There were a number of e-mailers who the last few months shared a high opinion of swingman Derrick Byars since he was acquired in a draft day trade by the 76ers.
Yet as impressive as Byars was in college when he was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by the Coaches for leading Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, he had little chance of sticking with the Sixers.
So it wasn’t really surprising when the Sixers waived Byars on Monday.
Byars was hurt by the injury bug, but the numbers situation was even more difficult to overcome.
He is a swingman who had to battle the likes of Andre Iguodala, Rodney Carney, Willie Green, Kyle Korver and first round pick Thaddeus Young for minutes.
The Sixers preferred that Byars would have gone overseas to play and if that happened, they would have retained the rights to him. In fact they tried to convince him that this would be the best route, but Byars wanted to attend training camp.
Now he can sign with any team, although somebody who didn’t see many minutes with the Sixers won’t be the most marketable player.
And that brings us up to trading for Byars in the first place. The Sixers selected Petteri Koponen with the 30th and final pick in the first round and traded his rights to Portland for the rights to Byars (who was selected 42nd) and cash considerations.
For those who felt the Sixers should have kept Koponen, think again. After seeing Koponen in the Las Vegas summer league, he appears a long way from being a contributor in the NBA.
That said, the 30th pick was part of the Allen Iverson trade.
So right now, the Sixers have Andre Miller, Jason Smith and cash to show for the trade of Iverson.
Still, had Byars opted to play overseas, the Sixers felt he could use a year of seasoning and would be able to legitimately compete for a roster spot next season.
As coach Maurice Cheeks emphasized, Byars is a good player who was caught up in a numbers situation.
We’ll have to take his word because Byars only played 14 minutes in his one preseason appearance, scoring two points. He had a quadriceps injury during the Las Vegas Summer League and suffered from a lower back injury during training camp so we never got to see the real Byars.
With Byars departure, the e-mails have already come in criticizing the Sixers for not getting enough for Iverson.
They were never going to get fair value, and to be honest, the key to the deal remains Miller. He has two years remaining on his contract and most assume he could be gone by the February trade deadline.
The organization loves the way he plays and he might be the most respected player on the team, so the idea of keeping him beyond the two years is certainly worth exploring.
And Smith has been a little better than advertised, but we’ll withhold real judgment until the real games begin.
Either way, the acquisition of Byars simply didn’t work out because all the Sixers got for the 30th pick in the first round was cash.
And cash, no matter how desired it is, can’t score 20 points on any given night in the NBA.
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No Surprise That Sixers Say Bye To Byars
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Marc Narducci is in his 23rd year as a sports reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 2007-2008 season will be his first as the 76ers beat writer. For the past two seasons, Marc had been the backup writer for the Eagles. Over the past few years Marc covered the NBA, NHL and Major League baseball as well as writing on sports media. Prior to covering professional sports, Marc was a long-time high school sportswriter for The Inquirer's South Jersey section.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on October 22, 2007 6:11 PM.
The previous post in this blog was Despite No. K.G., It's Still A W For Sixers.
The next post in this blog is Responding to Byars Backlash.
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Comments (10)
MArc,
I don't believe the Sixers would have selected Petteri Koponen at 30 if a deal wasn't already in the works. However, they still could have picked someone else from overseas and hold the rights. Someone their European Scouts would have highly recommended. DO the Sixers have any scouts over there?????
Posted by Dan C. | October 22, 2007 7:53 PM
Posted on October 22, 2007 19:53
Marc,
You are a fine writer but the Sixers will need every syllable and action verb you can conjure up to make the upcoming season an interesting one. I believe they have a long, tough road ahead in the division. Good luck and I look forward to your reporting.
Gill (Philly native now living in Albuquerque)
Posted by John Gill | October 22, 2007 8:54 PM
Posted on October 22, 2007 20:54
I think it is interesting to keep this move in perspective. By the time a team gets to the 30th pick in the draft one needs to be a little lucky. That didn't happen in this instance and if Byars turns out to be another guy who blossoms later how could anyone blame the team. I think the interesting question is whether Rodney Carney and/or Thaddeus Young are the real deal. These two guys were drafted high and if they turn out to be mediocre players then two years of the draft will essentially have been wasted. Oh, and one final thing, this team won't go anywhere until it gets a center and power forward who are the real deal.
Posted by Andrew Kessler | October 23, 2007 6:24 AM
Posted on October 23, 2007 06:24
I thought that Byars was a good player in college but there was no way he could contribute here. I am relatively fine with the swingmen on the team. But I am starting to think the Sixers should trade Dalembert even if he does recover from the stress fracture. I've been waiting to see more than I have from him for the past six years. Let the young bigs play and if the Sixers are bad and don't make the playoffs, they could be in the running for Roy Hibbert or Hasheem Thabeet, real centers.
Posted by Aaron Barkley | October 23, 2007 10:06 AM
Posted on October 23, 2007 10:06
Why did the sixers send byars to the D league? because you know injures to the sixers players are going to happen. None of the wing players made through a season with out being on the injure list.
Posted by kevin | October 23, 2007 10:26 AM
Posted on October 23, 2007 10:26
Why should it be written in stone that Willie Green,and that bum Kevin Ollie,hold on to roster spots?
Posted by Southwest Philly | October 23, 2007 11:21 AM
Posted on October 23, 2007 11:21
The starting line-up should be,Iggy,Smith,Dalembert,Miller,and Carney.And the bench players should be,Korver,Lou Will,Herbert Hill,and Reggie Evans.Thaddeus Young is'nt ready to contribute yet.And that stiff Calvin Booth should ride the pine for the entire season.
Posted by Southwest Philly | October 23, 2007 11:25 AM
Posted on October 23, 2007 11:25
I would have rather gone for a big man at that 30 spot...they could have chosen between Nick Fazekas, Josh McRoberts or Glen Davis with that pick.
Posted by hmmm... | October 23, 2007 1:54 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 13:54
Marc,
welcome to the job, and good luck this year. hopefully, the team will eventually give you something to write about.
the release of Byars is a DISGRACE. this is the NBA, forget the iverson trade for a moment, this is a first round draft pick! this isn't the NFL or MLB where draft picks disappear all the time.... some teams in the NBA only get ONE pick per year, and they MAKE it count. If you want to be a contender, you look at teams like the Mavericks and Spurs and Suns, who despite years of non lottery picks still manage to draft key quality players from the draft. the sixers had 10% of the first round picks in the NBA draft.. and couldn't walk away with anybody who can confidently be projected as an NBA starter in 3 years. DISGRACE
Posted by freddy | October 23, 2007 2:39 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 14:39
The trade that brought Reggie Evans to Philly has been a disaster.A corpse has more offensive than Evans.Meanwhile,Bobby Jones is showing signs that he actually can play the game of Basketball.But look at the bright side,at least we have,Kevin Ollie,Willie Green,and Calvin Booth.
Posted by No Philly Titles,24YRS AND COUNTING | October 23, 2007 5:42 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 17:42