Grading the Deal : A New Beggining In Philadelphia - PH1LLYSFINEST13's Blog

PH1LLYSFINEST13's Blog

Grading the Deal : A New Beggining In Philadelphia

Posted on July 3, 2013 at 08:56 PM.

Things have changed so much from about 20 years ago when it comes to building an organization. Granted , Im only 23, every time a discussion comes up about blowing a team up , or as its called now a days,"tanking" , I see resistance in the old school crowd , and I hear clamoring from those who just don't want to consider taking a step back to get ahead. Isnt that what growth is though? Falling down to get back up and go farther than you did the last time? Stepping outside of your comfort zone as a GM , a coach , or maybe just a passionate fan. Accepting a new approach. This is what the Sixers fan base HAS to do at this point after the NBA Draft night.

At this point , everybody knows about it , everyone has read at least one article on it , and it is still debated as to whether or not the Philadelphia 76ers should have traded away All Star Point Guard Jrue Holiday.
Draft night he was declared "untouchable" and Sixers fans were wondering who we were going to draft to pair with him. The next thing you know, He's gone - for a player with another bad knee.

Now before I go off and tell you why in the end this trade is a move in the right direction for the 76ers as an organization , I will say this : As a diehard fan of the team and a huge fan of Jrue , not only on the court but off the court, it killed me. The first 2 hours , I was just sickly feeling knowing we had traded away the best player on our team for Noel. This was no knock on Noel , just the fact that we lost a 18 and 8ast all star pg.

All this has settled in and days later I am more excited about this franchise than I have been since Iverson was putting the team on his back... literally. We have a clear direction. The truth of the matter is , if we keep Jrue than we are stuck in mediocrity. With the way the salary cap is , and the team constructed around him , we really couldn't acquire more than one player that would be on a max contract because of paying Jrue 44million , Thaddeus Young right around that 40 million dollar range and then the debacle that was Andrew Bynum. You figure Bynum leaves and then you acquire another big name who is going to require max money whether it be Al Jefferson or Josh Smith or maybe even you resign Bynum. Even with all that , you are looking at a team that is somewhere between a 5 and 8 seed next year when you consider the Pacers , Bulls , Nets , Knicks , and obviously Miami to all be getting better or staying the same. I didnt even mention the fact that a few of those teams will be getting key players back from injury. So that raises the question - Is Jrue and Bynum good enough to take you to the finals? Thats all you want as a team is a chance to compete in the Finals.

Now Hinkie , a student of Daryl Morey who is currently putting together what appears to be a very competitive squad over in Houston ( especially when/if the land Dwight Howard), and Hinkie comes in and being a number guy , decides to blow this team up. We end up getting Nerlens Noel , who could very well end up being a Joahkim Noah type of player , if he develops a jumper maybe a Kevin Garnett type of player( not saying he will be a first ballot hall of famer like KG , but long lean body with a mid range game and a defensive player) maybe he isnt good at all and ends up being Larry Sanders( no knock on Larry who had a breakout year last year). The bottom line is , you have a big man who can hold down the paint.
Part of this trade as well , we got New Orleans 1st round draft pick ( top 5 protected) in next years draft.

We then went on to draft a true 6'6 pass first point guard in Michael Carter Williams. MCW did not shoot well at all his last year in college , but truthfully the mechanics are there and I see no reason why he cannot develop a jump shot. He is great defensively and I look to see him put up some good numbers as he progresses.

All that to say we lost our best player , but we are building for the future. We have a young , athletic point guard who is a legit 6'6 and more athletic than Jrue. We have what could pan out to be a franchise big man, and we have potentially 2 top 10 picks in next years deep draft class. This is the new way of building in the NBA. Through the draft and "tanking". I hate losing. I can accept losing if we are trying hard and developing a young team because that is growth.

I just want to throw this possibility out there - Lets say we get Andrew Wiggins in next years draft. Lets say that Noel turns out to be a guy who can average 18 and 12 with 3.5 blocks a game. Then to top it off , lets say MCW ends up being a 9ast per night point guard. We have all these players and cap room... There is no way as a Sixer fan you cant be excited.

In the end , the Sixers will be worse right now , but they have set themselves up for the future. I give the Sixers draft day trades a B+ and the Pelicans draft day trades a B-. When both teams think they have won the deal , it was a pretty good trade.

Thanks for reading. Leave comments in the section below - Do you thinking tanking is the new way to build? Or can a team build through the free agency?
Name a recent team that has done a good job of building through Free Agency
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