Deep Sixer

Dear Marc,

Could the 76ers trade the $17mm owed Webber plus Carney and/or Korver for Shawn Marion? And if so, do you see it as a good fit?

Chas

My only issue with Byars being cut is why Willie Green doesn't get traded or better yet, sent to the bench so Carney can start at SG.

Green is worthless. He's a one dimensional player (scorer) and he does that very INEFFICIENTLY at a 41% clip. He doesn't dish assists because he only looks to score and he's too short to rebound.

At the end of the day I'd rather have Byars and allow him to develop than to keep Green and watch him continue to chuck up shots each trip down the floor. Forget the feel good story. Green should be dumped or banished to the bench. I would have much rather kept Byars over Green.

While I can see Green's value as a scorer off the bench, it's hard to believe in the argument that he should be a starter on an NBA team. The sixers should have addressed the shooting guard position in the draft (how good would Rudy Fernandez look in a Sixers uniform right now?) and looked for a way to get rid of Green (if he has any trade value).

In a related question, is there a reason why the Sixers organization is reluctant to get involved with oversees talent?

All I can say is that while the 30th pick is the 30th pick, it still has value, and in my opinion, is more valuable than a 42nd pick (to be released) and cash considerations.

Draft overseas, stash the rights for a year or two. Give yourself a San Antonio-style farm system of international talent. Maybe even give yourself another tradeable commodity (trade the rights after the year).

Or at least create better value for the pick!!!

I wish Byars the best, but still believe he would have never gone to Europe without being released.

By the way, Marc, this blog is a brilliant idea. Looking forward to reading all season.

Dan C.
dpcoz@comcast.net

Looking at how well Al Thornton,and Dominique McGuire are playing,it angers me even more with the Sixers selecting Thaddeus"Too"Young.And if you don't have any idea who Dominique McGuire is,just watch the Washington Wizards in the future,and look for number 5.He's the SF/PF,who's quick enough to guard the 2,3,and 4 positon.He also rebounds,blocks shots,and plays defense.He's from the George Lynch school of small forwards.

And will you kill it with the garbage veteran guy being a great presence in the locker room argument,because if he is'nt a great presence on the court type of guy,no young player will respect what he has to say anyway.

I agree. I think the sixers blew it with the first draft pick. Smith was a good pick at 20 - but Thaddeus Young has not impressed me. How many small forwards are the sixers going to draft that can't dribble the ball and barely create their own shot. Rodney Carney can not dribble, he looks to score everytime he touches the ball and he plays too fast... Besides Fernandez, Thorton and McGuire - Stuckey and Affalo look pretty good for Detroit also. Sometime you have to draft who can play now - instead of drafting potential... Once again - we drafted the wrong guy first...

The Sixers need to stop wasteing time with Sam Dambert and trade him along with wille or rondey for a real all-star to help the Andre's out this season. someone like Jermanie O' neal or at least Pau Gasol last I heard they wanted out of their cities

If the Sixers wanted somebody to play overseas with the 30th pick, why didn't they just hang on to Peteri Koponen who was actually selected at that spot. The consensus seemed to be that Koponen was at least 1 year away from coming over to the NBA, if not more. With Louis Williams not looking like a true PG, the Sixers could have at least had a young PG they had rights to developing overseas. Instead, they will have to address the position sometime in the future.

Marc, how come the more I read you and Jasner the more you guys sound like the personal PR department for Billy King? Why can't you guys ever tell it like it is? BK has made mistake after mistake as a GM, this squad couldn't beat a college team and the only thing Snider is worried about is trying to sucker people into coming out and filling up the Wachovia center? I think Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com is the only beat writer covering the sixers who will call a spade a spade. It's sad that you and Jasner won't tell the fans the truth because you are afraid of making big bad Billy and Larry Brown upset. You are much better than the guy you replaced though, who was a bit above worthless.

i think you said it quite fairly mr narducci... that although it doesn't look like the best of deals, it isn't a franchise destroyer. i have no problem with the way you write, although if i were in your shoes id pick at billy king for wasting the 30th pick. true we couldn't get fair value for AI, but we still didn't make the most of it, whatever value that 30th pick had. id rather draft a rookie big man with potential than sign calvin booth. we're rebuilding anyway. that's probably my only problem to your response. otherwise i would say you write things as they are

so dalembert's contract is hard to trade... whose fault is it??!! hehe

Thaddeus Young is a clone of Jumaine Jones. Personally I think Jones is a little better than Young.

