2020-21-22 Sixers Season

zambonir 2021-06-27 01:27:32 UTC #421

To me, this is itself panicking. Ben may not be a max superstar but he's still an elite, incredibly talented all-star and DPOY candidate. Yeah, the disaster playoff trumps almost the entire regular season right now, but the season still happened, his defensive impact was still real and teams will still be lining up to try to fix him, and/or surround him with a roster that better fits his talents. And you can pretty much only trade him for other big (and lavishly compensated talents). Sure, they need to be sincerely willing to keep him because it might be the best option, and so as to not get forced into a Wentz-type deal (though most never thought the Eagles would even do that well). But I still think there will be options. And more options than if you're trying to trade Harris, which is the only other way to really upgrade the team (doing so could potentially bring back a scorer to better complement Ben, or open up the door to stop playing Ben at point guard per se).

VoteForKalas 2021-06-27 17:02:44 UTC #422

phillychuck:

Allegedly bloviation originated with Warren G. Harding. One of his political opponents referred to it as "an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea".

According to World Wide Words, though: "The word is actually much older than Harding; Fred Shapiro of the Yale Law School has recently turned up several examples from the middle of the last century, such as this one from the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the Constitution of the State of Ohio in 1851: “The bloviators attempt to disturb the proceedings of this Convention”. This and other examples suggest it was at first a local word in Ohio, Harding’s home state. Bloviate may be a back-formation from the noun bloviation. This would fit with the US fashion in the early nineteenth century for expansive mock-Latinate words like sockdolager, hornswoggle and absquatulate."

Hornswaggle is another personal fave. I've never seen absquatulate; I'm trying to find a place to use it...for now I'll have to absquatulate without doing so!

I love words too, fascinating PC. It had been quite a while since I've heard hornswaggle and have never heard absquatulate or sockdolager. English is such a rich melting pot language. I read The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester again recently; putting together the OED was ridiculously hard but such a gift to humanity.

Balderdash and hogwash are other favs of mine.

bigegypt0417 2021-06-27 18:06:47 UTC #423

The last scenario is crap but some interesting ideas here....

https://thesixersense.com/2021/06/27/sixers-ben-simmons-golden-state-warriors-trade-look/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

https://twitter.com/PHLSixersNation/status/1409203940554690568?s=19

Simmons has a significant value still...

zambonir 2021-06-28 00:27:38 UTC #424

With what's going on in Portland right now we could end up with Lillard yet.

The thing about the NBA is, star players still get what they want, and while everyone in the league saw Ben's struggles, and how frustrated Joel and Seth Curry were with him, a lot of them would still probably want him on their team. And it would be equally interesting to see Joel try to recruit. And then they all just end up in LA or NY.

gmwannabe 2021-06-28 14:36:32 UTC #425

PC, i agree with your post on the other thread. i want to keep Maxey and Thybulle. i think Maxey has a shot to be a real good player in the league. Give him the ball and let him go and i would not give up on Simmons, just yet. if they can get a great deal for him maybe, but not at the expense of the young players.
gm

zambonir 2021-06-28 15:45:09 UTC #426

I suspect Maxey is a goner, especially if they keep Ben. He could be a really special player in two years, but by then the championship window could be closing on Joel's body. If they do trade Ben I certainly don't think you have to include Maxey to get a good return. The value you'll be losing in the Ben trade will end up being more about the fact that you are getting a much older player back.

gmwannabe 2021-06-28 16:55:19 UTC #427

Yes, but how old?

flyers19rw 2021-06-28 17:30:40 UTC #428

Simmons is a poster child of what's wrong with many NBA players. He's a great fantastic athlete but not a good basketball player, to which his shooting verifies. So many players can run, catch, pass and jump with the best of them but they can't shoot much. When a player can't hit a wide open fifteen foot shot, which is what a free throw is, they're not good basketball players. This is nothing new with Simmons. He has never shot the ball well at any level that he has played.

bigegypt0417 2021-06-28 17:55:49 UTC #429

Ben Simmons is a great defender, an excellent creator and can also rebound.

To say he's not a good basketball player is silly.

