Deep Sixer

Marc, this trip is only disappointing depending on one's expectations. I think it was a good trip -- it cemented in most minds, and hopefully in Ed Stefanski's mind as well, that this team just isn't good enough to compete against the better teams in the NBA. Keeping Andre Miller is not going to help this team make the moves it needs to make to be competitive.

A part of me wanted Iverson to go for 50, and I'm not a die-hard AI fan by any imagination. He's a Hall-of-Famer who had worn out his welcome with the Philadelphia front office and I think vice versa. Moving Iverson was the first step in the rebuilding process, and moving Andre Miller will be the next big step.

The second team tonight with Lou Will, Thaddeus and Jason Smith actually played better than the first team. To tell you the truth, the other 3 players in the starting 5 need to Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to overcome Evan's and Dalembert's inability to put the ball in the hole.

Just trade Andre Miller, give Herbert Hill and Shav some run to see if they are worth keeping around for next year and I'm okay with the bad basketball for the rest of the season. Let the young'ins play and get better.

I'd rather our GM be honest and realistic about the team's talent situation (as the Korver trade shows that Stefanski is) instead of being delusional as Billy King was this past year. His three-year plan is right where it needs to be -- at home with him. I think his 3-year plan was just so that he'd have a job as a GM for another 3 years.

Again, kudos to AI and the Nuggets. That's the best I've seen them look this year, which is a recurring them when the 76ers are the competition. Not hating, just waiting for Big Ed to get on with the rebuilding at hand.

Marc - I think you deserve a mulligan here and a chance to recant your desire to keep Andre Miller. The lack of scoring from the 4 and 5 position combined (16.5 ppg) almost singlehandedly defeats the Sixers every time they take the court against a good team; in addition, the Sixers have no viable shooting threat from the outside. Though I appreciate Willie Green's heart and intensity, he's a terrible outside shooter, which is a really bad attribute to have as a starting 2 guard in this league. It's amazing that the Sixers get less than 30 ppg COMBINED from the 2, 4, and 5 positions!!

Therefore, in order for this team to compete with the upper echelon in the league, the Sixers need to improve at the 2 and 4 spots DRASTICALLY and need another big to complement (or replace) Dalembert and the next starting PF. The only, only, only way to get multiple impact players on this team is by freeing up $10 M + in add'l cap space by trading Andre Miller and not re-signing Kevin Ollie.

I don't need to repeat my trade / free agent scenarios for the umpteenth time, but Pau Gasol, Josh Smith, Elton Brand, and another big-time trade to Denver are all there for the taking. Clearly, not all of these deals will get done, but I can't see how this team will compete within the next 5 years if at least one, if not two, are accomplished before the beginning of next season. And, lest we forget, every time the Sixers beat a lesser team (like Milwaukee upcoming on Tuesday), they just lose more lottery balls in May that could turn into either Eric Gordon or OJ Mayo.

Realistically, this ship can't get turned around for the long-term in any other way.

Trade Miller now,while his value is at its highest.I'll ride with the PG combo of Louis Williams and Kevin Ollie.Somebody on here said that as soon as Willie Green was back that they would deactivate Carney,and that's exactly what Cheeks did.The best thing for Carney at this point in his career is for him to be traded,in order for him to get a fair chance.And once again,Cheeks went with his small ball lineup.I'm sorry but Thaddeus Young has no business gurading Nene,who's 6'11",and 270lbs.

Didn't see all of the game but its what i thought would happen. We need not worry about this year and concentrate on next. We need to keep miller. Were not going to get whats he's worth by trade for draft picks. First of all nobody's going to give us a pick that high for him. So keep him and use the picks we have and see what free agents are out there this summer. You need at least 3-4 very good players to win. We have one very good player and two guys learning. The free agent could be our second very good player. Thats more very good players than AI ever had while he was here. Build with miller or we'll be in the celler for ever.

Did we expect these Sixers to go to the playoff? No! But we did expect them to play the best they can with what they have, and for the most part they have done just that. So why are we acting like a cow at a new gate. Until we see some major changes in personnel do you think your going to see any different results? We should know what to expect by now,and if they give us more great! I'm watching to see a competative game one I can hope to enjoy. I know what the Sixers need, hopefully the top brass does also and has prepared a plan to get who we need and what we need. I'm lookin forward to the changes cause I think Iggy hs had enough, but this years squad is spilled milk, I'm just waiting for someone to clean it up.

