Deep Sixer

OK Dean, top that one? And no, you cannot use Stephen Hunter in any of your proposals.

Datruth:

No more stiffs, please!
/ Morty
Morty and Moishe Recomend

Ok, now you've done it. The world's gonna end soon 'cuz Marc's even responding to the Miller and Iggy for Jefferson nonsense. Marc, there is no way possible that person was for real. We're doomed!

ok, here's the trade that sets up the sixers for the future:
we send Andre Miller to new jersey and Calvin Booth to the Lakers.
the nets send Sean Williams and Jamaal Magloire our way, and send Jason Kidd to the Lakers.
the Lakers send Luke Walton and Lamar Odom to the Nets and Javaris Crittenton to us.

basically, we're using our cap flexibility to facilitate a trade that gets Jason Kidd to LA. for our trouble (and our talented veteran point guard), we get two very good prospects at PG and PF and an expiring contract.

does this trade not make a lot of sense for all the teams?

Marc,
Appreciate the response to my "Multiple Options" hypothesis.

A brief response: LeBron's Cavs I dont believe would have had their success without Boobie Gibson, who negated all the LeBron double teams by hitting critical open 3 pointers, as Barbosa does with the Suns.

Nowitzski has Josh Howard and others as viable scoring options, that werent utilized optimally in their loss to the Warriors.

Kobe's team failed precisely due to its lack of multiple options.

In summary, no team has won the NBA title without multiple interchangeable options each capable of providing the pivotal stretch of scoring. The Spurs more than, I think, exemplify this quite clearly.

And I dont think its disputable that the Spurs thoroughly dismantled, even toyed with, the Cavs in their 4 game sweep.

The Spurs only challenge was against the Suns, in a series filled with controversial intervension by Stern, unfortunately. But those 2 squads, as this years Celtics, have those multiple options.

The point re Iguodala is that his production EFFICIENCY would be higher on a more elite team; regardless of his PPG. PPG is a stat embraced by selfish players, not by top teams. Popovich knows a few things re winning: Is there any question that he agrees with that?

Great Blog Marc! Good exchange, my friend.

I have to disagree with you on this one, Marc. Yes, it is true that some teams have obvious number one scoring options. These are not the great teams, though. While Kobe and LeBron are without a doubt the number one option on their respective teams, these are two players who transcend the game. Their individual abilities are just so far out from anyone else's in the league.

More importantly, the case can be made that neither the Lakers nor the Cavs are great teams. There is no doubt in my mind that LeBron single handedly led a below average supporting to the championship last year. Kobe's Lakers have been riding his performances since he shared scoring duties with the Shaq. When did the Lakers go on their hot streak this year? When Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were playing at their best and scoring as consistently and frequently as Kobe.

Put the Lakers and Cavs aside for a moment. Let's see if we can discern a hierarchy of scoring.

San Antonio, Detroit, and Boston are no-brainers. In Phoenix, Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Amare, Leandro, or Marion could be taking that final shot. They will always kill you on the open man. I don't think Dallas' situation is as clear-cut as you make it out to be. Josh Howard will not defer to Dirk, and I don't think Jason Terry is too far behind. Of the younger teams, Utah is either Deron or Boozer, New Orleans is CP3 or Peja or David West, Denver is AI or 'Melo.

If there is one thing that Kobe and LeBron have proved to us, it is that a team can not make it all the way with such an obvious number one option. Both the Lakers and Cavs are failures with a shiny exterior provided by the abilities of two of the best ballers in the world. I love the man, but Iggy is not Kobe or LeBron.

Final caveat:

Top teams require not only multiple options, but players who embrace the higher team goal of sharing the role in a selfless manner, from game to game, series to series, as a game/ seies dictates, and of course, the savy Coach demands.

The Blazers exemplify that well this year as a vastly improving TEAM, as a Unit.

Noah, I think that is a pretty good deal. We would have the picks and still have other assets. Not to mention we cut about $7 million off the cap.
Few concerns:
About the talent we get. Can Crittenton play good "D"? Does Williams have any back to the basket game? Can he command a double team?
We'd also have to make some more moves. Major log jam with the bigs. I'm not sure NJ wants to give up Williams. And the Lakers might want a little more, but I think the framework is a good idea.

