Deep Sixer

Marc,
Your dead on! Iggy's agressiveness is the reason why the Sixers won this game. He finally stopped settling for jump shots and just took it to the rim! He looked real good! Now if Ed could just get him a PF!

Great blog! Keep up the great work!

Iggy should look for 20 shots a night. Too often he gets around 10 and makes those weird bounce passes in traffic near the basket. Just take it to the hole. Be the man, and you'll get the contract you want.

He is the number one option right now, for better or worse. If he shoots 9 for 20 and gets to line close to double figures, he'll put up some terrific numbers. Considering what he has around him on the court, being a little more selfish is a good thing.

And I love that Thad started tonight. I hope Mo keeps him in the lineup for good.

People, it was the Charlotte Bobcats ! The #1 option on a terrible team means nothing. Why is that so difficult for people to see ? Does he make players around him better ? Who ? The biggest problem in this mess, is that Igoudala, is as confused as the fans are, on what option he really is..Like it or not, we are now the Eastern conf. version of the Clippers. Does anyone know, who the #1 option of all those Clipper teams was ? No, because it didn't matter. Another example, of a player who put up numbers this year on a bad team. How's this name sound to you? John Salmons.. Check mate ! Cap hell, can last for an eternity. This team is so bad, You couldn't pay me to go down there. "For who, for what?"

I totally agree Marc, on this team iguodala being he is their best player has to be the number 1 option and has to play agressive like this on offense when he knows the team is struggling to put up points. I would say on a good team he is a second or third option on offense, but until stefanski can surround him with better talent at the 2 and 4 spots, he'll have to carry this team on his back and get to the rim and get to the foul line more often. It's nice to see that Mo Cheeks has come to his senses and started our first draft pick and put him at the 4. Thad may not have the build of a natural Power Foward, but anything other than reggie evans at the 4 is an upgrade. I still don't know why Mo insists on having green in the line up. He should play carney at the 2 guard instead because hasn't been able to see many minutes. I think for the second half Mo should go with a starting lineup with miller at point guard, carney at 2 guard, iggy at the 3, Thad at Power Foward, and Sammy at Center. I notice that when the sixers change up their line up a bit and put their younger players in that they play better. I feel that willie green has no business being on this team he is not a starter even on a good team he is nothing more than instant offense off the bench. We already have a player like that and he is Lou Williams. We should trade green for an expiring contract for more cap space.

I totally agree Marc, on this team iguodala being he is their best player has to be the number 1 option and has to play agressive like this on offense when he knows the team is struggling to put up points. I would say on a good team he is a second or third option on offense, but until stefanski can surround him with better talent at the 2 and 4 spots, he'll have to carry this team on his back and get to the rim and get to the foul line more often. It's nice to see that Mo Cheeks has come to his senses and started our first draft pick and put him at the 4. Thad may not have the build of a natural Power Foward, but anything other than reggie evans at the 4 is an upgrade. I still don't know why Mo insists on having green in the line up. He should play carney at the 2 guard instead because hasn't been able to see many minutes. I think for the second half Mo should go with a starting lineup with miller at point guard, carney at 2 guard, iggy at the 3, Thad at Power Foward, and Sammy at Center. I notice that when the sixers change up their line up a bit and put their younger players in that they play better. I feel that willie green has no business being on this team he is not a starter even on a good team he is nothing more than instant offense off the bench. We already have a player like that and he is Lou Williams. We should trade green for an expiring contract for more cap space.

I totally agree Marc, on this team iguodala being he is their best player has to be the number 1 option and has to play agressive like this on offense when he knows the team is struggling to put up points. I would say on a good team he is a second or third option on offense, but until stefanski can surround him with better talent at the 2 and 4 spots, he'll have to carry this team on his back and get to the rim and get to the foul line more often. It's nice to see that Mo Cheeks has come to his senses and started our first draft pick and put him at the 4. Thad may not have the build of a natural Power Foward, but anything other than reggie evans at the 4 is an upgrade. I still don't know why Mo insists on having green in the line up. He should play carney at the 2 guard instead because hasn't been able to see many minutes. I think for the second half Mo should go with a starting lineup with miller at point guard, carney at 2 guard, iggy at the 3, Thad at Power Foward, and Sammy at Center. I notice that when the sixers change up their line up a bit and put their younger players in that they play better. I feel that willie green has no business being on this team he is not a starter even on a good team he is nothing more than instant offense off the bench. We already have a player like that and he is Lou Williams. We should trade green for an expiring contract for more cap space.

