Messages

1036

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Plan B: Shooting Guard

« on: July 04, 2008, 09:31:21 AM »

According to SF76's latest report, if we strike out with Smith... we'll either go after Sheed or Marion through a trade or sign Maggette or Childress. He said that Ben Gordon is on our radar but we would only go after him if we struck out on Maggette and Childress at that seems unlikely.

Maggette might be alright at the 2, Childress does little to nothing for me. This is is not what I have hoping to read upon my return from Zoo York.

I am the exact opposite, I like Childress and Maggette does nothing for me.  Really though it all depends on the big picture of how the team is eventually put together.  Some players I may not like may become a much better fit after other changes/additions are made.

1037

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Our own RFA's

« on: July 04, 2008, 09:27:59 AM »

I think this year is an unusually fluid one.  Usually you know where most of the free agents are going, most RFA's receive little attention in a typical year and the unexpected opt-outs have created cap space where it did not exist before.  Now that there is more cap space and some desparate teams I bet Marion wishes he had opted out, Artest certainly does.  The cap-hold issues with the RFA's and its affect on certain teams' cap space is another wrench in making this a decipherable process.  

Given the current state of things if the Sixers can find a decent trading partner it might make much more sense to make a trade quickly and re-sign your own RFA's before something goofy happens.

1038

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Any thoughts about E Okafor?

« on: July 04, 2008, 07:53:39 AM »

Okafor would have gotten a lot more chatter of the Bobcats had grabbed Brook Lopez at 9 instead of DJ Augustin.  Now, absent a S&T that brings back a big man, they pretty much have to match any offers for him unless they want to rely on Sean May, Nazr Mohammed and Ajinca.  I could see them pursuing the S&T angle only because the LB-MJ combination is about as unpredictable as you can get.

1039

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Our own RFA's

« on: July 03, 2008, 11:14:39 PM »

I am not really a huge fan of Ellis becuase he is very undersized ath the 2.  If he had sufficient skills to play PG you could match him up with a guy like Childress, who plays D, passes the ball and doesn't need a whole lot of shots to be effective, at the 2.  Miller would then have to be the bait for a big man.

I think more of what Dabods and I are suggesting is that we may see these teams playing chicken over the next week or completely avoiding each others RFA's for fear of what a signing war could cause.  It also points out what could happen to either team if someone else signs one of the two former second rounders with low cap holds, Ellis or Lou, to a sizable contract offer sheet early on.

1040

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Tracking Free Agency

« on: July 03, 2008, 11:06:54 PM »

If it comes to a decision between having either Iguodala or Smith starting at 12M next year would you want both, onle one(who?) or neither.

I have been pondering that myself. Assuming equal contracts in length (5 years) and amount (max yearly increases) for the sake of the question.  Wow, that is a tough one.  Value wise it is a little higher than both deserve, but this is a free and sometimes crazy market.  This may be the unpopular choice, but I am going to go with Iggy by a hair.  Neither one is a franchise player or unstoppable scorer.  Both are stat sheet fillers.  Edge to Smith for being a big man which is harder to get and on age.

However, I think there is also a bit of a risk with Smith.  Most scouting reports I have seen on him don't really come out all that great.  He blocks shots at a high rate, but often at the expense of good fundamental D.  He shoots a low percentage for a big, yet is not a great outside shooter or three point threat.  Some of his appeal is still based on potential.  There have also been some questions about his attitude over the years, especially in the coachability department.  Difficult to handle is the phrase I have often heard associated with him.  He has never played in a market like Philly where the fans can be rough and the media rougher.

Iggy is what he is which is pretty darn good.  He makes players around him better and has better fundamentals than Smith.  He fits well on the team and despite some over done whining about ref's calls, he has been a pretty good soldier.  The grass always looks greener on someone else's team, but the excitement and potential of Smith comes with more flaws and downside risk.  I am a big Speights fan which may also influence my decision.  If I only had one guy to spend the money on it would have to be the guy I know and trust to produce throughout the contract.

1041

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Tracking Free Agency

« on: July 03, 2008, 09:25:21 PM »

We could throw a huge fork in the wrench by signing Monta Ellis (rather than Josh Smith) to a huge offer sheet on the first day of free agency.  If we make Monta's cap hold jump up to 11 million rather than the 1 million it's at now, they won't have money to offer Iguodala a Max deal, and we'd now be back to bidding against ourselves to retain Iguodala's services.

Of course someone could do the same to us, to a lesser extent because he would command less, by signing Lou W to a decent sized offer sheet.

Query:  If GS goes after Iggy, would you agree to a sign and trade with Brandan Wright as our compensation, if the alternative was signing Iggy to a bigger contract then we wanted to pay?  It would remove Iggy's cap hold in addition to likely ending our PF search for this year.  Then our back-up plan of grabbing a SG would make more sense.  Thoughts (Assume that GS has designs on trading for or signing another PF if that makes it more real for you)?

1042

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Any thoughts about E Okafor?

« on: July 03, 2008, 09:18:12 PM »

I definitely prefer Biedrins over Okafor, younger, more athletic, more versatile and better suited to the up-tempo game.  Neither is likely to be left go by his team, unless LB wants Sammy in a S&T.  I think Okafor fits better at C on our team, if he fits at all.