Peace!

Did we expect these Sixers to go to the playoff? No! But we did expect them to play the best they can with what they have, and for the most part they have done just that. So why are we acting like a cow at a new gate. Until we see some major changes in personnel do you think your going to see any different results? We should know what to expect by now,and if they give us more great! I'm watching to see a competative game one I can hope to enjoy. I know what the Sixers need, hopefully the top brass does also and has prepared a plan to get who we need and what we need. I'm lookin forward to the changes cause I think Iggy hs had enough, but this years squad is spilled milk, I'm just waiting for someone to clean it up.

Peace!

Did we expect these Sixers to go to the playoff? No! But we did expect them to play the best they can with what they have, and for the most part they have done just that. So why are we acting like a cow at a new gate. Until we see some major changes in personnel do you think your going to see any different results? We should know what to expect by now,and if they give us more great! I'm watching to see a competative game one I can hope to enjoy. I know what the Sixers need, hopefully the top brass does also and has prepared a plan to get who we need and what we need. I'm lookin forward to the changes cause I think Iggy hs had enough, but this years squad is spilled milk, I'm just waiting for someone to clean it up.

Peace!

Did we expect these Sixers to go to the playoff? No! But we did expect them to play the best they can with what they have, and for the most part they have done just that. So why are we acting like a cow at a new gate. Until we see some major changes in personnel do you think your going to see any different results? We should know what to expect by now,and if they give us more great! I'm watching to see a competative game one I can hope to enjoy. I know what the Sixers need, hopefully the top brass does also and has prepared a plan to get who we need and what we need. I'm lookin forward to the changes cause I think Iggy hs had enough, but this years squad is spilled milk, I'm just waiting for someone to clean it up.

Peace!

Did we expect these Sixers to go to the playoff? No! But we did expect them to play the best they can with what they have, and for the most part they have done just that. So why are we acting like a cow at a new gate. Until we see some major changes in personnel do you think your going to see any different results? We should know what to expect by now,and if they give us more great! I'm watching to see a competative game one I can hope to enjoy. I know what the Sixers need, hopefully the top brass does also and has prepared a plan to get who we need and what we need. I'm lookin forward to the changes cause I think Iggy hs had enough, but this years squad is spilled milk, I'm just waiting for someone to clean it up.

Peace!

Last nights game was indeed painful but PLEASE, forget about righting this ship via free agency! There is only one path to rebuilding a team: A) draft (or discover) talent, B) develop that talent C) utilize that talent on your roster or use it to attract talent from another team. The Celtics (unfortunately my city-of-residence team) did this to perfection last year. The Cavs, Magic and Blazers have done it recently. The Spurs, Suns and Mavs did it years ago (and continue to do it) and now reap the benefits by attracting talent in search of a ring on-the-cheap.

Of course this path is easier said then done. It requires great scouting, drafting, player development and a not-so-small amount of luck. However the simple fact is that the Sixers need to 1) Determine if their young guys are in fact talented, specifically LouWill, Thad, Carney and JSmith, 2) Cut ties with the players that are not talented, 3) Continually acquire draft picks, and 4) draft new talent or use the picks to attract undervalued talent from other teams (technically Garnett was undervalued since MN knew they had to move him or lose him).

Fact is, we could be a Top 4 team in the conference by end of next season if we can develop our existing young guys and use them on the court or in trades. Iggy, Miller and Sam are the foundation. And its a good foundation that may only need one or two key pieces, but we are NOT going to get that piece by purchasing an overvalued free agent. The odds of succeeding via that route are very, very low and come at great cost to the team future (see NY Knicks).

It's amazing how good a time AI's having over in Denver. For the last 3 years, media morons like Eskins and other clowns from this town have been telling us crap that his ability will go down. He's playing just as well as he did 4 /5 years ago. We all know that we've needed a 4 for the last many years after Sammy was drafted. But one thing we often overlook is that after Snow was gone, we didnt have a good pg! What we needed was to draft better players all the while. We were drafting "the best player available" instead of drafting for position. Like someone else said, some of our drafts have panned out, but they were not drafting for position. We didn't fill our needs. We have a glut at the 2/3, and huge holes in the 1 (L Williams is a 2- an Iverson clone with much more development to go- who are we kidding?) and 4 positions(B Skinner anyone or is it Kenny Thomas?). Under King, the sixers weren't willing to take a chance on a big with some upside like the Lakers were willing to do with Bynum, we weren't looking at Europe, and we overlooked Paul Pierce- our scouting team needs some serious "tweaking". I don't believe focusing on ridding ourselves of AI was the primary need. We need to upgrade our scouting staff. I hope Stefanski understands this and does something about it. However the Nets did keep Jason Kidd all these years and have gone nowhere- they made it to the Finals, and so did the Sixers under King. Neither Stefanski nor King has won the prize.

