2019-2020 Sixers Season/Offseason

phillychuck 2020-02-26 19:06:53 UTC #383

We are not maxed out cap-wise unless they run it back. Harris is tradeable for equal value; Horford is tradeable for reduced value, but he's worth trading for if you're a team like the Rockets with a gaping hole in the middle. Richardson has a lot of trade value. You could dump all those guys for draft picks and have a lot of flexibility. If you're really worried about the cap you could get an immense haul for Embiid.

zambonir 2020-02-26 19:16:44 UTC #384

I don't think Harris is tradeable for equal value. You'd end up taking a couple of pieces of trash to make the money work, and might not even get as good a player. But certainly they are not stuck with this group next year.

It's certainly not untrue that Brand has built a mega-talented roster, but the pieces don't fit each other, or, perhaps, the coach, and that's on him. The plan was also to have such a dominant starting five (especially on defense) that the lack of a shooter and the thin bench wouldn't matter and while the bench has actually been better than expected, that hasn't been the case.

I don't really blame Brand himself for anything, he had to clean up the Colangelo/no GM mess. But better GMs also weren't going to get the job (either because they didn't want it or Harris didn't want anyone with real power. Even if he has made Brand the coach's boss finally).

Lawman 2020-02-27 00:55:07 UTC #385

Embiid seems to have hurt his shoulder.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-27 01:34:28 UTC #386

Shoulder sprain.

Done for the night.

frylock 2020-02-27 02:18:20 UTC #387

We basically were forced to keep at least one of Butler / Harris... not sure if Butler would've stayed at all regardless of offer (tend to agree there was more behind the scenes as someone else alluded to). I definitely want Brown gone and find him to be a big problem; however, Brand is certainly not absolved from the Horford signing. That signing seemed to imply he believes Simmons is a point guard, which I firmly believe he is not (not a good one in the playoffs in the half-court, anyway). And that's not even counting that Horford looks in year one like we feared he'd look in year three/four. I believe Simmons to be a point forward who should push in transition and be primarily in the paint in the half-court offense. You literally can't be a good playoff point guard if you can't / won't shoot -- see the Boston series a few years ago when we had to actually start T.J. McConnell in a playoff game due to the ineffectiveness of Ben.

Bummer to see Joel go down too. What a season this has been (ugh).

nycphils 2020-02-27 02:30:01 UTC #388

Put aside everything else, tonight a team with two near max guys (Harris and Horford) and Richardson got smoked by Cleveland. Those guys just aren’t good enough.

zambonir 2020-02-27 02:44:28 UTC #389

That was about as bad a start to this six-game (and five road-game) stretch as they could have had. Lose one of the easy ones, lose Joel on night one of a back-to-back.

I don't think a new coach is going to be able to make Ben change positions (or make Ben change anything). Ben's in charge. That's also the implication of any unknown Butler drama. They had to pick one or the other. You stop playing Ben at guard and you could have kept Butler. Of course these issues also go back to the Fultz disaster.

nycphils 2020-02-27 02:51:50 UTC #390

Yep, Fultz is the trigger for the churn and the problems. De’Aaron Fox or Jonathan Isaac or Laurie Markkenen would look pretty good right now instead of the disaster we got.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-27 04:30:16 UTC #391

Fultz is turning a corner with the magic...which is great for him...depressing for a sixers fan.

zambonir 2020-02-27 04:33:48 UTC #392

The kid probably needed a change of scenery but it would be less depressing if last year's moves, in total, were still working out better this year.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-27 14:11:24 UTC #393

Hoping on some good news today on Embiid because if he's missing any time this season could be cooked.

Brett Brown will be a very good NBA coach but I don't think it's going to be here. I don't know who the next coach will be but i hope it's someone who knows how to work puzzle pieces better than BB.

zambonir 2020-02-27 19:52:48 UTC #394

We can always fear the worst but they are calling it a sprain, he might not even be in enough pain where an MRI is called for. Seem like it would also be bruised.

If it actually could be a more serious tear, there's no good scenario. Either he'd need a lot of time to heal or he'd have to play through it before maybe having surgery after the season. Surgery now presumably ends his season.

Honestly it will be interesting to see what happens with Brown if the season goes down the tubes because while the public drumbeat won't change to some extent these injuries provide him some cover. But Brand also needs to cover his own mistakes, and Harris already didn't seem to have Brown's back last year (and supposedly it's up to Brand now).

zambonir 2020-02-28 06:22:17 UTC #395

Dirk41 2020-02-28 10:15:19 UTC #396

David Fizdale or Jay Wright?

Udoka is another option but if you are going to clean house. Clean it.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-28 14:28:27 UTC #397

Wright should never leave Villanova.

I'm not sure about Fizdale...his time with the knicks was a disaster.

How about Jerry Stackhouse?

Dirk41 2020-02-28 17:25:23 UTC #398

That is more on the Knicks than Fizdale. He remains one of the most well liked coaches in the league and it's hard to find anyone available who can manage personalities like he from his time with the Heat. This team is what it is and you need someone to manage the personalities and make it work.

zambonir 2020-02-28 17:39:12 UTC #399

Two-time loser though. Definitely one of those guys insiders still think is a good coach but can you really sell that to WIP? And it's not like he was Miami's head coach.

I think Brown is probably just fine at managing the personalities. It's just that our personalities aren't superstars (night-in, night-out), and they don't have a good team around them.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-28 17:39:49 UTC #400

if you're trying to sell it to WIP...you're doing it wrong.

rpmcmurphy 2020-02-28 17:41:43 UTC #401

Amen to that.

zambonir 2020-02-28 17:43:08 UTC #402

Well I would say any time you fire a coach who's actually not failing per se (winning percentage this year is same as last year and roster is a mess) you are pandering to what the lowest common denominator fans and media want. If you make change for the sake of change it has to be a PR success and if it's not you might not want to do it.