Thaddeus Young was the last player on that Philly team that played winning basketball. Those Sixers are going to be terrible next year. Bunch of kids who don't know how to play and probably a bunch of guys who don't belong in the league in the first place to back them up. Great mix.
How exactly were they rewarded, by getting the 3rd pick? And frankly I'd rather have Philly's team than Boston's. Reigning rookie of the year, likely rookie of the year this year in Noel, another dominant center, a superb talent in Europe, a likely high pick next year. I mean you either need to go the Philly route or go all in, the only way to get real top level talent.
And frankly I wouldn't be all that surprised if Philly has more wins than Boston this year.
MCW was the rookie of the year in the weakest rookie year in over a decade.
Noel was drafted as a project that everyone recognized as clearly not on the level of an Anthony Davis.
Embiid has had back and foot injuries and the list of center busts is the longest list in NBA history.
And what kind of culture is Philly building? How do you think MCW is going to develop in an atmosphere where his team is trying NOT to win games? Is that how you build good habits and a winning tradition?
I suppose it could work for Philly. Monkeys could also fly out of my butt.
Mike
I posted this in another thread, but MCW's numbers compare favorably with pretty much every single rookie of the year this century. I mean his numbers even compare well with James and Durant. Don't get me wrong, he isn't those guys, but he would have been the rookie of the year pretty much every single year or at least right in the hunt.
Noel is a stud defensively and his offensive game will be fine. I would be surprised if he wasn't a 14/9 with 2 blocks player this year.
Embiid will be fine and could easily be the best player from this draft. Heck Saric could be the second best player from this draft.
This notion about winning tradition or a winning environment is just nonsense (and Philly's players are not trying to lose games). Michael Jordan started his career on three straight losing teams. Kevin Durant was so good the Sonics won 20 games his rookie year, 23 games his second year (with Westbrook no less), before jumping to 50 wins in year three. Paul Pierce, 3 straight losing seasons to start his career. There are plenty of other examples. If the players have it, they will be fine no matter the circumstances. If the players don't, then it doesn't matter if they win right away or lose, they are "loser" players (I mean Ricky Davis started his career on winning teams, how did that work out for him?).