One more thing about King, he was willing to trade or bring in free agents- all of them past their prime. DC, Mutumbo, Glenn Robinson, and the greatest one of all, C Webb. All of these players cost a bundle, way past their prime, and we've been capped out as a result. As we go into the off-season, Stefanski better take care not to sign guys past their prime. You better be real careful with Elton Brand- he's had a history with injuries, the lastest being a major issue. Other than the Sixers and Timberwolves, teams don't give up superstars unless they know their best years are over(unless the GM is plain dumb,- McHale). We need to look at good young solid NBA players with growth potential (Josh Smith types) and pair them with good complementing position players (draft a good pg). This year's draft is on Stefanski, so we won't be blaming Billy in this draft, Ed.

The Iverson we saw with the Nuggets would have never happened in Philly. He was always going to be the alpha dog here because he came first and was not going to relinquish that position. When he came to the Nuggets, there was a star already there, so he had to share the spotlight if the team was to have any success. AFAIK, there was some friction there at various points, but winning games takes care of that and sharing the spotlight has certainly made his game more efficient/productive.

As far as the Sixers. The best thing to come out of last few games is the play of Thaddeus Young. I'm starting to think this guy is for real and he has earned Korver's minutes. If he establishes himself this year, our 2/3 combo should be locked up for years to come. With Jason Smith looking like a solid contributor (and an actual thread to score from the 4), the draft class is starting to look rather nice. Credit goes to King for this one.

At this point, Thad needs to play as much as possible. Not only does he finish better than most of our guys, he's starting to look like he defends better too. Speaking of which, someone mentioned our glut of 2/3's - this is a problem. If i were stefanski, i'd be more concerned with clearing this up than anything else. Some of these guys are just dead weight at this point and we need to position ourselves get a better distribution of players.

G Duncan - you're right on. I just dont see how we're going to get the value that people here seem to think out of Miller. Im sorry Dean, but i think you need to give up on Brand and Josh Smith...forget about whether they'd make us better(maybe they would, maybe the wouldn't), the simple fact is they wont realistically wind up here. Its nice to think we could turn things around just like that, but I just dont think its that simple.

There has been interest reported in Green - I'd think about dumping him(sorry Willie, its just business), seeing as how we didnt play any different without him. I'd be doing everything possible to move Carney - probably not going to happen, but worth a shot. Maybe he will develop, maybe he wont, but at this point Thad is the future for us.

Point is, there are lots of areas where this team needs improvement. Lets not loose sight of this in our obsession with Miller - He's a chip, but on this market i just dont see that he's a chip thats going to help us. Helping us, in my mind, would mean bringing in a difference maker or getting a high first round draft pick. If you want cap space, i'd start looking at some of BK's contracts....few, if anyone, should be untouchable for the right deal. But Xingyang, you're right on, lets not go crazy and spend it all in one place.

KM - Let me ask you a question. Which piece comes first? The trading of Andre Miller (and maybe Sam Dalembert) or the signing of a free agent. Hmmm, let's see....the trading of Andre Miller.

Of course Elton Brand or Josh Smith wouldn't come here right now. Who would? If you move Miller and Smith to Denver and receive $10M+ in cap space, JR Smith, and a backup big man AND move Dalembert / Carney / #1 for Gasol and Lowry, the team looks totally different. Don't forget about either Gordon or Mayo coming in here in the draft as well since the Sixers would clearly win less than 30 games in this scenario. Your lineup would be (with backups):

F Iggy / T. Young
F Free Agent / R. Evans
C Gasol / S. Hunter
G Gordon or Mayo / W. Green (or JR Smith)
G L. Williams / Lowry (or flip-flopped)

JR Smith (or Willie) and another big would be your 11th and 12th men, respectively. Now would you come here as a free agent at the "4" spot if you were offered a max deal? Do the Clippers and Hawks have a brighter future than what's listed above?