You know, the Memphis deal is interesting. On its face, I'm not sure that is a silver bullet, but if you can add a stud point guard by some other means - probably the draft - you're getting close to being on to something. We add a lot of scoring power, but for better or worse Sammy makes a big impact on our defense. If your new point can really play some D, that should offset enough.

Here's the thing though - you don't need to do this right now. We're in the running for a high pick as it is, so wait it out and see how you do. Memphis is in the same situation, and will probably be waiting it out as well before doing anything drastic. If you get lucky in the lottery, there's still have flexibility over the summer to address whatever needs couldn't be on draft day. Or you have the option of working a draft day trade if you get screwed by the lottery gods. BK couldn't get it done last year, but we didn't have andre miller to offer either. If you pull the trigger tomorrow, you don't have as many options(bargaining leverage) going forward.

Craig - its not so bad, at least there was no response to your other favorite poster...

Noah, I don!t think the Lakers will give up Odom in a trade for Kidd. If they trade for Kidd, it is for the final piece of the puzzle.By adding Kidd, and subtracting Odom,they are taking 1 step forward and 1 step back.They can offer the Nets 12 million in cap room, Crittenton, Radmanovich, and a #1.They are one of the few teams that can trade for Kidd without a third team involved.

Don't see the complete Memphis deal happening. They just drafted a point guard with their top pick last year. They don't want him sitting behind A. Miller. Sammy D for Gasol is possible if the salaries match up.

Suede, the Lakers would have to include Kwame Brown to make the salaries match for starters. Secondly, I think that's way too little for Kidd. Rad has missed 11 games and is not doing much when he does. The #1 would be a late rounder, correct? The Nets would want way more.

KM, you are right. I'll count my blessings.

Craig, I!m assuming Brown and Ariza or Brown and Mihm to make up the 12 million in cap space.If the Nets trade Kidd, they audition Brown for the rest of the year, if it works out, they sign him.If not, 12 million gets you a lot on the free agent market.

e.s. should find a way to get pau without giving up sammy. what would be a better tandem pau and sammy or pau and igoudala. i say the former. i'm pretty sure he's creative enough to work it out with another another team so memphis will get a big in return.

Would you do this,dbeas, Jason Smith, Iggy[sign for 12 mill. per] and our #1, for Gasol and Navarro[ have to sign]?

Marc, really feel that you're treating us Herb supporters in a somewhat condescending manner. Obviously, we know he's not a savior, or a starter. We're not foolhardy. But we're pretty darn knowledgeable fans here. We saw him play tough in the Big East last year, which may have been the best conference in the NCAA last year. We saw his post up game. He scored down low on the block in a tough league. And his summer performance was promising.
We just want to see the guy get a chance...when he gets healthy. Calvin Booth brings nothing. Reggie plays hard but has absolutely no offensive game. When Herb's healthy, I just hope he gets some minutes, or at least send him to the D league to get some consistent minutes. Same with seeing Shav get some burn. Hopefully Carney will get some steady minutes so we can find out if he's got a future on this team.

When it comes to a 4 who can both score on the block and rebound, people keep mentioning Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox. They both have cap friendly contracts:
www.hoopshype.com/salaries/seattle.htm

I prefer Collison, since he plays better D than Wilcox, and when Collision gives a hard foul, he really gives a hard foul. But either Wilcox or Collison would be an upgrade without breaking the bank. Jeff Foster also has a cap friendly contract for a productive 4. As does Ike Diogu as Marc has mentioned. Wondering how much Ronny Turiaf will command on the free market.

Like Collision also. Wilcox seems to be up and down effort wise. Seems Seattle would rather deal Wilcox.Trouble is Seattle wants same things we want [cap room and picks]

i would try to a involve a third team to try and keep our frontcourt intact. igoudala will never be anything more than a support player(a very good one though, pippenesque). to include him in a trade would enable the sixers to get a higher quality player in return. he is definetly expendable.

I like Collison more, also. He's more of a banger than Wilcox. I think he is more polished on the offensive end, as well. I can't see Turiaf getting more than $3.5-4m/yr.

