and the team self-destroyed their leverage.

I don't know if anyone deserves support in this situation.

Simmons has 4 years left on his contract. The Klutch scorched earth strategy in this instance is an escalation even compared to the Anthony Davis and Harden holdouts when they had 2 years left.

To be fair to Ben, Embiid and Doc's comments at the end of the year were wildly unprofessional, and made it clear to the fans (and other teams) whose side they were on. Embiid publicly bringing up how it was a mistake to let Butler go due to his fit with Simmons probably wasn't the first time he broached that privately either.

Morey blew the trade asset by not pulling the trigger on the best available deal last season too.

However Simmons is getting $30 million a year and just put on one of the most embarrassing 4th quarter playoff performances for a 'star' player on a 'contender' in recent history.

Baby Ben could have just swallowed his pride and kept his mouth shut so that Morey had a bit more leverage.

Maybe he gets dealt 10 games into the season (like Harden and Butler did) anyways to a team he is glad to be on.

But I'm not clear how much the holdout will ultimately help Simmons achieve his desired outcome.

We'll also see whether he comes into next season with any improvements to his game (which has long since stagnated) much less any more humility after that historically embarrassing collapse vs the Hawks.

[paulpressey25]

I don't know if anyone deserves support in this situation.

Simmons has 4 years left on his contract. The Klutch scorched earth strategy in this instance is an escalation even compared to the Anthony Davis and Harden holdouts when they had 2 years left.

I'll be #TeamBen for the moment. Unlike those other situations, the team basically dumped on him.

Still of the belief that you can build the right team around Simmons, and he can be a #2 guy on a contender or alternatively a #1 or #2 guy on a 45-50 win Pacers type team (that wouldn't be a contender, but would welcome the talent infusion).

I put this on Morey (who I like). He's doing an Ainge, and holding out for a kings ransom return. Would love to know what deals Morey has already turned down.

[ABucksFan]

I just want to leave this for all the doubters after year 1:

Watch on YouTube

Rufus King Legend!

[emunney]

I just want to leave this for all the doubters after year 1:

Watch on YouTube

Rufus King Legend!

Best school anywhere

[MickeyDavis]

Read on Twitter

[raferfenix]

I put this on Morey (who I like). He's doing an Ainge, and holding out for a kings ransom return. Would love to know what deals Morey has already turned down.

Agreed that Morey deserves plenty of blame here too.

If he ends up trading Simmons for a pittance it would be an awful lot of trouble for all involved to wait so long.

Also am curious what he turned down!

That and Embiid sure made it seem like they could have kept Jimmy Butler if they wanted to, and in hindsight bailing on Simmons then would have been the obvious choice:

"It was kind of surprising to see what was said,” Embiid continued. “Even going back to the reason we signed Al. We got rid of Jimmy (Butler), which I still think was a mistake, but he needed the ball in his hands and that’s the decision they made. But, like I said, it is surprising. But I’m really focused on the guys that are here.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/09/30/joel-embiid-76ers-made-mistake-of-letting-jimmy-butler-go-to-accommodate-ben-simmons/

[paulpressey25]

That and Embiid sure made it seem like they could have kept Jimmy Butler if they wanted to, and in hindsight bailing on Simmons then would have been the obvious choice:

About 18-24 months ago, a few NBA types were blogging that maybe the Sixers need to cash out on Embiid and build around Ben. The idea being that having a very injury prone seven-footer, who at times takes to shooting from anywhere on the court, could be problematic to build a title winner around.

I think is was a legit question to ask back then, although since that point, Embiid has taken his game to another level.

Do find the Sixers fascinating to talk about. They are a long-time historical rival, and thankfully for us they've botched pretty much every personnel move since firing Hinkie.

[emunney]

That and Embiid sure made it seem like they could have kept Jimmy Butler if they wanted to, and in hindsight bailing on Simmons then would have been the obvious choice:

About 18-24 months ago, a few NBA types were blogging that maybe the Sixers need to cash out on Embiid and build around Ben. The idea being that having a very injury prone seven-footer, who at times takes to shooting from anywhere on the court, could be problematic to build a title winner around.

I think is was a legit question to ask back then, although since that point, Embiid has taken his game to another level.

Do find the Sixers fascinating to talk about. They are a long-time historical rival, and thankfully for us they've botched pretty much every personnel move since firing Hinkie.

Embiid is great, but also, the injury concerns remain legitimate, particularly after this most recent meniscus injury. I'd have traded him to the Blazers for their backcourt, not to build *around* Ben, but to create a sensible basketball team. Then hire D'Antoni. I don't think they could have gotten Lillard for Ben at any point. I do think they could have gotten him (and then some) for Embiid.

I think Morey tried to do Simmons for Harden and it wasn't enough to overcome Fertitta's personal animus.

[DingleJerry]

Yea at some point in that convo about two years ago I think I might've posted here that if I had to pick which to keep I'd have kept Simmons. Logic being that Embiid's injury being a ticking time bomb and to cash him out at huge value while you can before something bad happens. So it's not like I thought Ben was better, but thought Embiid would get way more back and it avoids that injury issue hanging over everything.

Fast forward to now, obviously that would be wrong. Embiid has taken his game one notch up and Ben has taken his one back and showing no signs of having the will to improve. That difference would override everything else.

[paulpressey25]

Fast forward to now, obviously that would be wrong. Embiid has taken his game one notch up and Ben has taken his one back and showing no signs of having the will to improve. That difference would override everything else.

I don't think the injury concerns on Embiid have changed. They've just paused.

Recall during our heated Jabari debates in October of 2016, a few of us wanted to cash out on him due to the ACL. Then he suffered the 2nd ACL a few months later.

It is hard to know when to cash out on a guy because of future injury concerns, but Embiid is a great case study for debate. I'd rather have a Simmons/Lillard Sixers team had they done a trade like the one Emunney talks about above. Sixers entire past and next decade rides on what they get for Simmons in this upcoming trade.