No. This is the way you go about rebuilding this team into a contender immediately AND for the long term. Both of these trades are there for the taking. Memphis is auctioning Gasol to the highest bidder (much like Sixers and AI), and here's what George Karl said after the game last night about Andre Miller:

"In the course of the negotiations, Karl recalled, "The only thing I wanted to do was to try to keep Andre [with the Nuggets], because my dream was Andre and A.I. [in the same backcourt]."

"I remembered Eric Snow and A.I. [with the Sixers]," Karl said before last night's 109-96 Denver victory over the Sixers. "Well, Andre is better than Eric Snow."

KM, you make these moves above, either Josh Smith or Elton Brand is a reality. And, if for some reason the Sixers can't get either, the team STILL has $20M for cap spending in 2009 and has a much higher talent level than it currently does.

Three people I'm tired of reading about on this blog:

Kyle Lowery
Herbert Hill
Shavlik Randolph

Dean, Im sorry but thats a lot of "ifs" before you get to the punchline. Im still not convinced of the realism. You're certainly welcome to your opinions, but I'm respectfully not buying it. To me, that fact that it hasn't happened yet sort of confirms that it's been explored as a possiblity and ruled out.

We all know that moves are afoot, and Miller may well be one of them. All Im saying is we need to be open to all options.

We also have a basic philosphical difference - I'm much more inclined to look for young (or european) talent than bring in expensive old talent. Its the responsible way to build a team, and its the way most winning teams got to be that way. I'd love to be next year's boston, but im just not seeing it.

At any rate, Im getting tired of talking about Miller. Bottom line is he's a chip like everyone else at this point - and like any chip its not worth cashing in unless you're getting your money's worth.

Dean - While I admire your enthusiasm, it's way past time to give your inane observations and projected trades a serious rest. Please.

Looking at AI last night blow by defenders last night as if he was still 25yrs old,makes me realize more and more,how little the so called experts at WIP know about basketball.All we heard was at this point in his career,he would slow down,well it looks to me that he's just as explosive as he was ten years ago.We officially have the worst players starting at the 4 and 5 positions,in the league,period,poin,blank.Reggie Evans has no business starting for the Sixers,and Dalembert is a funtioning illiterate,with the brain matter of a corpse.Is it me,or does Thaddeus Young looks more comfortable at getting his shot than Iguodala?He's farther along than I would hve thought,and his game reminds me of T-Mac.

"Iverson may say he didn't have any extra motivation, but it was difficult to tell by his performance."

Seriously? AI drops 30 and 10 routinely...there is nothing special about 38 and 8. Extra motivation and he drops half a hundred on us. Maybe at the Wach in March.

Just out of curiosity, how many times this year have the 76ers top two scorers combined for a total of 38?

Benny Profane please add....
"Thad"
and
Slammin' Sammy to your list.

TRUTH

Some bad and some good things about last night. So lets start with the bad.

Willie Green is awful. There is nothing else to it. Repeatedly seeing him shake off a defender and then clank it off the rim (and a fairly often air ball) is making me sick. If there actually is some interest in him anywhere we have to get rid of him because he shouldn't be a starter anywhere. Also Andre Miller tried to force the issue a little too much last night repeatedly getting absolutely denied by Camby. These losses are just proving that by sticking with Miller we can't be be as competitive as we want. Trade him please. Please!

On the other hand I loved Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams last night. Best play of the night was when Thaddeus took the ball in the corner, pump faked to send Melo flying and then nailed the 3. He then hustled down the court, kept with Iverson step for step and made the steal. He is deserving the minutes he's been getting and looks like he is developing quite nicely. I would rather see him start soon rather than Reggie Evans even though he's an inch shorter.

TRUTH,

Thad is a 19 year old who may or may not blossom, but has looked promising at times. Right now his minutes are being stifled in favor of Willie Green. I can understand why people discuss him, and often.

Sammy: You may like him or hate him, or both, but whatever your opinion of him, HE ACTUALLY PLAYS FOR THIS TEAM, and he plays a lot of minutes to boot. I can understand why people discuss him, as well.