This entire notion of 1st, 2nd 3rd Options is actually a media creation, Marc.

Top teams have, on a given night with different matchups, opponents tempos, up or slower tempos; there is NEVER one guy, (MJ needed Scottie, remember) who is the nightly no 1 option on a winning squad. A Contending squad.

The Spurs, the Suns, the Mavs, the Pistons- what they have in common is multiple options, who purposely arent labeled 1,2, or 3.

This entire discussion is hilarious to suggest that Iguodala might be forced to be a No 1 option on this team of kids whenever a game appears winnable down the stretch, yet he would be a 3rd Option on some Contender.

Frankly, it is quite a bit harder to be productive statistically on a lesser team than on a Contender. On a lesser team, you are always thrown double teams, or the focus of traps. while a team facing a Contender must stay home and mainly single cover ea opponent; so w good ball movement, anyone on a Contender can any given night be its No 1 Option, given its implicit meaning as the player who ends up having the greatest positive impact, offensively, on the team;s success, that night.

Hope you guys follow me- much of these aspects of a team;s first, second, or third options, on a functionally successful squad, has zero overall meaning; because on those winning teams, it will vary both as a function of a matchup gameplan, and evolve fluidly as a matter of course as each game plays out, and the opposing Coaches, the shrewd ones as Pop as the prime example, throw creative monkeywrenches at the opponent to force tactical change to alter his Opponents Options away from either Player X or Player Y.

Contenders defensively and offensively, are well versed in making adjustments, changing their primary Options as the case may present itself, different on many nights.

Lets stop with this Option labeling and speculation; besides, anyone who believes its easier for a player to produce more statistically w less teammate participation has lost sight of the reality of the opposite being true.

The ironic aspect of Iguodala's 3 1/2 yrs as a Sixer is how well he has responded to the changing roles he is asked to play, always defensively, and now its suggested he play more selfishly ( read: score more, pass less) to suit the team that deemed his value no greater, purportedly, than $57.5 / 5 yrs.

One cant help but think as this year ends, how silly it was not to reach an agreement with him in the $65M / 5 yrs to tie him down, given the contracts players as Larry Hughes, an almost useless piece of an NBA finalist signed for, or Joe Johnson, or, w incentives, Gerald Wallace inked, only Joe Johnson of the 3 can sniff the overall, versatile value Iguodala likely exceeds. That will my guess prove to be a costly error, that Snyder, not BK, perpetrated.

Thus, Luuko, not Snyder, is essentially the CEO now, Snyder I believe a mere figurehead, the proverbial Vice Chairman, off to the side.

By unsuccesfully NOT reaching agreement w Iguodala, Snyder has made Stefanski's job MUCH harder, forget the flexibility.

Any smart businessman wants options and flexibility, but the one thing they do NOT want is excessive Uncertainty. With Iguodala unsigned, that offsets much of the desired flexibility he inherits, cuz the unknowns cant be clarified until July.

He is a sharp cookie, Ed, but he will have his hands full come his Summer, and as an Entrepeneur, he knows to be ready for the Unexpected. Its the norm, and he knows it

The decisive run in this game came at the 4:41 mark of the 3rd when Evans and Smith were substituted in for Young and Dalembert alongside the other starters. Evans' defense on Okafor shut the Bobcats down and the Sixers went on a 13-0 run to end the quarter. And Iguodala was the best player on the floor during that stretch as he defended, rebounded, scored, and created space for others to score. He is a very good player already and will blossom when surrounded by better players.

Pat H, the Sacramento Kings' #1 scorer is Kevin Martin. John Salmons stepped up admirably when Martin was injured, but he hasn't been that guy all season.

Also great post Paul. It's not easier to score on bad teams, ask Kevin Garnett. He went from getting criticized for not getting out of the first round, to having an MVP year when the T-Wolves got Sprewell and Cassell. He wasn't a better player that year, it's just the extra help made his work that life on the court that much easier.

