Phili is way ahead of us on the rebuild

[Endless Paradise]

The Celtics are in a better position for a quick rebuild.  The 76ers are in a better position for a long-term rebuild.

Boston has an easier path towards putting a playoff team on the floor that might contend within a season or two.  The 76ers are more likely to have a young player who will develop into a franchise cornerstone, but that will take a few years.

There you go.

[colincb]

I think Philly's way ahead of us on the road to perdition.  Who knows what will happen, but they've taken an extremely risky road built upon IF piled upon IF piled upon IF.  For the next 2 years this will likely be the worst team in the NBA.  Saric may well re-sign in Turkey after 2 years rather than come over to a mess. Embiid is 2-3 years away IF healthy. Their talent on the floor last year was the worst in the NBA and their team was one of the worst in NBA history.  They weren't tanking on the floor like we did losing a lot of games in the 4th quarter. The Sixers were getting blown out. MCW getting ROY was one of the bigger jokes I've seen and Philly began peddling him after the season ended.

Going forward, Philly's future picks are worse than the average team. Yet they don't have a team now. They have to develop what they have in what's going to be a tanking/losing culture. It?s novel approach which sounds good to some, but it also means it's untried. It's very controversial and a lot of people outside this forum and the Sixer fanbase think it isn't going to work.

The secret of basketball isn't about basketball. Philadelphia's depending on a lot of people hanging together when they're tanking despite the inherent NBA pull of money and stats that works against team cohesion. Hinkie's a big stats guy, but at some point you have to pay attention to managing people and the Sixers? haven't created an environment that isn't going to help these young men develop. Hinkie?s a 2nd year GM, Brown?s a 2nd year HC, and Young, their most experienced player in his 6th year, has been on the trading block and is headed for UFA soon. Not even a guy late in his career with experience winning on the roster. Little experience top to bottom and dependent on a D-league level talent this season that will be tough to develop.  A fantasy basketball fanboy's dream, but implementing it and getting value out of what they done is fraught with difficulty.

[LarBrd33]

I think you misunderstand my point.

Is it impossible for Boston to become a contender ?  Of course not.  Is it possible Ainge has some further moves up his sleeve?  Absolutely.  Is it possible Marcus smart reaches his Eric Bledsoe ceiling ?  No doubt.  Could embiid and Noel both bust ?  Maybe.

But right now if you were to project Philly's future vs Boston's, it's a no contest.  We have a veteran former all-star PG possibly on the way out.  We have a solid asset in Marcus smart.  Beyond that we have role player talent and some picks that nobody can confidently project.

Philly, on the other hand, has a player the most project will be an elite defensive big (Noel), a player most project has transcendent superstar potential (embiid), a young PG who is coming off a rookie of the year season,  and a foreign prospect that people rave about (Saric)... Plus a trajectory that makes them seem like a lock to bottom out again next year ... Plus several other picks that nobody can confidently project.

Anything can happen. But right now I think most reasonable NBA fans would rather have Philly's assets than Boston's assets.  Pose the question on a neutral forum and see for yourself. 

Does it make me a bad person that I admit Philly has a better projected future?  Nope. Tanking was the right move. Marcus smart should be a nice piece.  I'd rather have him than not have him. That doesn't change the fact that Philly has more pieces on the board right now.

And.... it always comes back to the "two birds in the hand is worth one in the bush" crap.

You can project which guys will play better than Rondo, Green, and Sully all you want, but you seem to have forgotten that your comparing a team on paper to an actual team.

And as far as who has the assets in the future, that's obviously debatable.  I don't know why you're trying to refer to your opinion as "fact."

We are about a week away from seeing what Nerlens is actually about...  and We already know that Boston would have taken Embiid over Smart.

[BballTim]

We already know that Boston would have taken Embiid over Smart.

  But what does that mean? And what does it mean that Embiid slipped from 1 to 3? There's a good enough chance that Embiid won't pan out that two teams passed on him, but a good enough chance that he'll be good that the Celts would have passed on a pick you don't seem overly high on to get him. If you're Danny, and there's a 1 in 2 chance Embiid will pan out, do you draft him over Smart?

[ederson]

We are about a week away from seeing what Nerlens is actually about...  and We already know that Boston would have taken Embiid over Smart.

Are you talking about the summer league?
then i guess you have to agree that KO is going to be a top 10 player in NBA