SIXERS GET CHRIS WEBBER!!!

[JoMal]

Not sure how to take this one yet. I am not in shock, as I had heard Petrie was trying to trade Webber, but we certainly did not gain the offense we gave up. I am hoping the rebounding and defense will pick up however. Our offense should not be that effected; it might even improve as Peja, Bibbly, Miller, and Mobley are all very capable of scoring more then they have been. We desperately need to get better defensively, however.

Never expected the Sixers to be the team to pick up Webber. He should add to their offense, and his passing should be utilized by O'Brien to the max, though for some odd reason, I heard he did not intend to do that. Why on earth would he not? The one bonus you are getting with Webber above any other high post player in the NBA is his sweet passing ability from that position. Maybe he meant that he would not run much through C-Webb, and with Iverson that makes sense, but he certainly should not crinch when Webber has the ball and is looking to pass.

Webber's offense should be enough to win the Atlantic for the Sixers, but I hope you know that defensively you got alot worse. As good as Chris has been this season offensively, he has not helped the team close down opponents so the Kings could ease into victories. Every game seems to be a struggle because he cannot move laterally any more on defense and teams will go right at him. He also seldom jumps for rebounds or to dunk the ball. Occasionally he still can do it, but he often has to sit out the next game to let his knee recuperate from the effort.

As for the other guys, Bradley rarely got off the bench in his short stay in Sacramento. Barnes, however, is a little gold nugget. Undersized, he hussles and gets his hands on the ball at opportune times. Forget his outside shooting and ballhandling, the two areas that keeps him from establishing himself in the League, but he can clean up the garbage around the rim just fine and generally makes a pest of himself. He has been starting for the Kings while Peja has sat out the last couple of games with a sore back and hamstring.

I know this trade looks very favorable for the Sixer fans, and it should as Webber is a legit superstar of the NBA, but it might come with a steep price down the road. Chris can't play every game of the season, nor has he during his Sacramento days. While his offense will help Iverson out and scoring should improve, can you put up with the tit-for-tat scoring matchups every night with the opposing forwards scoring practically at will? Also, there was mention of the need by the Sixers for better rebounding. The Sixers as they were can be called dominant rebounders compared to the Kings with Chris on the floor. He can't jump any more. Anybody who can will be taking rebounds away from him.

As for the salaries that Sacramento is taking on, the Kings will need to address that later, which I am positive Petrie will be doing. But Chris is carrying the third highest salary in the NBA. For that, you would hope he was at least a current top ten player in the League. He once was, but he no longer can claim that. Just the money that goes with once being that good.  

He can help the Sixers get to the playoffs, but Iverson is still your best hope of succeeding once you get there. As for the Kings, they should make the playoffs as well, but at least this makes it easier to foretell how the team is going to do once they get to them. I am hoping they get at least to the second round.  

[Reality]

AI is sharing the rock more then I've ever seen him do it.
All while shooting % and 3pt% is up substancially.

bods here is an okay poll.  I'll screw it up by attempting to post it but if any of you geeks want to....my votes in bold.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation...g?event_id=1205

1) Is pairing Chris Webber with Allen Iverson a good move for the Philadelphia 76ers?

Yes
 No

2) How much longer will Webber be an elite player?

 
 1-2 seasons
 3-4 seasons
 At least five seasons
He's no longer an elite player
(but at 20/10 and with the right organization and coach lets see...I blame Adleman/Kings 100% for last years World Revolves around Webber fiasco)

3) What is the best tandem in the NBA?

 
 Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis
 LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas
 Vince Carter and Jason Kidd
 Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili
Grant Hill and Steve Francis
 Allen Iverson and Chris Webber
 Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady
 Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire
 Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade
 Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki

4) Webber currently averages 21.3 ppg and Iverson averages a league-leading 29.8 ppg. What will happen now?

 
 Webber's scoring will drop, Iverson's will hold steady
 Iverson's scoring will drop, Webber's will hold steady
 They'll both drop
 They'll both hold steady
(lets see what Obrien cooks up)

5) Who will win the Atlantic Division?

 
 Boston (27-28)
 New Jersey (23-32)
 New York (21-33)
 Philadelphia (26-27)
 Toronto (22-32)

6) Who will win the Eastern Conference?

 
 Cleveland
 Detroit
Miami
 Philadelphia
 Other

7) What do you think of Sacramento president Geoff Petrie's decision to trade Chris Webber to Philadelphia?

 
 Good move -- He had to plan for the future and get rid of Webber's contract.
 Bad move -- Petrie should have tried to win this year or at least gotten more in return for Webber.
(I dont agree with either.  It does appear this is the best offer Petrie got so he went for it)


Are the Sacramento Kings still a legitimate contender in the Western Conference?

 
Yes (lets see what the return of flow offense does for Stoja, Bibby etc)
No

9) Which player arriving in the trade will make the biggest impact for the Kings?

 
 Brian Skinner
 Kenny Thomas
 Corliss Williamson
 None of them will make a big impact Imapact?  yes.  Big?  Depends on your def of big.