I am tired of Billy King it is time to get rid of him Larry Brown and anyone else associated with the Sixers management. It has been 6 years since we had a winning team, change is due.

I am still confused and mystified by the trade. Aren't higher picks supposed to be more valued. Isn't that the whole reason for the draft in the first place? Usually when a sports franchise trades down in a draft they acquire something in return of equal value (they hope)like an extra pick somewhere else with the intent of improving their roster.But Billy didn't do that with this trade. The 42nd pick isn't equal to the 30th, and the cash considerations can't dribble a basketball. I know the sixers didn't want another rookie contract, but that doesn't make trading away another oppurtunity to improve their roster, now or in the future any more logical. They need all the chances to do that they can get. Billy wasted that pick, and none of the beat writers bother to mention it.

The one thing you absolutely got right is the Byars situation is not the Sixers finest moment. No matter how you look at it, Billy botched this.

However I think his 30th pick nightmare was more about his failed attempt to move up in the lottery than anything else. Once that fell through, he didn't have a good plan for the 30th pick. These picks are not as desirable anymore because of the guaranteed contract. However need I remind anyone that getting these situations right is why you have a GM.

With Billy its always one step forward two steps back. Picking Young looks to be another blunder. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Thornton is having a great preseason and looks to be ready for serious minutes. Of course is there a better excuse for a GM or coach than to be building for the future.

With Dalembert's injury status up in the air,would'nt Steven Hunter look good in a Sixers uniform right now?I know the Sixers had a gluttunous amount of wing players,but Steven Hunter would have been a better option than Calvin Booth,and Jason Smith.And speaking of wing players,for all of you experts who viewed Bobby Jones as an afterthought,well,in Denver Bobby is having a stellar pre-season,and has worked himself into the rotation.Looks like they gave up on him too soon.But look at the bright side,at least we have Willie"ME FIRST"Green,and Kyle"NO DEFENSE"Korver

Yeah, you guys are right, after watching bits and pieces of a few summer league games and a few meaningless preseason games, let's go declare Thad Young a bust. We may as well release him now cause we've seen all we need to see by this point.

It's absurd for people to pass judgment on a kid this young. I'm not saying he will be a great player, but let's give this kid some time to develop and watch him out there in games that count before declaring the pick a waste. This is the same kid who dropped 40 in an ACC Tourney game as a freshmen, so before we start declaring the end of the world how about a little patience. By the way, in 3 or 4 years he'll be just as old as Al Thornton is *right now* so please don't compare the two until Young reaches that age. It's not like we can't afford to wait for him to develop seeing as the team is going nowhere in the next couple years.

Hola,
Any chance that Billy King tries to make a spalsh before he gets canned for another inept GM? Can you forsee Kobe returning to Philly in a trade for Andre Igoudala and Andre Miller/Dalembert.

You have to keep Byars for the price you paid and the fact that he has the potential to become a solid pro. It's Amundson or Randolph for me, but not both. They aren't making a ton of money where cutting a guaranteed contract wouldn't kill you there. I'd go with Amundson, being that he seems to have more room for improvement.

The Sixers are boring and it has to be reflected in TV ratings. It sure is visible in game attendance. Another year to suffer through with 30+ wins and get the 14th pick. Then at least they will be out of cap hell. Will Ed Snyder have the stones to hire a GM with creativity and better contacts to they can actually be successful in the free agent market or will he stick with King and get Grant Hill and Christian Laettner for 5 yrs. and $75 mil. each!( I hope Billy doesn't read this and think I am serious) Will anyone in the organization be honest with the fans or will we continue to listen to them tell us that AI(2) and Dalembert are players to build a championship franchise around? How about a real plan for the future!

Marc,

Nice response and I really like your dialogue approach to the blog. The most interesting camp development is definitely Cheeks' reliance on Jason Smith. Along the same lines as your Joe Smith comment, here's hoping he gets get significant run and Reggie Evans doesn't limit his minutes when Sam gets back....

If Stern wants the NDBL to be taken seriously, he has to allow teams to have players under contract that don't count as part of the 15-man limit.