Paul,you make some very good points. A team needs three guys capable of scoring twenty points on any given night,If Young is going to be one of those guys it makes E.S..!s job that much easier.If he is going to be just a role player[Augmon,C.Cheaney] than E.S. has his work cut out for him.Did Young start because Charlotte plays small, or is this a permanent move.One thing this accomplishs,you see how this team plays with an athletic 4[J.Smith,Jamison,Marion] rather than a more basic 4 [K.Love,Okafor,Beasley] all possible options this summer.

Hey All,

What would we realistically need to do to get Shawn Marion in a 76rs uniform...??? Specifically? Best case and worse case scenarios. I keep hearing his name bandied about?!? He would be so much fun to watch!

But is it possible? Can it really happen? Or is this just dreaming? Please explain.

Young is not a 20 point scorer. He has no jumper - he is essentially George Lynch with some more athleticism. That is not a bad thing, but it will not net him 20 points a game. He is a 10 - 12 point a night guy with occasional 20 point games. I think best case scenario is 15ppg. I would love to see a more traditional PF in here a la Okafor or Love, but I would also like to see a kid like Derrick Rose at the point. I think the best case for next year would be something like this:

PG - Rose
SG - Iggy
SF - Young
PF - Okafor
C - Dalembert - unless we can do a sign and trade with ATL for J Smith

It would give us some good rebounding at all positions and a lot of athleticism and with Williams and Jason Smith off the bench - possibly a spot up shooter who can spread the floor (like a Kapono type) this team could become a NO type of team in a few years, especially in the East. They will have to get a little lucky and they will have to move Miller at the deadline for an expiring contract, but this could be a possibility (optimistically).

Yes, Thad got the start, a move we hear was made to offset Charlotte's small lineup. Maybe it was even a permanent move. But Wallace destroyed Thad in the first half. And it was Evans who came to the rescue in the second half. And I think the other Sixers were watching. Evans was obsessed. At first giving Wallace just enough room to put up some bricks. And then when Wallace knew he had to take it to the hole, Evans was inside his jock, sliding his feet, and then boxing him out. I don't think it was a coincidence that the Sixers put in their best quarter of the season. A stretch that was ignited by great defense. And I may be just a layman, but it seemed to me that this defensive success was not part of some elaborate "Team Defense" system. It was each guy taking accountability in covering his man. And then shutting them down.

Andre is the first option on the Sixers because he has the best chance of scoring or getting to the free-throw line when he has the ball. That's the way it always is with teams.

Igoudala is naturally an unselfish player, because that's the way he was taught to play. That was the mistake because his talents are exceptional and lend themselves to becoming a top scorer in the league.

The more he tries to force the issue, the better he will learn to use his abilities to get shots that other players can't, and defenders have a difficult time preventing. And the more he does this, the higher his shooting percentage will rise.

The better he is as an individual player, the more it will open up the floor for the Sixers. If he commands a double team to stop him, that makes the Sixers a much better team.

I would like to see more structure to the Sixers offense- a more systematic approach to attack the other teams defense, as opposed to simply trying to beat them down the floor. The Sixers have more athletic players who are quicker than many of their opponents. They should be able to run effective plays consistently in the half-court, even if Dalembert can't be a consistent post-up scorer.

Igoudala needs to be given the opportunity to get so hot, that he draws extra attention. When that happens the Sixers will start to move up in the standings.

There is enough talent for at least one other player on the team to step up and score along with Andre for them to be competitive. Louis Williams is fast enough to break down most defenders, and Andre Miller is an effective offensive player both of them can also get to the foul line.

The worst problem the Sixers have is that they can go through long stretches where they can't make an offensive play- this is a coaching deficiency! They have to have an offensive set designed to give them a high percentage shot with the players they have. It has to be effective enough to force the opposing team to adjust. That is the difference between winning and loosing basketball.

On the Sixers, this problem is exacerbated since quick misses on offense gives the opposing team easy opportunities for quick baskets. It is their weakness in the half-court that makes them an under .500 team.

Hey Mark, could you explain the rules on signing restricted free agents. I know the team your on can offer more,but more in years or money or both.What is the max salary based on[ years in league]? Okafor would be a perfect fit for Sixers.What would it cost?[Sammy,Green, and Utah pick?] Sam and him together would be great defensively, but you have to give to get.