Suede, we have the picks and depending on if we think Collison is the low post presence we need, we could probably give up some of the cap space. Collison's a base year contract, so it could get tricky with salaries and other assets Seattle might want

I really like J.Smith. But every time I think of a p.f. I like [Gasol,Collison,Randolph] it seems he would have to go in return.Do you guys think he can be better than YI, I do.

I think Sammy might be able to thrive next to someone as physical as Collison. Yes, Reggie Evan is physical, but Collison's two or three inches taller. Sammy just isn't a banger. Collison could be just what Sammy needs to focus on his skills set.

Collison seems like a character guy. If SEATTLE plays Green at the three, he may be tough to pry away. J. Foster has a player option for this year. If he opts out he gives you alot of the same things [7 mill.?]

j.smith has a huge upside and he has the tools to be better than all of the guys we mentioned. i think you can get get a player from seattle without giving him up.

Read these posts. and you'll really understand the problem with the NBA. "cap hell"..I'm hearing names of possible pick ups. All the players from other lottery teams. What's that tell you guys ? We get to play in the mud with the rest of sh_t. Truth hurts !

Been following Turiaf!s boxscores, seems to be blocking a lot of shots.Don!t see enough of him to see how he defends straight up on his man.T. Hill always had Theo!s back. We keep talking about a lowpost presence, but just as important is a guy that is there when Sam steps out to block a shot.Not sure Collison can fill this role.Foster or Turiaf[restricted,4 mill?] along with J.Smith may be the answer.All they will cost us is cap space.

Marc,

I got to agree with the guys above that said teams need more than one player thats capable of being the #1 option on any givin night. Kobe and Labron are great players but Kobe hasn't won crap since Shaq left and Labron beat a weak Eastern Conf. and then got swept by a team that has numorous options.

Anyway.... my take on some of the trades above:

I'm not sure about the Memphis deal. Who is the PG? Lou Will? I don't think he's a NBA PG. And who's the C? Gasol? He's 7 foot but I think he's a better PF. And this would eat up that cap space Ed wants so bad, I think.

The 3 team deal with the Nets and Lakers has some promise. I would tinker with the players a little I think. I'd have to take a better look at that one.

What do you guys think about sending Kidd and Magloire to Miami for J. Williams, Ricky Davis, and Mark Blount? NJ has open roster space. J Will has an expiring contract($9 mill). So does Ricky. And Blount shows promise. I hear NJ just wants to get rid of Kidd and his salary. Miami would get Kid to go with Wade and Shaq (if he comes back). In the East they might be able to make the playoffs.
I can't believe I'm talking about the Nets! I think I have a problem!

Wow! If we could do that trade Noah proposed and get Sean Williams, Jamaal Magliore and Javaris Crittenden for trading Andre Miller and Calvin Booth I'd say that was a no brainer. I don't know that Jersey or LA would do this (they want to make a deal but this may be excessive).

Sean Williams is a great athlete and shot blocker and he has an efficient offensive game. He won't be a big scorer but he'd be serviceable. Unlike Evans, someone would have to guard him down low. But his defense would more than make up for that.

Crittenden was Thad's teammate at Georgia Tech and was one of the top PG recruits in the country. He has a lot of size for a PG and is very athletic. Think of a slightly smaller Shaun Livingston who doesn't have injury problems. I know just tonight Tim Legler was discussing the Lakers might not try to move him as he could be a star.

Magloire was a former all-star. He'd also be serviceable. You could give him some minutes and he'd hold his own.

If the Sixers did this deal and rolled out with a lineup of Sam, Williams, Thad, Iggy and Crittenden this would be with ease the most athletic lineup top to bottom in the entire league with the potential to be the one of the toughest defensive teams on a position by position basis. Not only that but it would have great size (length) for all of the positions.

suede,

I'm a huge fan of BOTH our 1st-rounders, not just Thaddeus. I don't know who'll be better, Jason Smith or Yi, but they could potentially be a pair of poor man's Dirk Nowitzki's.

If we want to keep Jason as a bench player, the Sixers should do their best NOT to develop Jason, and keep his skill levels right where they are. The Sixers future everyone seems to be imagining has this big, looming low-post guy at our PF spot, which is definitely not Jason. If Jason turns out to be really good, it'll be because he turns into a mini-Dirk, and we'd have to let Jason go because the market for him would shoot up, and I wouldn't want to pay $8M to our backup PF.