Kyle Lowery is an undersized PG with no jump shot. I'm the biggest Nova fan out there, but this guy is not going to be much as a pro, if anything. Shav Randolph is like Lou Amundsen, and apparently can't even get ahead of him on the depth chart. Anyone who has watched him play knows how limited he is. Herbert Hill is a mid-second round draft choice who had one good year in college. He scored 8 points in a preseason game, though.

People seriously need to give it a rest with these guys. I guess it's a reflection on the sorry state of the team when you can get excited about the 14th and 15th guys on a roster (one of the WORST rosters in the entire league, at that) but the way they are talked about on this blog, it's like Cheeks is an idiot for not seeing that they are the SAVIORS.

I don't see Miller getting traded to the Nuggets for expiring contracts. Do you have any idea the luxury tax they'd have to pay next season? Take a look at the team salaries on hoopshype.com

Trade. Trade?? This is why the presumed "knowledge" of Philly fans is over-rated. Philly fans answer to everything is to TRADE. That's not the answer. How is it Andre Miller's fault that Evans, Delambert, and pathetic Willie Green can't convert? If you want to trade, then TRADE IGOUDALA. While his value is still there. Before teams realize Iggy will never be aggressive or a leader. Iggy is like Derrick Coleman, and underachiever. Someone will take Igoudala at the moment, and give us something good in return. Next step: Fire Maurice Cheeks. Let's get Larry Brown back in as coach.

Timing is everything. If Miller's contract was expiring this year, his trade value would be through the roof, and we could be going into the offseason with $20 million in cap room. However, that is not to be and it might make more sense to shop Miller (and his expiring contract) in the offseason and try to achieve the cap room that way. Shopping Miller at the deadline just doesn't make sense right now, unless someone just blows us away with an offer.

It's also becoming clear that Carney is good as gone. He has shown so few signs of improvement that a much younger, less experienced player has already passed him by. I liked the Carney pick at the time, but it's clear that he will not work out for this team.

It seems that in this league now you need two stars and two up and coming stars just to compete. The Sixers have an aging star (maybe) in Miller and an up and coming star (maybe) in AI. We can't beat anyone in the west other than Memphis, T-Wolves, and Sacramento who all put up a good fight. I do think we can compete with just about every team in the east other than Boston. They still have a chance, but very slim. I think they hang around till the last month of the season and finally fall off. I hope I'm wrong and they make the playoffs. Long season...

Can you just change the Starting line up! they can't play, they just don't have in chemistry. A basketball team needs chemistry and the starting lineup has none. How long will it take Coach Cheeks to realize this simple fact.

Miller and AI are NOT stars!

They are better than average NBA players, but by no means are they stars. By no means.

KM - At what point did Josh Smith get old? Last I checked, he's 22. JR Smith - the same. Kyle Lowry, 22. Pau Gasol, 27. Eric Gordon / OJ Mayo, 20. Which of these players are "old?" (Elton Brand is the oldest at 28 and coming off an injury admitedly).

CarpGuy - Please add something to the discussion rather than pointlessly ripping someone else's suggestions. If you have an alternative plan, I'd be more than happy to listen and evaluate. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the back and forth banter between those who have something to actually say.

Bennie - Agreed with Shav Randolph - the only reason he's on the team is because his contract is guaranteed for the rest of the season. Herb Hill - I haven't seen enough to make an educated decision. Kyle Lowry...I respetfully disagree - do you remember Iggy's jumpshot his rookie year? Awful. Made Willie Green look like a marksman. A jumper is something a player can easily improve through hard work and practice.

Dean, my only problem with your scenario is getting Gasol and Lowry for Sammy's awful contract, a bust in Carney and a future #1 pick (which by your accord would probably be late lottery or even worse, since the team would improve). Why would Memphis give up their low post threat for a such a bad contract?

Dean, you are confusing the issue. My comment about older talent was in the context of valuing the draft over free agency, not about the specific ages of anyone you mentioned. I didn't comment on the specifics of your hypotheical because, as i stated, it's convoluted and not likely to happen.

At any rate, even if it did i dont see it really changing the team much. Essentially; Gasol, Hunter, and Lowry for Miller and Dalembert? Im still not seeing stars, so to speak. Even if you get brand(and he's healthy), or even if Atlanta lets smith get away, what you have is a team that makes the playoffs but wont win and a team that has no forseeable cap space.