Vin, I think a good comparison to Thad is Stackhouse, a guy who posted up in highschool and at N.C.. It took him a few years to make the adjustment to the wing. Thad seems to have a good basketball I.Q. and work ethic. Hopefully it is a quick process.

Its a bit worrisome that the Bobcats have two young players arguably as good as Iguodla in Wallace and Okafor, and another good young player in Richardson- and yet they are still horrible.

It shows how hard it is to win with a young team, and that it is not just about throwing talented young players together. Hopefully both teams will become relevant in the coming years, but this rebuilding process is a lot more complex then just plugging in our obvious holes at PF and SG.

Also, I would like to see Thad start at SF. WG would be a good spark off the bench (although I guess he wouldn't complement Lou well), and more importantly, Iguodala would be more effective taking smaller SG's in the post. Look how he exploded on Richardson. If he drew shorter players he could work the post and drive for pull ups in the lane instead of having to get all the way to the rim.

tktk,
Yeah. It's not easy. Personality does matter. Look at D.C., CWEBB. Talented. Not winners. Tim Duncans's aren't readily available.
Makes it difficult for the teams drafting up top this year. Do you take a chance on Beasley when his rep may be questionable. Could he be the next D.C. or C.Webb? Look at how long Kobe has been in the league. He may be finally getting it. Yet, he did win with Shaq.

Hey Mark, wonder what E.S.!s opinion of M.Williams is. The Nets seem willing to listen to offers for him , according to HOOPSHYPE. He is more of a pure point than L.Will. There were some character issues before the draft along with weight issues. If the Nets can!t trade Kidd, L.Will could play along side him off the bench. It would be nice to add a pure point to our team, in case we get a good offer for A.Miller. L.Will.,Shav,Utah #1 or any combo of these?

Speasking of character guys....

Suede would you like a new P.C.?

Marcus

Vin please stop condemning Thaddeus Young before he's even reached the age of 20. If we followed your logic, no players would ever improve from their first year in the league.

Watching Okafor last night should put him on everyone's free agent list. He's a defensive presence and actually has a post game. I'd have no problem with him here.

The truly impressive thing about Iguodala is that of players scoring 19 plus per game, he takes less shots of anyone not named Dwight Howard or Yao Ming to get his average. Take into account how bad a scoring team this is and that really is a meaningful stat. Iguodala is the one player on this team I'd hate to see traded. You put a legit low post threat on the floor and perhaps a small forward that can score from anywhere (Thad? Donte Green? Beasley?) and then we can really see what Andre's game really is.

As for his performance last night...That may be the first game I've seen all year where Iguodala was not double teamed constantly. And it's the first time in a while I've seen him set up shop on the low block, something I think he should do more, exploiting his physicality on players.

Anyone else see Derrick Rose run his offense to near perfection and flat our outrunning everything in the open court yesterday? Made me think about him and Lou Williams in our back court for the next 10-13 years. Just a thought.

Beasley,Rose,Gordon,or Love. If we get the #1 pick, E.S. is going to have a tough decision. Maybe that is why he doesn!t want to trade A.Miller till after this years draft.I love the attitude Beasley and Love play with, be it cockiness or confidence. This team needs a dose of physicalness and toughness that M.B. and K.L. both seem to have. The only available free agent that seems to have this is Okafor, but he will cost players and 15 to 18 million in cap space to get.I like Rose alot,but its tough for a point guard to give a team this attitude .

I'd disagree. Point guards are the ones generally that give their teams an attitude...Payton when he was with Seattle, Kidd, Derron Williams, CP3, Steve Nash...those guys stamp their will on their teams. And I can see two guys in college being those types of guys, Rose and Bayless at Zona.

I'm not sold on Beasley...he reminds me too much of Glen Robinson. Beast in college where he can push kids around, but deserving the #1 pick? Not sure about that. The year Robinson was picked #1 Kidd and Grant Hill went behind him. Even with the injuries I'd take Hill's career over "Big Dog". Just saying.

I like Okafor too, but he turned down five years at $13 or $14 mil per from the Bobcats. Tough to pay him $17, $16 or even $15 mil per for five years. Goodbye salary cap room.