I'm not advocating that the Sixers keep him dumbed down - I'd actually like for the opposite to happen, for Jason to develop into a mini-Dirk and we get coaches who would know what to do with his skill set. He's very athletic and has surprising guard-like skills for his size, and it's ashame that the coaches (and fans) don't see that and try to take advantage of his strengths. Part of me wonders if it's because he's a white American kid - how much more enthusiastic would Sixers fans be if he didn't look like an extra from High School Musical and was black, or a white European? Chinese? Canadian?!? If you stay within Jason's race and nationality, there really isn't a good comparison to anyone currently playing in the NBA, and I think that makes it hard for people to project how good he'll be. My own personal prediction is that he'll be very good, on the right team, with the right staff, and I just don't see that team being the Sixers unless they don't develop him.

There's a good fluff piece on him on sixers.com, if you're interested:

http://www.nba.com/sixers/features/Jason_Smith_Drive-080125.html

Another thing about Jason Smith - maybe he should be in the starting lineup... According to 82games.com, our best 5-man unit is him with the starting lineup at the PF position instead of Reggie. In the 13 games that lineup was used, it outscored the other team 11 times. With Young at the PF with the starting lineup, it was outscored the 5 times it was used. Take a look:

http://www.82games.com/0708/0708PHI2.HTM

Guys, been following the Lakers lately and Ronny Turiaf is getting better each game. Against the Knicks tonight, he played one on one defense against Zach Randolph and blocked 3 of his shots. He also showed some range on his jumper out to 18 feet, and he caught an alley-oop that was two feet behind him and he caught it and still dunked.

Turiaf and a healthy Bynum are going to make the Lakers are tough out this year in the Western playoffs. If I'm Stefanski, I'd make Turiaf an offer in the offseason if he isn't able to get a proven star. Collison or Wilcox would be an upgrade for this team. Wilcox is more athletic, but Collison is a better rebounder.

The great thing about Wilcox is that he would be in the last year of his contract next year, so you know that he'll probably have his best year. Collison has a reasonable contract, just a few more years.

I believe Big Ed will do the right thing, beginning with the trade deadline. I still would look at moving Sammy for Pau.

Datruth, it would be interesting to see how good this team would be next year, if they added an improving Turiaf and drafted Eric Gordon from indiana. With the improving J. Smith and T. Young, could be a good team next year without using all that money on a question mark(Brand, J. Smith?). 20 points from a scoring machine like Gordon at the 2 guard would make quite a difference.

DaTruth - I love the deal, but Memphis won't go for it. They just cut Damon to give Conley the reigns at PG. Why would they pick up Andre Miller? Same problem there.

Like I said before, I love getting Gasol and Lowry, but I think you have to make Sammy, a #1 (not next year's), and probably J. Smith the parts of the deal.

Miller has to be shipped to a contending team that needs a good PG to get it over the hump.

To sixerzguy | January 30, 2008 4:05 AM

Nice post on Jason Smith.

For some reason many Sixer fans want to see him for what he isn't. Even Jasner gave him a slap yesterday pointing out how little he has gone to the free throw line in his last 18 games.

Of course Jasner failed to mention that in those same 19 games if you look at the stats per minute played, Smith is equal in points, has a higher FG%, has more rebounds, more blocked shots and fewer turnovers than Thaddeus Young. Young leads him in steals.

Thaddeus Young is a very good rookie. So is Jason Smith.

A few quick comments,
Marc- love reading this blog. Word for word the best one on philly.com, not to mention for the player for player worst team. If nothing else I wish the 6ers approach and transcend mediocrity so more people get to read this.
sixerzguy- I like J. Smith a lot, too. Think give him a few years, along with thad and the rest and he'll be a main component in a very high scoring, dare I say western conference style, offense (the emphasis being the ability to score from any given spot on the floor rather than defense). That said, dude could have three eyes, cloven hooves or transparent skin and if he's got talent he'll get noticed and get pt. I think it was your second point that had a bit more validity, that we need a coach and a system that will best utilize Smith.
That said, what is the identity of this team going to be? I get the feeling from everyone here it's going to be a very athletic team...but that just says they would beat the nets in the decathlon. Defensive-minded? Offensive? Having 5 starters who can touch the ceiling is great, but if none of them can hit a 15 ft jumper what good is it?