1043

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Our own RFA's

« on: July 03, 2008, 08:48:59 PM »

I see them going after Josh Smith first, and offering more than we can/should.  First let's see where Brand ends up.  Most likely LAC, but if he goes to GS then things return to relative normalcy as he would eat up most of GS's cap space.  Neither Smith nor Iggy is a franchise player and although their maximum salary as four year players is well below that of guys like Brand, there has to be a price tag over which we won't go.

Even with $19 million in cap space they can only offer one RFA a truly big money contract on June 9 since a contract starting at $9 or $10 million won't get it done for guys like Iggy, Smith, Deng or Okafor.  They have to be careful as some of their cap space only exists because of the low cap hold Monta Ellis has assigned to him.  If he gets an offer sheet from the Sixers on the 9th, they could match, but when they do their cap space will diminish.  The same thing can occur with guys like Iggy and Deng and Biedrins, but their cap holds are much closer to their eventual salaries.

1044

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Plan B: Shooting Guard

« on: July 03, 2008, 03:56:18 PM »

Ben Gordon would be a wonderful player to have at a reasonable price.  He is the modern day version of Vinnie "the microwave oven" Johnson.  He may be an efficient shooter, but he is also extremely streaky, kind of like Willie Green on steroids.  The problem is that he way overvalues his own worth and will probably find a GM who does too.  He is a great scoring third guard, but I still don't see him as a starter as the rest of his game is subpar (passing, defense, those sorts of things) and don't want to pay him like one.  I especially don't want to pay him big money and give up any assets for him.  He and a guy like Childress are very complementary, but we can get our own less expensive version of that with Lou W.

1045

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Tracking Free Agency

« on: July 03, 2008, 03:05:09 PM »

Is it just me, or has the quietest free agent through the first few days of free agency been Andris Biedrins?  I know GS has every intention of keeping him, but they did have difficulty coming to an agreement last summer and GS now has their fingers in every fire imaginable.  I have not heard anything indicating that they had worked out a deal for him to stay in GS, yet I have heard nothing about him visiting anywhere.  I recall one article somewhere mentioning him as a back-up plan for the Sixers, but that is about it.

If the FO starts getting real bad vibes about Smith coming here I would like them to at least take a look at Biedrins.  I think he can score more than he has in the past, he shoots a high FG%, rebounds and blocks shots and like Smith he is only 22.  He is no offensive juggernaut, but I could see him putting up 15-17 ppg if given the ball more often.  his FT % is not good and he does not have the flash of J Smoove (the last time I ever use that nickname, it's too stupid for words), but he has the substance.  he would be a big help on the D boards and I think he has no problem playing PF as he looks to be a 4-5 hybrid.  He could start at PF for a year or two until Speights earns a starting job and move to center when Sammy gets traded as an expiring contract in 2 years.

Golden State's pursuit of Brand may open the door to Biedrins a little, at least enough to take a look see.  Anybody wonder if teams like Philly are afraid to look at Biedrins publicly in fear of GS retaliating by going after the other teams' own RFA's (Iggy in our case) like they did with Brand when Davis decided to go to the Clips?  If he is one of our back-up plans it is being kept awful quiet.

1046

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Point Guard options

« on: July 03, 2008, 02:47:13 PM »

Tinsley might get bought out.... I think he's a headcase and really wouldn't want him, but if bought out he could be a cheap option. 

No.  It is one thing to try and overlook a player's warts when he is a very good player.  That is not the case here.

1047

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: From ESPN's Rumor Central...(plus trade machine fun!)

« on: July 03, 2008, 02:12:05 PM »

The problem I see is Haslem taking up too much cap space next year.  if he was an expiring contract it would not be a bad stopgap.  I just don't want any stopgap's that don't expire next summer.  Getting Cook might help with the outside shooting issues and he is young and talented, but not worth the extra salary for Haslem in 2009-2010.  There are so many teams loading up on salary cap space for 2010 that the best bargain hunting will be over the next year and a half.

1048

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: I am going to wait and see

« on: July 03, 2008, 01:48:01 PM »

Oh, and while this has been said before, damn BK and his second year option to Calvin freaking Booth.

Not even in the top 3 of bad things still left from the billy king era

The second year of the Calvin Booth era is kind of like the piece of the BK legacy that gets stuck between your teeth.  Its not a big deal and it likely won't kill you, but its annoying as hell, unnecessary and impossible to get rid of.

What does that make Willie Green's contract?

Sorry, you are only 19 and in some states I could be arrested for telling you the proper description of that contract.   

1049

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: I am going to wait and see

« on: July 03, 2008, 01:40:36 PM »

Oh, and while this has been said before, damn BK and his second year option to Calvin freaking Booth.

Not even in the top 3 of bad things still left from the billy king era

The second year of the Calvin Booth era is kind of like the piece of the BK legacy that gets stuck between your teeth.  Its not a big deal and it likely won't kill you, but its annoying as hell, unnecessary and impossible to get rid of.

1050

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: I am going to wait and see

« on: July 03, 2008, 01:17:58 PM »

Oh, and while this has been said before, damn BK and his second year option to Calvin freaking Booth.