Hey, I think the Sixers don't have a secound rounder this year. They had Fessenko, the young center who the Jazz really like, but traded him. Billy King was actually decent with second rounders. At the least, you can take a chance on a Euro and bring him over when he's ready. Carlos Boozer, Manu Ginobili, Paul Millsaps, Rashard Lewis, Craig Smith, Daniel Gibson, Ryan Gomes, Eric Snow, heck even Kyle Korver and Willie Green, etc., all nice second round picks.

St. Joe's Pat Calathes is 6'11", multi-talented and finally starting to bloom. He'll be a nice secound rounder for someone. If he doesn't get drafted, would be nice for the 6ers to give the hometown guy a shot.

One guy in the draft I don't hear many mentioning is Jerryd Bayless. He's going to be a stud. Can play both backcourt spots and will defend. Watch out for him. 6'3"-6'4" PG?

I too, would not mind seeing Okafor here. But he will be expensive. He turned down a lot of money over the summer. Amare would be my target this summer. If the Suns don't win it all, they may start to re-tool. There's already been talk of that nature.

One subtle defensive change the Sixers made last night was that they put Willie on the PG bringing the ball up the court in the second half. There was no penetration from Char's PG during that time.

Also, I do believe the 6ers hold some 2nd round considerations from Utah from the Fesnko deal.

Good points, Rose looks good getting to the basket, if his outside range is above average and A.Miller can get us a P.F., than it would be good. By the way, see who DRAFTNET.COM. compares Rose to, wouldn!t mind that at all.

I read somewhere that we keep our pick from 30 to 35.After that we lose it.

B.K. may have screwed up at the end of last years draft.P.Kopponen is a 6!5 point guard and Fasenko has a chance to be a player.Kopponen did well against all the high school allamericans in tournament play. The comparison on DRAFTEXPRESS was to a taller version of S.Nash. What is it about the Sixers and foriegn players.

I think what this team needs to do at the trade deadline is not trade miller but trade willie green. I believe this team needs a point guard like miller to stay around. There aren't too many pass first point guards falling off trees in this league right now. Miller is the oldest person on this team and he isn't even 32 yet. Pass first guards usually get better with age look at Jason Kidd and Steve Nash they're both years older than miller and still put up good numbers and most importantly still make their teamates around them better. Even in the draft it is a crap shoot with point guards, not on whether they score, but whether they are a pass first or shoot first guard. I think with our draft pick this year the sixers should take a good look at OJ Mayo because he is a more of a natural 2 guard. I think he would be a much better upgrade over willie green, heck anything is an upgrade at this point. I heard he is a good scorer but is not a streaky shooter like green is and plays much better defense than green. With the additional cap space by trading green we can have enough money under the cap to resign iguodala to a good deal and get a good power foward like emeka okafur, jermaine o'neal, or josh smith. I wouldn't take the risk of signing Brand because of his injury problems.
We could have a starting lineup next year of:
PG-Miller
SG-OJ Mayo
SF-Iggy
PF-Okafur/O'Neal/Smith
C-Sammy D
Sixth man- Lou Williams
With a bench of Jason Smith, Carney, Evans, Herbert Hill, Thad, and our second pick in the draft.

or if Thad can fully develop in the second half:
PG-Miller
SG-Iggy
SF-Thad
PF-Okafur/O'Neal/Smith
C-Sammy D
Sixth man-Lou Williams
With a bench of our first round pick, our second round pick, Jason Smith, Carney, Evans, and Herbert Hill.

If we keep A.Miller past his current contract, what do you think he resigns for.[6 to 8 mill.]

I'd love Amare here. But even if the Suns retool, why would they give away a beast player who is only 25? It will never happen.

I've been trumpeting Bayless. He's very solid. Rose physically is just head and shoulders above any guard in NCAA right now. He'd be the fastest guy with the ball in the NBA right off the bat. His shot needs work, but he's young.

Miller being traded in the off-season seems to be the most likely thing to happen. Honestly, I'd do it for a top 10 pick. I could go with Donte Green and groom him as a PF in this league.

If Pheonix fails to win it again this year, they may opt to move A.S. But any deal would probably start with Sam,Thad, plus. It would be great to play A.S. next to Sam. How could we pull that off? Does Bayless slip past #4 in the draft.

Guys, 10 games left until the trade deadline. There are teams that have a lot of expiring contracts. Miami, Orlando, Cleveland and teams looking to shake things up: Seattle, Lakers, Chicago.