Oh, and Marc...why do you refer to yourself as 'we'?

V:

I agree entirely about coach and system. How many times do we have to watch Willie Green become a black hole when he gets the ball? How many times does the offense seem to have no plan of attack?

How many times before the coach gets the blame?

By the way, though some of the trade possibilities rattling around this blog are intriguing, I personally like the idea of not trading, but pairing Dalembert with a talented and physical PF best. Sammy is rounding into his final form, and it's not bad at all.

Like Igoudala, when surrounded by better teammates, Dalembert's faults will seem much less impactful.
/ morty
Morty and Moishe Recomend

The more I see of Jason Smith, the more I like. I think part of the issue is that we as starving fans need to have a guy step right in utilizing all of the tools we know he has. He can pretty much take any forward off the dribble, hit the "J", block shots. I even think he has post moves, but he is not strong enough to hold his position and bang. We're talking about Collison (I've endorsed it too), but if Smith got stronger, I don't see any reason why he could not do the same things. I hate to say the "P" word, but we have to be patient with him. He could pay real dividends. I'm imagining him posting up, turning and facing like Tim Duncan. From there he could do what he wants. There's your low post presence...

Its nice to see we're not so down on JSmith anymore...i really think the kid has potential too. If he can refine the skills he has, find some aggression, and be a little more alert in general(i still see him looking away from the play too often), he'll be in real good shape. I'd really love to see him take that quick step move to the basket more often, too. Not the bruiser type of PF everyone seems to want, but in a different system...or maybe even as a center (if sam goes in one of these wacky trade senarios). Without getting into any racial sort of thing, i do see him as more of a european style player.

KM and Craig:

Agreed. It is hard to understand the Smith bashing that comes from some posters.

Nobody is saying he is a franchise player, but the kid is halfway into his first NBA season, shows ability in limited minutes, and is an agile 7 footer - what's not to like?

/ morty
Morty and Moishe Recomend

Jason Smith could potentially be a solid backup during his NBA career, no one is denying that. However, he's pretty ripped already and gets pushed around in the paint by others his same size or even smaller - I don't know how much bigger he can get being that his frame is naturally lanky (he beefed up bigtime at CSU). Plus, he has no low post moves whatsoever - unfortunately for him, the Sixers have no one to teach him this. His strengths are supposed to be his jumper and energy. I like his energy, but his outside shot has yet to impress me. He also needs to improve his basketball IQ immensely (he's a black hole once he touches the ball) - Thad is light years ahead of him in that area and only played 1 year of college ball to Smith's 3 seasons.

That said, Smith could be a solid backup for probably 8 to 10 years in this league. However, if he's a piece that another team needs to put a blockbuster move (e.g., Memphis or Denver) over the top, I wouldn't hesitate to trade him.

In terms of Cheeks getting blamed for this mess, I think the criticism is completely unjust. Quite frankly, none of us know if Mo's a good coach or not. Cheeks possibly has had the absolute worst luck in professional coaching history. First, he got an aging bunch of Jail Blazers once Mike Dunleavy exited. Then, he had the AI / CWebb disaster here after Iverson jettisoned every coach he ever met and now is stuck with a team that possesses some of the least amount of talent in the league.

Like I said, I can't tell you if he's good or bad, but how can you possibly expect a coach to win anything when Willie Green and Reggie Evans are his starting 2 and 4, and he's stripped of his only proven bench threat 1/3 of the way through the season? What else is he supposed to do? Run the motion offense?

They can't play a post-up style of offense because they have no low-post threat. They can't play a "drive and dish" offense because they have no one that can hit jump shots. They have only 2 players (that get significant time) that can legitimately run (Iggy and Lou). So what would you like Mo to do? He has no talent by NBA standards. That this team made a run at the playoffs last year was a feather in his cap, quite frankly. On top of that, he loses his top outside shooter and 6th man this season and gets no replacement. Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, and Pat Riley combined couldn't win with this team.