Gordon and Mayo would be lovely - I think we're in agreement here. That was my point - the draft should be the main focus. Forget about big free agent signings (because i'll argue till im blue "that guy" isnt available this year, and even if he was its always a considerable risk - see Xingyang's post), if you going to trade, trade for draft picks. This way you have ammo to get things done on draft day and move up or at least you have options, you're not rolling the dice on where one pick will fall.

I can see that we arent going to agree, but that is my philosophy.

Gasol's contract is worse than Sam's. He's tied up for 4 more years at $14M per, while Sam is around $10.5M per for 4 more years. Quite frankly, Sam is a much better fit for Memphis, which plays in the Phoenix mode. In terms of Rodney Carney, different teams see different players in different ways. To Memphis, Rodney Carney might be seen as a potential slasher who can fill the wing on the break, much like he did at Memphis U in college. If Memphis balks at Carney, then up the ante with Jason Smith, who won't see a whole lot of time here anyway with the signing of a big-time PF and Reggie Evans as the backup PF.

I have a hard time believing the Memphis would turn down a package of Dalembert, Jason Smith, and a 2009 #1 (which Memphis could feel is a lottery selection) for Gasol and a backup PG in Lowry.

"A jumper is something a player can easily improve through hard work and practice."

"...we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice."

TJC - That's beautiful man. It's probably the 200th time I've heard / seen / thought about that press conference, and I laugh every single time. Good stuff.

We can talk about trades and talent all we want but as long as Mo Cheeks is coaching the Sixers are in trouble...PERIOD....but hey, AT LEAST WE'RE NOT THE KNICKS....
D

This loosing streak is exactly what this organization needs. The Sixers stink. I hope they loose all their games. That way we can possibly get a high draft pick in the 1st round. The Sixers might as well just tank the season. Nothing wrong with that. Look at boston. They tanked the previous season and now they have the best record in the league. I have one better than that. Look what San Antonio Spurs did. They tanked one season and got Tim Duncan. We all know how that is panning out. Sixers need to just tank and trade players for the rest of the NBA season. I've said it before. Their are only four players I would keep off this roster. Evans, Lou Williams,Jason Smith and Thaddeus Young. Everybody else need to be traded for three things. Big men, pure fundamental spot up shooters and draft picks. IF the Sixers follow that format they will have a team ready to win a NBA championship.

This loosing streak is exactly what this organization needs. The Sixers stink. I hope they loose all their games. That way we can possibly get a high draft pick in the 1st round. The Sixers might as well just tank the season. Nothing wrong with that. Look at boston. They tanked the previous season and now they have the best record in the league. I have one better than that. Look what San Antonio Spurs did. They tanked one season and got Tim Duncan. We all know how that is panning out. Sixers need to just tank and trade players for the rest of the NBA season. I've said it before. Their are only four players I would keep off this roster. Evans, Lou Williams,Jason Smith and Thaddeus Young. Everybody else need to be traded for three things. Big men, pure fundamental spot up shooters and draft picks. IF the Sixers follow that format they will have a team ready to win a NBA championship.

This loosing streak is exactly what this organization needs. The Sixers stink. I hope they loose all their games. That way we can possibly get a high draft pick in the 1st round. The Sixers might as well just tank the season. Nothing wrong with that. Look at boston. They tanked the previous season and now they have the best record in the league. I have one better than that. Look what San Antonio Spurs did. They tanked one season and got Tim Duncan. We all know how that is panning out. Sixers need to just tank and trade players for the rest of the NBA season. I've said it before. Their are only four players I would keep off this roster. Evans, Lou Williams,Jason Smith and Thaddeus Young. Everybody else need to be traded for three things. Big men, pure fundamental spot up shooters and draft picks. IF the Sixers follow that format they will have a team ready to win a NBA championship.

Did anyone notice Iguadala being ticked off with Lou's "AI" act. When Lou is playing PG, he pounds the ball, is indecisive, and does not get Iguadala the ball. If you guys want him to play PG, you will get NO QUALITY FREE AGENT to come here...NO ONE CAN GET THEM THE BALL! You have a much better chance of getting a quality FA 3 or 4 with Andre Miller here...DON'T YOU KNUCKLEHEADS GET THAT!

