>Sixers looking at new GM targets, but may keep interim structure> by Wojnarowski
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24492287/philadelphia-76ers-expanding-gm-search-not-hire-one
hmm that doesn't seem wise to me. They didn't get close with Lebron, Leonard or George and had their biggest free agent signing (Bejlica) renege on his deal. I wonder if they would have had a better summer with a top flight gm.
I doubt it. George decided to re-sign with OKC before free agency started. He didn't even give the Lakers a chance and they were the team George was supposed destined for. The Spurs traded Leonard for an established all-start. They didn't young talent/picks whether it was from the Sixers or the Lakers. There was no decision for Lebron this time. He clearly was going to the Lakers unless they screwed the pooch. As for Bjelica, he reneged on a 1 year/4.5M contract for a 3 year/20.5M contract (2 years guaranteed).
Tell me how a top flight GM, even Danny, could have or should have done anything different in any of those situations. What the Sixers did do when they couldn't get any of their top targets was only sign 1 year contracts and make trades that allowed them to maintain their cap space for 2019.
There's no reason for the Sixers to rush their GM search. It is much more important to find the right person who will fit into their approach and be able to work well with the people they have in place including coach Brown.
I would have bet a 1000 dollars there would be a post from you within 24 hours explaining why everything was fine with the 76ers. Its pretty comedic at this point.
In my opinion, a realistic take on 76ers
Positives of summer: Embiid, Simmons healthy
Fultz back to playing basketball
Landed future first round pick on draft day
Resigned Reddick
Acquired Wilson chandler who gives them some wing versatility
Negatives
Struck out on their star hunting despite having second best odds to get George, Lebron entering the summer
Lost bench depth in Illy and Bellinelli that they know fit in their system and liked playing there
First round pick injured and may miss large part of season, developmental time
Could have used more shooting (Bjelica would have helped, Chandler pretty average shooter)
I will also add that it is really moving the goalposts to act like there were not tons of people thought the 76ers had a great chance of getting Lebron and others entering the offseason
https://www.libertyballers.com/2018/6/4/17427100/how-likely-are-the-sixers-to-sign-lebron-james
https://www.libertyballers.com/2018/5/10/17341480/sixers-with-3rd-highest-odds-as-destination-for-paul-george
https://www.libertyballers.com/2018/7/9/17548650/kawhi-only-wants-to-play-for-one-easten-conference-team
As a Celtics fan, you should be happy they didn't get this guys. It is a great relief for them staying a tier below us. Why is it so difficult for you to be happy about it and admit it was bad for them?
Funny you are the one that keeps posting about the Sixers. I just reply to put some reality into the picture. Posting Liberty Baller links to speculative media and betting house odds doesn't mean anything. Liberty Ballers site is much worse than it was a couple years ago. The media wants eyeballs and the betting houses want peoples' money. The fact that OKC planned a party to announce George's re-signing at the stroke of free agency should tell anyone with half a brain that the Sixers and the other 28 teams (including the Lakers who had the highest odds according to your link) had no chance at George.
Unless you think the Sixers should have matched the contracts that Bjelica, Illy or Belinelli got, what is the point of bringing them up? The reality is that the Sixers offering them anything other than 1 year deals would have been a stupid move. The reality is that Illy and Beli weren't particularly good in last year's playoffs. The reality is Chandler and Muscala should basically offset losing Illy and Beli. I wouldn't expect Muscala to be useful in the playoffs but Chandler might be.
Everything basically is fine with the Sixers as far as it is possible to tell. Now maybe Embiid gets hurt again, maybe Simmons has spent too much time on Kylie Jenner and not enough time improving his basketball skills and maybe Fultz gets the yips again when he has to play in an actual NBA game.
That doesn't mean the Sixers didn't screw up some things. Their PR is a disaster. Unless you're a con man (cough... Trump), you're supposed to under sell and over deliver. You don't keep talking about star hunting. You don't fly out to LA to meet unless Lebron is actually going to attend the meeting. When you miss out on Lebron, you don't talk about how close you were regardless of how close you actually were. If you were close, that means you screwed up and couldn't close the deal. As opposed to, we made a great pitch but Lebron's interests and goals at this point in his career better aligned with him being in Los Angeles.
As far as their moves, I said at the time that I didn't really like the Bjelica move and would have gone after Wayne Ellington. He would have been a good Beli replacement and he only got 1yr/6.5M from the Heat. The Sixers only had the room exception (1yr/4.5M) but I would have done a 2nd year with a partial guarantee if necessary.