His weakness is his lack of aggressiveness and he's afraid to shoot from the outside.

Ben Simmons has had an extremely tough time off the court with issues around his sister and it may have caught up with his performance.

It may be also time for him to play somewhere else but it is simply not accurate to say he's not a good basketball player...if he actually played as well as he did this season, the sixers are playing the bucks right now.

zambonir 2021-06-28 19:53:17 UTC #430

Well, yeah it has to at least be the 28-31 year old guys, not the likes of Lowry or Paul. But who knows

The other thing to watch will be Joel's extension, since he's eligible for more $ right now from making second team all-NBA.

VoteForKalas 2021-06-29 12:46:44 UTC #431

Yes, this is what will be the real marker for the 76ers. If I'm Embiid, I make it clear that extending here depends on the moves the 76ers make to win. Embiid wants a ring and will likely pursue it somewhere else if he believes it will not happen with the 76ers.

The dilemma for Morey is, whether Simmons has significant trade value or not, the real question is will/can Simmons ever fully develop as a player or not. The answer makes it clear what should be done.

bigegypt0417 2021-06-29 13:27:36 UTC #432

Embiid is under contract for two more years so i think he doesn't control as much as you think he does. Embiid should also focus on learning how not to fall all over the place and keep himself healthy.

zambonir 2021-06-29 14:05:24 UTC #433

Oh, I think Embiiid holds most of the cards most of the cards, though at the same I also don't think there's any scenario in which he turns down the extension, because if he gets hurt next year and doesn't make all-NBA he's leaving money on the table, and only the Sixers can pay him the most money ever anyway.

He will be pushing the Sixers to do it no matter what, and if the Sixers don't do it, and also don't fix things this season, he'll be pushing for a trade. The question is is that really a bad thing for the Sixers compared to committing even more money to him as he ages.

But such a scenario is also reason to still hold on to Ben. At 24 years old, he may not "fully develop" until he's 27 or 28, just like Lebron and Magic. He's just got a much lower current ceiling, and the Sixers may have a much shorter championship window with Joel

bigegypt0417 2021-06-29 14:09:41 UTC #434

This is exactly the biggest issue! Do you really want embiid at that money in 3 years?

Or do you explore your options now?

zambonir 2021-06-29 14:22:52 UTC #435

You explore anything, but the idea of choosing Ben over Joel as the centerpiece of your franchise doesn't look so good right now. Which is not to say it's out of the question, if the player you get for Joel is your new centerpiece (and Ben is your center).

But these things are also PR and fan base driven. Keeping Ben and trading Joel would be one of the most unpopular moves in Philly sports history. Not that Morey should make moves based on public sentiment, but I don't know that his bosses are immune. They're not going to want to trade the face of the franchise.

Of course, ownership may also still want to keep Ben rather than admit he's Fultz 1.0 (though the trade return would be completely different).

bkox 2021-06-29 14:27:40 UTC #436

The voice of the 76ers, @marczumoff , announces his retirement.

Read his letter to you, the fans ️ https://t.co/xOc0uW3QZq
— NBC Sports Philadelphia ( @NBCSPhilly ) June 29, 2021

bigegypt0417 2021-06-29 14:40:41 UTC #437

You would definitely have to bring back a centerpiece to make such a move...but who are those players?

Embiid is a little older than Simmons so i would imagine you may get a 30 year old and then some draft capital? He would have to bring an AD type haul...

zambonir 2021-06-29 15:14:33 UTC #438

I mean, it's a short list, and of players who aren't necessarily available. Just look at the All-NBA teams of the past couple of years really. Lillard would be the obvious one (for a lot of reasons).

bigegypt0417 2021-06-29 15:17:47 UTC #439

So is lillard enough?

Do you get more interested in Lillard and Powell?

zambonir 2021-06-29 15:21:29 UTC #440

Or Lillard and Nurk. But I don't think the Blazers can do either of those things. And if Dame leaves he'll be forcing his way out, and probably not choosing Philly.

Ben for McCollum but with the Blazers throwing in more still probably makes a fair amount of sense. but McCollum is more of a Harris-level talent (albeit at a position the Sixers still need to fill).