Dean:
I agree about the lack of overall talent, but no one is telling Mo to start Green and Evans. That's his choice. Personally, I would substitute Young for Green and Smith for Evans. I would never play Booth. And I would have never played Korver for 30+ minutes a game unless he was on fire. Those are all his decisions.

And what about the repeated erroneous tendencies of his players? Does he get no blame for that, for the lack of improvement? Or for his lineups and substitution patterns, or lack thereof?

Lastly, he has a decent floor leader in Miller, but I don't see much purpose in the offense at all.
/ morty
Morty and Moishe Recomend...

This is why he is the coach. His job is to make the basketball players better. People would die just to get his position. I don't want to hear about players. I want to see the players develop into contenders and championship. HE GETS PAYED.
I have no sympathy for a coach who can't seem to recognize that is bench out plays his starters. But insist on let the starter lose the game night in an night out.

kosmic:

exactly!

unless, of course, he's been told from above to lose games and overplaying Green, Evans, etc. is his way of doing that.

Marc-

Gotta love your straight-talk. This is the kind of beneficial reporter-blogger-reader interaction that weeds out some of the hyperreactive nonsense that goes on these days on these message boards.

So, your answer Morty would be to start a lineup of:

G Miller
G Iggy
F Young
F Smith
C Dalembert

Jason Smith would get DESTROYED by every half decent PF in the league. I mean absolutely killed. He's not strong enough, has no post up game, and has a low b-ball IQ. He brings energy, yes, but that's why he's a bench player. He'd get roasted in a starting role. Reggie Evans at least battles every night and grabs some boards. He has somewhat of an ability to neutralize the opposing 4; again though, he wouldn't be starting on 25 of the 30 teams in the league.

My adjustment would be to start Thad at the 4 and keep Willie at the 2 (at least he gives you 13 ppg and shoots around 44%, although his outside jumper is miserable). I'd be quick to bring Evans in to keep spelling Thad since he is a rookie and is not used to the major PT. In fairness to Cheeks though, Thad has only really started to step it up in the last 10 games or so. Before that, he was pretty lost on the court (not to his detriment...he's 19 years old).

Again though, no matter who you start or who you bring in off the bench, where the hell are you going to find points? That's the problem with this team. Andre Iguodala is the 1st option when he should be the 2nd or 3rd, and Andre Miller is the 2nd option when he should be the 3rd or 4th. They have no ability to score.

Dean:

I am hardly suggesting that lineup is a winner. Only that it makes more sense for the growth of our team.

We are not going to win many games no matter how you look at it. So why not actually coach and teach?

Smith seems to do well enough in the minutes he gets, why not expose him more and, ideally, learn more.

We already know Green and Evans are 10-20 minute bench players (according to how well they play any given night). So why not keep them in the roles they will fill going forward if they remain on the team?

We don't truly know yet what role Smith and Young can fill, why not find out if they can be scoring threats? Why not run plays for them? What do you have to lose?
/ morty
Morty and Moishe Recommend...

By the way, I disagree about Smith's basketball IQ, at least on offense. He seems to generally be in the right place, which is why he gets a lot of follow ups and easy layups off of a driving pass.
/ morty

Dean, I think you go a little overboard on Smith. I know you don't like him, but c'mon. He's not a regular in the rotation because he's Cheek's nephew. He's done ok. You're too hard on a guy who's only played half a season in the league. Until recently, he would get most of his points on putbacks and dives. Now he's starting to try and create for himself. You have to cut him some slack. Let him grow. Also, he can get a lot stronger. It doesn't matter what he looks like. I think he needs to get stronger in the core and his legs, especially, in order to hold position on the block. It's possible to add 10-15 lbs of muscle. It's all about wanting to do it.

The sixers need a player that can play in your face man to man defense and get the leading scores for the other team to 10 to 15 points..... If the sixers would sign Kevin Schadder they would have that shut down defender that they are missing...... Kevin Schadder needs to get signed so that the sixers could start to look to the future..... If you want to see this shut down defender in action please travel to the cvco in the valley and watch him shut down the best kept secrets in the state of PA. Kevin Schadder was one of the best defenders in the state of PA.. There was a game that kevin schadder played in where he held on the best high school player in the country to 10 points.....the player was Billy Owens.........He played Billy Owens straight man to man defense and held the all time leading score in Pa. to 10 points.....Billy Owens was a 3000 point scorer in high school... Kevin Schadder held Billy Owens to 10 points in the eastern final....