Did anyone notice Iguadala being ticked off with Lou's "AI" act. When Lou is playing PG, he pounds the ball, is indecisive, and does not get Iguadala the ball. If you guys want him to play PG, you will get NO QUALITY FREE AGENT to come here...NO ONE CAN GET THEM THE BALL! You have a much better chance of getting a quality FA 3 or 4 with Andre Miller here...DON'T YOU KNUCKLEHEADS GET THAT!

Hey, anyone catch stefanski's interview last night? i thought his comment about potentially spending 17mil on someone this summer, when there may be "some disgruntled stars" would have some people here salivating.

He also seemed noncommital about giving dre the younger a huge payday but thinks the world of miller...posturing, maybe, but pretty interesting anyway.

Some of the things he said almost made me think he reads this board...

I have a feeling that the new GM will use Iggy next year as trade bait.I can see the Sixers trading him and a pick for a potential PF.And Thaddeus Young moving in as the starter at the SF spot.Thaddeus Young would have been perfect for the Milwaukee Bucks,but they opted for the Chinese kid,when they already have Charlie Villanueva.

I think Ed reads this board and laughs out loud! He knows exactly what he is doing without help from us "much smarter" fans. I'll check out the interview and I am very interested in what he will do this off-season.

Do you guys think that another team would actually give Iggy a contract that the Sixers will not be willing to match? I don't, I think he will end up back here with less than the $57 mil he turned down which would free up even more money to get some real players here.

Evens needs to be on the bench and they need to start Thad or J Smith. I can't take it anymore. I find myself putting my head down every time he tries to bring the ball up on the fast break and when he drives the lane. For a guy who finds it hard to finish, he sure asks for the ball a lot. He's is a major liability on the offensive end. When he get's the ball the other team make it a point to foul him. 3-18 from the stripe during the road trip, that's not good. I'd take Hunter's 50% freethrow shooting any day over Evans shooting. I love his hustle and defensive play. But it's clear that he just does not deserve starter's minutes. I think the ball movement is better on the second unit (when Lou is passing and not ball hogging) because he is not out there with them.

I would have been fine with the Sixers not making the trade with Denver for Reggie Evans.I was beginning to like the combination of Steven Hunter,and Dalembert.What Steven Hunter did'nt give you his rebounding,he certainly made up for it with his shot blocking,and shot alteration.

Anyone ever think about why we can't start playing like Phoenix? We've got the foundation to become a really exciting run and gun that provided the right pieces come in the next year can become succesful and fun to watch. We all know Lou Williams is one of the quickest players in the league so give him a little more seasoning and I think he can become great point guard in this mold. Iggy and Thaddeus are both super athletic and can run with the best with them. Anyone see Thaddeus keep step for step with AI down the court last game? For big men both Dalembert and Smith can also run. I personally would really like to see this team become like the Suns or Golden or State Warriors. Anyone agree?

I agree to a point. And I'm not trying ot be a smarta**, but which one of those has won a championship?

Hahah, no I agree thats definately true but sometimes it just seems like we're so far away from a championship especially considering how good the West is, i'm just looking at something that would at least start putting people in the seats, get us some momentum and then hopefully we can take it from there in the future.

KM - If Stefanski is going to spend $17M on a disgruntled star, where do you think he's going to get that cap room? By trading Andre Miller.

Stefanski has stated more than once that he's going to take some risks. There's no reason for him to be publicly praising Andre Miller repeatedly unless he's planning on moving him. And, add those comments to George Karl's remarks the other day about "his dream" being Miller and AI in the same backcourt...the outcome here seems to be pointing in a certain direction.

THAT'S the part I agree with because once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. Phoenix that plays defense is a team I hope for.

Guys...lets stop talking about trading Miller.He, Iggy, and Young are the only Untradable guys. If we trade our PG for a PF, what have we accomplished? We need to sign a PF with our money this summer, draft well and hope Young and maybe Smith develops. We should trade Willie and Carney to whoever wants them for cap space or picks. Dalembert is who he is..an average center!!! But you can win with him if the other pieces are good. Oh, louiWilliams is also a keeper...but as a sparkplug off the bench...not as a starter..

I think Lou would be a good starter years down the line. That's why I think Miller finishes out his contract here. They will make a run at respectability next year when they get the PF that they need. I like Sam along side an accomplished PF. You're right Stevied, Sam is who he is. I like him that way. I really feel like he has reached his potential and has maxed out. I think Green will stay as a good man off the bench. I really would like to see Thad in at SF and Iggy at the 2 for the rest of the year. Thad, even at the tender age of 19, is what Carney was supposed to be already. Marc do you think Mo would start Thadeous at all?