10) Does Webber's departure make it more or less likely that Peja Stojakovic will return to the Kings when he becomes a free agent after this season?

 
 More likely
Less likely

11) Is Chris Webber a Hall of Famer?

 
 Yes
 No feel free to remove this question.

[ziggy]

Here are the salaries for the 6 players

Webber
04-05  17.5
05-06  19.2
06-07  20.7 can opt out of the last 2 years
07-08  22.3

Barnes
04-05  $620,000

Bradley
04-05  $720,000

Total payroll taken on by Philly
$62.2 for the next 3 years



Williamson
04-05  5.5
05-06  6.0
06-07  6.5

Thomas
04-05  4.8
05-06  5.3
06-07  5.8
07-08  6.4
08-09  6.9
09-10  7.4

Skinner
04-05  4.5
05-06  5.0
06-07  5.4
07-08  5.9 This is a team option

Guaranteed salary taken on by Sacramento
$69.5 over the next 5 years


I think all of the contracts that Sacramento took on are tradeable.  Yes Kenny Thomas is due $31.8 over the next 5 years, but that is at an average of $6.4 per year.  That is not a bad contract, just somewhat overpaid.  There are A LOT of much worse contracts out there.

I do believe this makes Philly one of, if not the favorite in the East.  They have built their team to be one that can make a long run in the playoffs.  Two stars, a good defender in the middle, a tremendous role playing, defending, open court player in Iguodala, and a spot up shooter with great range in Korver.

[Derek Bodner]

we took a small step back defensively, but not a great one.  Kenny Thomas is a marginally better defender than cwebb, but not significantly.  He has problems at that end of the court that are compounded by his size.  Corliss is one of the worst defensive pf's in the game, and undersized.  And skinner didn't play.

cwebb's liabilities on defense i think can be better utilized on the sixers, with defensive specialists in the starting lineup like Iguodala, and especially Dalembert.

[WayOutWest]

.....the Sixers now have a shot to become elite.

 

Sorry rick, that will simply not be the case.  You cannot count on Webber bringing a team upto the elite status, he's just not the guy.  While I agree the Sixers now have a very decent playoff team they do not come close to Miami, Detriot and Indy in the East and SA, Dallas and Phx in the West.

I don't see Philly getting past the second round with the current roster, they need another piece to the puzzle or to have someone like Dalembert have a break out year.  

Still great pick up for Philly talent wise, they will definately make some noise in the playoffs.

[Derek Bodner]

we also got mashburn and rogers for big dog

mash's contract looks bad, but all reports are that he's going to retire.  That means his contract stops counting against the cap halfway through next year, and insurance pays 80% of his contract.

It's essentially trading 1 expiring contract that won't play (robinson) for one expiring deal that won't play (mashburn) and one expiring deal that  can help for 15 minutes/game.

Now have a good bench (willie green at the point, mckie at the 2, barnes at the 3, rogers at the 4 and jackson at the 5)

[JoMal]

WOW is, unfortunately, right about the Sixer's playoff chances with Webber. If he could not lead the Kings past the second round most seasons with the supporting cast he had in Sacramento, he won't put them over the top in Philly either.  But perhaps him being with Iverson will enable Allan to pull the team further along then they would otherwise. At the very least he should help them win the Atlantic.

Webber once was a do-it-all player who could compete on a nightly basis with Garnett and Duncan. On offense, he still can be impossible to contain on his good night, difficult on his average nights. But at no time could he compete with anyone by his defense this year. He used to at least move laterally into the lanes and prevent easy baskets. Now, every opponent has easy baskets playing Chris.

Do the Sixers have the defensive backups behind Webber to clean up for him? They had better, or the other forwards in the East will feast on Chris' soft moves around the defensive basket.

But....as seemingly no bodies on offensive players have come to Sacramento in the last five years suddenly turning up as scorers because of the system and ball movement offense, maybe a defensive-minded coach can figure out how to get better defense out of Webber.

For as long as his knee holds up, that is.  

[rickortreat]

Well WOW, you know better than I what Webber can do.  If Cwebb is no longer an all star, 20 and 10 everynight is still better for the Sixers than what they had at that spot....
Defensively he's a bity of liability, but we have Dalembert on the weak side to help out.  Unlike the WC where there's a number of great PF's in the East there really aren't any.
And this just in, Billy the K. has done it again, tradeing Big Dog to NO for Mashburn and Rodney Rodgers!  While Mash has been out all year so has Robinson, and we get some more beef for the middle.

Elite?  Well, we'll have to see how well they actually play together.  If the younger players can get some confidence, they could mess up some other EC team's trip to the finals.

 

[westkoast]

I think Chris Webber is exactly what Philly needs.....IF they can click quickly.  BIG IF.  

There are some upsides to him being with the Sixers now.  Allen Iverson can move without the ball VERY WELL and if he gets to good spots Webber will get him those touches everyone keeps talking about.  Vice versa.  Webber never has had a slasher/scorer on his team like AI.  His skills may have dropped but he isnt the focus of the defense and he will get alot more freebies under the rim.   Again IF they can click.