Guys, I don't know if Chicago would be interested in a Carney for Sefalosha trade, but I'd do it if I'm Big Ed. Sefaolsha is your backup point guard for next year and would play well with Iggy and Thad.

Orlando has $10M in expiring contracts in Garrity, Dooling and Arroyo. You still have your usual suspects in Miami and Cleveland (though Bibby would be a better fit for the Cavs than Miller). A sleeper in things could be the Supersonics. D. West and Chris Wilcox are both expendable and are not currently starting, but both could play central roles on the 76ers going forward.

There are opportunities there for this team to get better at the trade deadline. Let's hope that Big Ed doesn't overvalue Miller as BK used to do with all of his parts.

I think Bayless definitely slips past #4. Beasley, Rose and Gordon get ALL the hype right now. Donte Green is the only freak athlete sf that will come out. And DeAndre Jordan is a 7 footer...they don't slip generally...especialy with what Bynam has produced this year. So Bayless definitely has a chance to go 5-8 range. I'd love for it to happen.

Flat out Amare is not about to go anywhere. If Phoenix retools they are getting rid of Hill and Marion, not their 25 year old stud player. It's nonsense. Maybe in 3 years and the Suns haven't won a title and Nash starts slowing down we can have the Suns retooling situation.

Again, if the Bulls think they can win and are just a pg away, I take their pick for Miller. Flat out. Otherwise hold on to him till next year when his value jumps.

Carney for Sefalosha...hmmm, sounds like yet another BK blunder.

If K. Love is athletic enough he may be the best player in this draft for us. Just don't know. Maybe the NCAA tournament will show that.

Lets think outside the box. I am not a fan of the shoot first pointguard. But if you take this 26 year old, 24 p.p.g, 36% 3 pt.%, 6!4" pointguard and play him at the two next to A.Miller would it work? G.Arenas has a player option for next year at approx. 13 million. If he opps out, would he be an option at the two.

I remember when Michael Finley was the man with Dallas and he didn't have much of a supporting cast around him, but he continued to put up numbers and further develop his skills. Eventually the Mavs were able to put some good pieces together around him and they were a force to be dealt with. The same could happen with Igoudala but hopefully he won't have to get with another team to finally get his ring like Finley.

I think that a solid yet versatile player like Igoudala is always worth keeping around, for the right price, providing he wants to be in Philly. If it's another 2 years until the sixers acquire someone with all-star talent in the low post, I think it would be worth the wait (asuming that there are quality players at the point and at center).

Suede, You dream an awful lot. Miller should go for expiring contracts. We need to see what Carney can do which is absolutely nothing at the moment. Put Lou Williams at the point and hope Stefanski can pull something out of his hat in the offseason and this team a winner exciting and a winner again.

Paul and Coatevilain, Where did you guys ever come up with the idea that its harder to have good stats on a non-contender ? I checked every bad team in this league and they all had scorers avg. of 19ppg or better. Salmons 16ppg on a bad team,as the 2nd option. Teams tend to let up when playing against the slop of the league, as they do in all sports. The NBA especially is known to play down to their opponent, during regular season. Do you really believe, Igoudala can carry this team to be a contender ? His high wire act, is more suited to be playing against, the Washington Generals. Ok cheap shot..

Pat,

The Sixers are virtually the lowest scoring team in the NBA. And if you strip out Booth and Miller, a team of kids.

I havent seen any teams play with less intensity vs Sixers than against other teams, have you? Salmons and SAC? They play zero defense, ala Warriors. All their players scoring numbers are up.

Never new a guy who had high flyer hops was a negative. Never hurt a certain Michael Jordan, did it? If you think thats all there is to Iguodala, then I guess thats unfortunate.

I agree with an above poster. No player individually carries a team into Contender status. It requires a team comprised of good enough players who can as a game and opponent dictate, change roles as needed to win a game.

There is no doubt that it is more difficult for a player, w lesser teammate help, to maximize offensive production on that team. He can if allowed become a gunner, take 30-35 shots a game, but he will be substantially less fficient, and will give his team an even lower chance to win. Never seen a player put up 30 plus shots on avg and shoot an acceptable FG pct; unless he is 7 feet plus tall w superior offensive skills, ala Kareem or Wilt.

I love that lineup, Matt...