Dean, they can combine the cap space and another contract to ge that done, as Ed said last night. You don't need all $17m of cap space to get that done. He also said they are going to use the cap space first since they can go over the cap to sign their own players.

Interesting conversation. Though I think we're all just saying the same things over and over again.

Trade Miller. No, keep him.

Willie Green can't shoot.

Iggy is not a star.

Evans is a horror show on offense.

Lou is not a PG. Well, he could be some day. Nope. Maybe.

Cheeks is the problem.

Play Shav and Herb. Shav and Herb? They are schmos who are only on the team cause they have cheap contracts.

Play Thad more. No, Thad's not ready.

Sammy is turning the corner. No, he's not. He's still terrible.

Trade all of our slop players for Gasol, Kyle Lowry, Brand and Josh Smith.

Josh Smith? He's old. No, he's not.

Did I miss anything? :-)

My question is to Zoe....what does a cow at a new gate do? :-)

T - I sort of got that impression about young dre too. Of course we're all just reading tea leaves at this point, but i did sort of get that feeling that he wasnt above getting creative there if negotiations proved to steep.

And i didnt mean to suggest he was reading this board for guidance, really just observing that some of the things he said made me chuckle because it touched on all the same stuff that gets hashed over here. Probably more a funtions of the interviers than the interviewee.

Craig and Tyler, i thought the Phoenix/european style comment was interesting too...

Craig - To be clear, Stefanski said that the Sixers will have $17M in cap space below the luxury tax threshold after signing Lou and Iggy without any other moves? Just want to be clear on this - I didn't see the interview.

I want to see Jason Smith starting tonight against Yi Jianlian.Tonight would be the perfect game for Cheeks to play him,since Milwaukee is starting their rookie.I can remember every blogger debating who would be better in the NBA,and up to this point,it's hard to get a guage on the two because Yi is starting,and Smith is not.Hopefully the Sixers will win,but I think Milwaukee will win.

I get that Run and Gun style thought just because I absolutely love watching the Golden State Warriors play. No one is going to say that they are the best team in the west but at Home they're crowds are always extremely energised giving them great home court advantage and they are always dangerous against any team (The first round series against Dallas last year was absolutely incredible for me; having an extreme hatred for all Dallas sports teams.) Just looking around at the personel we have and I think we just have the makings to do it succesfully. Bringing home a championship is always the first goal but on the way it would be nice to see the Sixers play some great basketball with huge crowds and bring the pride back for the Team.

Dean, he was talking about up to the salary cap. He didn't even mention the luxury tax threshold, which is even higher. All total, they will be about $22m under the cap. About $10m is spoken for in cap holds for 'Dre and Lou. So he's estimating 10-12 to "play" with for free agents and/or trades. So theoretically, they could resign Lou, 'Dre and acquire a pretty good free agent via a straight signing for $12m, or sign and trade for anything over the $12m.

AND, I don't even think he is figuring in the salary cap increase that usually takes place each year.

Marc/anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.

Well on the bright side,at least we'll move ahead of Milwaukee in the lottery hunt.We'll go from 11th,to 10th.Roy Hibbert here we come!``

9 for 31...1 for 9...first is combined shooting guards (Green and Williams) second is PF position (Evans and Smith). That says it all.

The Sixers have two good players who know how to play and show up consistently...the two Andres.

Dalembert is OK but not consistent yet.
Then there are kids that may or may not develop.

Thats it, that is all there is.

Mo has the team playing hard...give him credit.

Keep the Andres together, pray Sam gets consistent, add a SG or SF with Iguadala playing the other role, and a PF, and two veteran role players off the bench...that will be a good team.

Craig and Dean - as i understood ed's comment about the 17m - it was to be used before signing dre and would be accomplished by making a couple other unspecified moves. But thats just if you want to put stock in what he says to comcast sports net interviewers in the middle of the season. I thought it was an interesting comment, thats all really.

If i took anything away from it though, its that he's more geared towards making moves in the off season than now.

KM, he did say he would go after the new player first, but the actual $12m he mentioned is what they will have left after they put money aside for Lou and 'Dre...what they call the "cap hold" (around $10m).