Who's rebuild is better: Boston or Philly?

[Fafnir]

Philly's future is much better than ours, let's face it.  Williams, Embiid, Noel, Saric and Bennett Soon via Cleveland trade).

I am so jealous.

Bennet ain't going to the 6ers, they weren't even in the trade talks

Yesterday Brian Windhorst of ESPN said that Bennett was going to Philly for Thad Young to Minnie. 

Are you saying that was not in the trade talks?

Woj and others have subsequently suggested that isn't part of the trade currently.

Which is to say Minnesota/Philly might not be sure they want to do that deal just yet.

[LooseCannon]

who do you think is closer to contention in the future?

I can see a path to the Celtics being contenders in 2015-2016.  I cannot say the same for the 76ers.

[Sketch5]

It's not how you start the race, but how you finish it.

We haven't really seen Smart or Young play yet out side of SL, and we haven't even seen Young play yet. Grant Hill and Steve Smith really liked what they saw out of Smart and said he was a better shooter than they thought, and that he was really locked in on Irving and Wall on Defense.

Plus DA isn't done moving pieces, so we don't know yet where we are at. It's still a little early in the race to know who's going to win. Right now with Philly scrapping their team and and getting a couple nice pieces I'd say they are out ahead right now.

Everyone is in awe with Philly and their quick jump and shinny pieces, but I'm just going to say the tortes and the hair.

[soulman]

at this point Philly couse they have three very talented players, we have Smart but who knows we also have a bunch of future picks...

[aingeforthree]

Would you take MCW or Smart right now ?

[aingeforthree]

Boston:

*Best PG in the league
*Better coach
*More future first round picks
*More assets
*More youth to develop (Sullinger, Olynyk, Smart, Young, Zeller, Turner)
*Bigger contracts coming off the books in the coming years
*Best GM in the game

Philly:

*Noel
*Embiid
*Better shot at ping pong balls
*MCW (not a real given considering he looked very Marshon Brooksesque towards the end)

I'll take Boston's franchise the way its setup right now over Philly's.  Philly has some decent big men going for them, and that's about it.  Boston is setup to do major damage within a 2 year window.  Philly's still hoping for ping pong balls at that point.

[PAOBoston]

I don't think it's fair to compare the two at the moment. Philly is already 2 years into a rebuild. The C's finished up year one last season. On paper, I guess you can give Philly the  nod based on name recognition (MCW, Embiid, Noel) but I think they have a jump start on the C's in terms of talent acquisition. The C's  have Smart, Olynyk, Sullinger, Young. And two of those guys haven't even played a single game yet. Who's to say that after the season, the C's end up drafting Towns or Okeafor and trade Sully/Olynyk/etc for a "star". Who's ahead then?

[Celts Fan 508]

who do you think is closer to contention in the future?

I can see a path to the Celtics being contenders in 2015-2016.  I cannot say the same for the 76ers.

I can see a path in a few years where Embiid and Noel take off and the 76ers are the favorite in the East for years to come.  Granted you said 2015-2016 and I would agree with that, but what would the path for the Celtics take to reach that status? 

[BigDogPitbull]

Philly without a doubt!  They have two big men with huge upside.  Embiid and Noel are gonna be scary!    We have two big guys that jack up 3's.  Sullinger and KO will never be the answer there.  They're nice role players that's about it.  I do like our guards more but bigs are much harder to get.

[Neurotic Guy]

I feel like Philly has swung for the fences and their future is highly dependent on Noel/Embiid and the 2015 lottery. It may work great for them. The C's are also reliant on the development of young talent, but their array of assets gives them more future options.  At some point, DA will swing for established talent. 
Philly and Boston are both on roads that could turn either way.  I guess Philly has both higher risk and higher reward potential when comparing the 2 current rosters/assets.

[Fred Roberts]

Gotta go Celtics here, by a hair.

1st: How can you call it a rebuild for Philly? They're not rebuilding much and have not been relevant since Iverson was in his prime. The Celtics were perennial contenders from 2008-2012 (5 seasons), and started rebuilding last season. Here alone you take the Celtics situation.

Celts will have a much better chance this season at winning games and a better chance at landing a key free agent next summer, presuming they retain Rondo and Green after healthy and productive seasons where the team is semi competitive.

Celtics:
1) Develop promising talent (KO, Sully, Zeller, Smart, Young, Turner)
2) Retain solid vets (Rondo, Green, Bradley)
3) Let expirings expire (Bass, Thornton, Anthony, waive Bogans -- Wallace in 2016)
4) Use 2015 summer cap space to sign key free agent / make trade if necessary (ideally Gasol, Asik .. .player of impact and need)
5) Continue injecting talent via plentiful draft picks over next 4 years while winning or at least being competitive

Philly:
1) Develop promising talent (MCW, Noel)
2) Pray / wait on promising talent, then develop it (Embiid, Saric)
3) Lose like crazy again this season and pray for lotto balls (get top 3 pick) and hope that pick winds up panning out over the next 5 years
4) Try to unload Thaddeus for picks and let JRich expire
5) Continue losing again the season after that for more lotto action unless some free agents of note decide they want to gamble on a great opportunity/take money in Philly

I hand it to Philly for swinging for the fences and not even trying to pretend they want to win. Their gambles could pay of big time. It'll be interesting.

[loco_91]

Would you take MCW or Smart right now ?

Easily Smart, easily. But: would you take Sully and Kelly, or Noel and Embiid?

[soulman]

Would you take MCW or Smart right now ?

Easily Smart, easily. But: would you take Sully and Kelly, or Noel and Embiid?

I would take Noel at any cost, i see him as a future all-star...

[Alleyoopster]

Boston has nothing up front compared to Philly.  Once they are healthy they are going to be one of the toughest teams to score against within 15 feet of the basket. Maybe if Boston had a beast in the middle and two outstanding 3-point shooters I'd say it would be interesting. 

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's still too early to tell, butI think both teams are being run competently.  I like our chances to hit the lottery as it were with the Nets picks and we now have 7 guys that could fit in on a real team, albeit some of them as bench players (KO, Sully, Rondo, Bradley, Zeller, Smart & Young).  We should have the cap space for some max players soon and all of those guys are on fair deals.