2023-2024 Sixers Season

[phillychuck]

Given their championship odds are probably very low, even if Jo is fully recovered, I wonder if they will just punt this year and look to do trades/signings in the offseason? The Springer, Beverly, and House trades really do look like punting...

BTW, I don't think we are allowed to reaquire any of the guys we traded, unless Morris' second trade voids this rule:

"A team cannot reacquire a player they traded away during that season (a season being July 1 - June 30). If he is waived by his new team, then he cannot re-sign with his original team until the one-year anniversary of the trade, or until the July 1 following the end of his contract, whichever comes first."

[zambonir]

The sell-offs (Beverly more than Springer or House) were more about luxury tax and signing implications for the off-season as the buyout market. Still can't say they punted when they acquired Hield and another PG. And it still seems like Lowry is coming. They will just have to soldier through w/o another big potentially. But the team should look pretty different with Hield and Maxey and Harris vs. with just Maxey and Harris.

I'm not sure they would have done anything differently, in terms of acquisition, with Joel. They needed some things with or without him. For sure his injury made them more aggressive about taking the longer view (for instance when Morey told Pat Bev he wasn't getting traded, Joel had not yet been re-injured or even pulled from that game in Denver).

Seems to me that in addition to the things they get (or aren't penalized for) by being under the tax they may well also have enough room to do Maxey's extension and keep Hield and sign or sign-and-trade for another major FA, unless Hield's desired contract is unreasonable.

[phillychuck]

Scuttlebutt has Heild being worth about $25M annually.

[zambonir]

$25 M isn't really that much though I suppose between that and Maxey's new deal there wouldn't be room for another big number. Really just depends what/who is available.

Also:

Morris is ineligible to return to the Sixers because he went to San Antonio via a three-way trade, not via consecutive trades to Indiana and then the Spurs.

Keep an eye on these 34 players as the NBA's buyout market gets going

[bkeich]

Sixers are barely holding off a late surge from the laughably bad Wizards tonight. Without Embiid I am starting to fear they may end up in the play in, they are really a bad team without him.

[zambonir]

It's entirely possible they will be in the play-in, of course. But they had no Maxey and a sick Maxey the last two games, the new guys just got here, and it's not just Joel - they need Batum and Melton back too. Even Covington, limited though he might be now. might be part of a bench minutes puzzle.

The play-in itself, while risky, isn't the real problem. Sure, Miami got to the finals last year from it, but hard to see the Sixers knocking off Boston or Milwaukee in the first round unless Joel is completely good to go by then.

It's kind of sad really. Nurse is better than Doc, Joel was having another insane season, Harden isn't really missed and the bench had some bright spots, but the Sixers are definitely not the third-best team in the East and maybe not fourth of fifth either. Actually being sixth still the key but either way a first-round loss will be very much on the table.

[zambonir]

https://twitter.com/PrioritySports/status/1756521535416721648

Lowry self-announces

[bigegypt0417]

The Sixers are precisely what you would expect them to be without Embiid...a near .500 team.

That isn't a bad team...they are just woefully average.

[zambonir]

Well, in the big picture, with the trade adds and full health otherwise, yeah - hopefully. But in reality they are 5-13 without him. Last year, they were 11-5.

[xogfog]

Hield and Macey have looked good together, shorthanded Sixers (no Harris) hold on to beat Cavs tonight. 2-1 since Hield trade.

[bkeich]

Maxey playing in the NBA All Star game.

At halftime the score is 104-89. Halftime. 200 possible?

Maxey has 2 of the 3 FT so far. There were 2 total fouls in the first half. Not exactly a highly contested game.

[Purduke]

Hard to commit a foul when you're not allowed to get within 6 feet of an opponant. Should rename it "The Covid Game."

[allentown]

No, it's a case of an in-season AS game in what has become much a much more physical contact sport. This isn't like the baseball AS game. This is the coaches and owners saying "if you want my star players while I'm trying to win, then you had better bubble-wrap them". It's a very ill-considered schedule. This game, if it is to continue, needs to be at the end of the season.

[zambonir]

Funny, the Aldridge Athletic story I read today talked about how the real games aren't physical enough either. That they need to start allowing more contact/call fewer fouls to get some defense back into the game, because 40 points is the new 25 points and it's not just due to threes (though it starts there, obviously).

[VoteForKalas]

This game, if it is to continue, needs to be at the end of the season.

I think most players would not show up if it was after the season.

I think the NHL and NFL have it mostly right; make it a skills competition and then some type of clear exhibition game. For the NHL, it is the 3 on 3 and with the NFL it is flag football.

[phillychuck]

I think the NHL and NFL have it mostly right; make it a skills competition and then some type of clear exhibition game. For the NHL, it is the 3 on 3 and with the NFL it is flag football.

Absolutely! 3 on 3 basketball has always been a hoot to watch, for example.

[bkeich]

Yes, but 3x3 is way, way too physical. There would be injuries.

The NBA all star game has always been a joke, but with the proliferation of 3 pt shooting it is now really laughable as half court shots in the flow of the “game” actually don’t seem that unreasonable.

Some type of skills competition, or just frankly having the guys play EA Sports would be reasonable. A bunch of games of Horse would be interesting.

[phillychuck]

The NFL is now playing flag football, which also can lead to injuries. ACL tears are often non-contact, and occur in flag football all the time.

I'd like to see the NBA at least attempt to give us real basketball despite the injury risk. Modify the rules to increase safety. The NBA guys play off-season pick-up games all the time at a quite competitive level. Guys get injured there, too, but not all that frequently. There should be a way to fix this...

[xogfog]

NBA players can get hurt in practice, pre-game warmups and off season pick up games, let alone pre-season and in season games, so if they get hurt in the All-Star game, so be it. The way to improve the All-Star game is to offer a large cash prize to the winning team. Money is the only thing that would make a current NBA player exert any real effort.

[zambonir]

Sam Amick, senior writer: Here’s the problem with the idea of an All-Star Game bonus (bigger than the $100,000 they already get for winning), losers get $25,000, and the comparison to the IST: The $500,000 IST prize is big enough to matter to lower-level players, and we saw All-Stars who make $30 million-plus a year decide to care in large part because their teammates who make so much less had a chance to make impactful cash. But in an All-Star Game, where they all make so much already, what the hell kind of number would it take to have a similar effect on the competitiveness? Seriously, are we talking about an extra $5 million to $10 million per guy?

Jon Greenberg, Chicago-based columnist: OK, one more idea: Everyone talks about upping the prize money, but what if the losing players had to pay the prize money to the winners? Does that do anything for you?

How can the NBA fix the All-Star Game? Our writers share their ideas

I think the consensus there is the same as here, there doesn't really need to be a traditional game. The skills contests have long overshadowed the game itself and when you don't play defense the game itself also becomes a skills contest!