PG-Miller
SG-OJ Mayo
SF-Iggy
PF-Okafur/O'Neal/Smith
C-Sammy D

... with Thad, LouWill, and Reggie Evans coming off the bench. And it's achievable, which is the best thing! In addition to the Mayo and Okafor pickups, all we'd need is to make a trade for another Korver-type shooter and we'd be all set.

I think we've got to start Thaddeus next year no matter what. We definitely can't draft or sign a 2 or 3 to start if we plan on having both Iguodala and Young. We should draft or sign a point guard or power forward.

The only way to get ONEAL,QKAFOR or J.SMITH is through sign and trades. You probably have to give back 15 to 19 million in salary [Sam,A.Miller,ETC.].

The only way to get ONEAL,QKAFOR or J.SMITH is through sign and trades. You probably have to give back 15 to 19 million in salary [Sam,A.Miller,ETC.].Oneal is under contract, the other 2 will be restricted free agents.

Which O'Neal are we talking about? The one with the bad knees or the one with the bad hips?

Seriously, Craig. Im not so excited about either at this point...

My choice for Amare is known. As well as for Ike Diogu. But Nick Collison is out there. I think his contract is fair. He has a back to the basket game as well as a face up game. Plus he will board. Omeka, might be available, but very expensive. I like Turiaf from LA, JJ redick down in Orlando as a shooter. Sefalosha as a 6'7" PG or wing.

Bottom line, there are players out there. We have assets and cap space to make it happen. We need the players to go along with positive atmosphere in that locker room. Glen Rivers was on the hot seat before last off season. Look at him now.

Dre needs to get to the rim more. He does not accept contact! He avoids it...that is why he never gets calls. Look at lebron or Kobe, they go through the contact. If Dre gets bumped then he throws up a soft shot and complains. He needs to go through it and get And 1 Opportunites!

These so caller players your talking about, may make a contender out of a D-League team. Get real..Its dinner time,now I'm sick and can't eat..The reason Okafor and J Smith may be available, they didn't live up to expectations. If they had, we wouldn't have a shot at them. TYoung is (3)yrs away. Sammy is Sammy. OJ Mayo ? He's a child not ready for a mans game..Iggys gone on tour with Globetrotters next year. Lou Will, Why is he only getting (20)mins a game. Who we gonna take in the 2nd round this year, to build are team around ? Its hot down here, in "SIXERS HELL"

The 76ers second round pick that it owes Utah this year is top 45 protected this year. I don't know what are the considerations that it will get for trading them the rights to Fesenko, but let's hope it is something that amounts to more than a bowl of beans.

BK is famous for these trades that do absolutely nothing for the 76ers. I am glad he is gone and the team has a real GM now. 10 games until trade deadline. Big Ed, do your thang!

The guy above Pat H sounds like the guy Will who drooled over his excitement re the insanity of the aged Sam Rosen remark.

Dumbass Phila fans; just too many of em.

At the same time, there's no need to be ridiculously pessimistic, like Pat H. It's clear we're short two starters right now. We can get one in the draft, assuming we draft well. The other we have to trade for. If you look at the proposed roster above, it makes complete sense. Iggy has to play SF in this league... he's simply not a good enough shooter to play SG. That basically leaves Thad and the bench (as the sixth or seventh man), which is right where he should be next year. While I bashed Pat for being too pessimistic, I completely agree with him that Thad won't be ready to start next year (though I really don't think he's three years away from that ability). A solid role as a key contributor off the bench will be perfect for him next year.

Dead on. We need a big body with some post talent, like Okafor... it's exactly what we're missing right now. Unfortunately, as someone pointed out, he'll probably be pretty expensive, since he's having a great year (shooting 54% and pulling down almost 10.5 rebounds/game). The other key, as you mention, is drafting well. I remember some guy on here talking about how we need an "assassin" at shooting guard and I agree. Iggy's good, but he wasn't made in that mold. Can we get an assassin in the draft. I don't know... maybe, depending on how high we draft. The point is, as you said, that we need two new starters next year... how we get them is up to Ed.

By the way, I like Craig's thoughts on Amare and Ike, but wouldn't Amare be just as expensive as Okafor? Regardless...

"Bottom line, there are players out there. We have assets and cap space to make it happen."

I trust that Ed's going to make it happen.