POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Philadelphia 76ers

Felipe M

Had a good, but very long conversation about the future of the NBA with fellow basketball fan, and diehard New York Knicks' fan, Hasan R.  The following is our thoughts on the state of the Philadelphia 76ers

Felipe: I've always like the 76ers, but they're always missing something, I'm just not sure what exactly that is.  But they have up-and-comers JrueHoliday and Evan Turner.  They also have some good talent with guys like Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen to a lesser extent.  Not sure what Jason Richardson can still bring for next season.  However, they’re getting a new coach and already have a President/GM in Sam Hinkie (formerly of the Houston Rockets). So I think Philly’s arrow is pointing up.

Hasan: Totally counted out the 76ers, but you reminded me a lot of what makes them a threat going forward.  This year was the first in a rebuilding phase anyway with Andre Iguodala gone and if Andrew Bynum actually plays for the 76ers, they have a lethal team.  Not exactly NBA championship caliber, but one that is setting itself up with a good core that should hit its stride in late 2014/early 2015.  If they can draft a wing player in the mold of Iguodala, this could be a lethal team. 

Felipe: Technically, the 76ers have been rebuilding for a few years now.  Yes, they have made the playoffs, but haven’t had a winning season since 2004-05.  And I really don’t see Bynum ever suiting up for Philly and they would have to be absolutely desperate to want him this bad.  I have to question his heart and his degenerative knees.  And the 76ers didn’t do much when they had Iguodala with the team so I doubt getting another player in that mold will help much.  I would actually suggest getting a big man (maybe a guy like Cody Zeller as his stock seems to be dropping) would prove to be helpful, but then again, it depends what kind of coach they will hire.

Hasan: They have most definitely been rebuilding for a few years and sadly this last season was a lost one.  I understand your concern with Bynum, but my above idea for Philly was that they DO manage to re-sign Bynum, and that he suits up and then you've got the 76ers vying for a dynamic wing to pair up with Evan Turner. Then hopefully get some veteran presence and they may even be able to compete for a low playoff seed this upcoming season.  

That being said, let's think about what happens if they fail to retain Bynum.  Not only does that Bynum trade look absolutely horrific in retrospect (not like the trade didn't look bad enough when it was made), but it also means that it's time to tear it all down. If Bynum is gone the most likely draft pick for them would be Cody Zeller or even Kelly Olynyk.  That also makes their second round picks extremely valuable because the best way to rebuild is through the draft.

Sadly, it is a bit tough to really judge this team without a basketball coach because we still aren't too sure about the style of play they will employ. Holding out against hope that they manage to re-sign Bynum and go ahead with my earlier idea, if only for the sheer fun it would be to watch Bynum and Holiday play together. 

Felipe: At least we agree on the 76ers needing a new coach in order for us to gauge which direction they will go in terms of personnel.  I definitely have to disagree with you on Andrew Bynum.  His best days are behind him and I just don’t see him wanting to stay in Philly and Philly would do itself a favor by looking elsewhere to start another rebuilding project.  Luckily for them, their new GM is a statistical analytics guy and hopefully, that will make him see that re-signing Bynum will prove to be a mistake.

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2012 RANDOM NBA THOUGHTS: Vol, 1

Felipe M

Pretty eventul night last night in the NBA, including the NBA's YouTube page hitting the 1 billion views mark.  The Following are random, quick thoughts about the NBA, based on the games from December 10, 2012.

Detroit Pistons @ Philadelphia 76ers: Any real NBA fan knew that the day would have to come when the Sixers would be forced to trade Andre Iguodala, but I myself was shocked to see him be traded this past offseason.  I expected it to be during this season, but the Sixers might have done themselves a favor by jumping the gun on that particular transaction.  

They sit comfortably at 12-9, but even better--seeing Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner benefit from the trade to solidify Philly's backcourt has been the real treat.  Holiday has seen his scoring and playmaking production go up this season while Turner went from being a near bust after his second season, to finally finding his groove and no longer having to scavenge for minutes--this year, he's getting all the minutes he can handle and finding new-found liberties to handle and being creative with the ball.  The results has seen Turner scoring more, rebounding more, getting more assists, and being more comfortable to shoot from beyond the arc (45.9% from 3-point range as opposed to never topping 32% in his first two seasons).  

Golden State Warriors @ Charlotte Bobcats: The Warriors are 14-7 so far this season. They are 5th in the league in Rebound Differential, 11th in scoring, and are tied for third in Turnover Differential.  Not bad for a team that has had a reputation for being a careless team with the ball, who are more interested in running up and down the court, and only focus is to put up as many shots and points in the shortest amount of time.  Clearly, head coach Mark Jackson is finally molding this team into his vision.  This is also a team that lost fan favorite and scoring machine, Monta Ellis. Many pundits thought that the move would put a lot of pressure on young and seemingly brittle Stephen Curry.  All Curry has done is average 20.1 PPG, 4 RPG, 6.5 APG, and shooting 43.3% from beyond the arc. And now that he doesn't have to share with Ellis, Curry has established himself as one of the more exciting players in the NBA as well.  

Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat: Hawks are now 0-2 against the Heat this season.  However, this does not take away from the fact that the Hawks are having a good season as cornerstone players like Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague are carrying this team despite having seen Joe Johnson get traded to Brooklyn this past offseason.  Smith, who demanded a trade back in the spring of this year, is now being rumored to be working with the Hawks on a new contract extension and in a recent nationally televised game on ESPN, there was a lot of on-air discussion about bringing in Dwight Howard to complement the trio of Teague, Horford, and J-Smoove.

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets: All I have to say that the older Spurs still looked pretty fresh in last night's overtime game, while Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Carlos Delfino, and Chandler Parsons looked absolutely exhausted as the Spurs ran away with the OT victory last night.

Sacramento Kings @ Dallas Mavericks: What can I say, it's the Kings being the Kings posting 19 turnovers in this game.  Meanwhile for the Mavs, not only is it good to see O.J. Mayo rise up from reaching quasi-draft-bust levels, but he's been a prolific scorer (20.8 PPG), and seeing an increase in field goal, 3-point percentage, and APG.

Toronto Raptors @ Portland Trail Blazers: It's a shame that this game had to be over-shadowed by stupidity and nonsense that knucklehead player Amir Johnson pulled off in last night's game.  Like a spoiled kid who whines when he doesn't get his way, Johnson was trying to hold on to the ball after a J.J. Hickson free-throw for what seemed to be a long period of time.  When the official was trying to take away the ball so Hickson can attempt his second free-throw, Johnson inexplicably refused to give up the ball and was clearly angered when the ref tried to take the ball away.  He soon erupted when the official ejected him from the game, which resulted in Johnson hunting down the ref and throwing his mouth guard at the official.  The NBA is full of stupid players who do stupid things on and off the court, but getting into a potential physical quarrel with an NBA referee is just plain foolish.

For more NBA, read our review of the top 40 players coming into the 2012 season.