Wow, everybody and the brother is up in this piece. All I want to know is what about making a deal for a powerfoward named Wilcox and a point shooting gaurd named Bibby? can i please gets some love Mr. Marc?

For what it's worth, the advanced Hollinger PER stats at espn have smith at a 12 PER (per minute productivity) which is not great, but Evans at 9.5 PER - horrible. Interestingly, Thad is third among rookies in PER at 15.5.

By way of comparison, LeBron is at 30, Calderon at 22, Josh Smith at 20, Igoudala at 19, Green at 12.
/ morty
Morty and Moishe Recommend...

sorry, league average is 15 PER

How about getting either JJ Reddick or Delonte West for Carney or Green? Reddick is a shooter, West could play point and is smart.

What do you think?

nick caputo is wrong!!!! shaggy williams would be a wonderful addition to the sixers b/c of his ability to shake off defenders with his quick first step... (across half court when he launches wild jumpers) and his ability to bang the boards for free wings at da chicken coop!!!

shaggy williams...whose your daddy?

Orlando just said they don't see themselves moving Redick. They have a few guys heading for free agency, so he will probably inherit much more playing time. I like West. He says he's not even in the rotation in practice now. Too funny.

Trading for Nick Collison would be a nightmare because of the Base year status. The Sixers would probably need a trade exception to cover his contract, which they don't have.

WRT the Memphis deal, why would anyone want to trade for multiple players on a losing squad? On a consistently losing squad no less. Let's face it, Memphis has never been good. Some of that blame needs to be put on the shoulders of their leaders - Miller and Gasol. Remember Abdul Rahim? Everyone thought he was a star trapped on a bad team. Turns out he was just a mediocre player on a bad team.
Trading our best players for their best players will result in a change of faces only -not a change in results.
My hope is that ES is very selective on who he moves and acquires. Don't try to cure all ills with one big blockbuster involving multiple players. That NEVER works out. If you can grab Collison for a pick, do it. If you can snare Gasol for Sammy and 1, that might be worthwhile.

Shaggy would have been a nice addition a few years back. However, he is now more concerned with being a color analyst for local high school basketball games. On his spare time, Shaggy is reading articles about how great Chester, St. Benedict's, St. Patrick's, Blair Academy, Central Dauphin East, and Prep Charter are this season. He has a lot on his hands right now.

Listen, we all that Mo will not be back next year. That's pretty much a given, unless the team makes a miraculous push into the playoffs. If he makes the playoffs, Ed S. can't really fire the guy.

That said, my whole point here is that Cheeks cannot be blamed for this talentless team and the moves that have happened since he's been here. I'm not saying that he's good or bad, but his ultimate job as HEAD COACH is to win as many basketball games as he can with the talent given to him. Agreed? He's starting the lineup that he thinks can win him the most games.

In terms of teaching the younger guys...to me it seems that Iguodala has developed very nicely in Mo's time here and Sam has gotten better every year. The only guy who hasn't really gotten any better is Rodney Carney. Remember, Iggy's first 2.5 years consisted of Iverson taking 30 shots again and dominating the ball.

Dean:

If you believe the PER stats, (and your eyes), Smith and Young give you more than Evans and Green. That is a bad coaching decision to play the later more than the former.

Agreed that Mo is in a bad situation, but he does not seem to be making the best of it, in my opinion.

Both AI and Sammy have improved, though I would argue that its is mostly due to extended playing time, but you could make the case for Mo there if you want.

Honestly, im more concerned with smith getting his balance and footwork down than getting his wieght up. His problem in getting knocked around is more a fuction of positioning and planting the feet, and as craig says, in the core strength. As for the wieght thing, there's no reason a 23 year old with that build cant put on 10-15 lbs with the right strength coaching. He's cut, but by no means maxed out. These are fixable problems. Give the guy some time, we'll see what happens. Im not calling him the next dirk, but there is definitely room to grow and i think surprise a lot of people, IF he works hard at it with the right coaching.