76ers losing even when they win

[PickNRoll]

Of 183 NBA players who have played 24 or more minutes per game, MCW is in the bottom 2%in TS%, Noel is in the bottom 4% in TS%, Mbah a Moute is in the bottom 9% in TS% and KJ McDaniels is in the  bottom 15% in TS%.  They are the top four players in minutes on the Sixers.  None of them can shoot.

Saric and Embiid have yet to play an NBA game.

So what?  The Sixers deliberately got rid of their veteran talent to tank hard.  Having good shooters/scorers on the roster right now would cost them losses.  A very inefficient offense suits their purposes just fine.

So they're developing guys that cannot shoot or are they getting rid of these stiffs as soon as Embiid gets healthy and Saric-Dirk-Griffin takes the NBA by storm?

No, as soon as you add Embiid and 1 more college player, MCW and Noel will develop NBA skills and win most games.  Duh.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

While this cuts to the core of some of the debates surrounding the celtics, is this their worst nightmare? If the season ended today they would have the 3rd worst record and have about a 50% chance on missing out on a top 3 pick. After stashing one first rounder overseas (Saric) and having another spend the season  on IR, that has to be an absolute nightmare for the 76ers.

While it would be good if they were winning because Michael Carter Williams appeared elite or Noel was averaging 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, this hasn't been the case. They have had surprising performances from guys like Henry Sims, Robert Covington and to a lesser extent KJ McDaniels. I am not sure any of these guys projects to be more than an 8th or 9th man on a decent team, so getting some wins with them playing well seems pretty bad. Thoughts?

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

As for the other guys... They're all like 20 years old, there's no way to tell who will turn into what yet.

The only guy I'd give any credence to being a bleh player is MCW because he makes Ben Wallace look like Kyle Korver which is a problem in the 2015 NBA. I'm not really high on him as anything more than a 15 min per game push the pace guy off the bench on a decent team.

And when you say Philly will have the worst record in the league again, exactly what previous season are you referring to?

[tazzmaniac]

Of 183 NBA players who have played 24 or more minutes per game, MCW is in the bottom 2%in TS%, Noel is in the bottom 4% in TS%, Mbah a Moute is in the bottom 9% in TS% and KJ McDaniels is in the  bottom 15% in TS%.  They are the top four players in minutes on the Sixers.  None of them can shoot.

Saric and Embiid have yet to play an NBA game.

So what?  The Sixers deliberately got rid of their veteran talent to tank hard.  Having good shooters/scorers on the roster right now would cost them losses.  A very inefficient offense suits their purposes just fine.

So they're developing guys that cannot shoot or are they getting rid of these stiffs as soon as Embiid gets healthy and Saric-Dirk-Griffin takes the NBA by storm?

KJ McDaniels and Nerlens Noel were drafted almost entirely because of their defensive abilities.

Not to mention shooting is one of the few important NBA skills that at least has a pattern of being teachable. You can't teach somebody to be as athletic as those two. There both plus individual defenders as rookies which is pretty rare.

McDaniels was also a 2nd round pick so they'll be happy if he is good role player of the bench. 

[PickNRoll]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

Covington isn't an actual NBA player.  He's a YMCA player who can knock down an NBA 3 on occasion.  His defense is not respectable and he shot 38% on college 3's his senior year.  Not bad, for college, but let's not endow him with the Reggie Miller Award.  If it weren't for Hinkiefication, he'd be flipping burgers.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, had a PER of 21.7 as a rookie (up to 32! now), which basically makes him the best player since Wilt Chamberlain.  It's ridiculous to even mention them on the same web page.

If you want cheap players who can shoot better than covington and not submarine your team, try Jared Dudley, Anthony Morrow, Danny Green, Wesley Matthews, etc.  Covington couldn't earn 1 minute of playing time on ANY Western Conference contender.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

Covington isn't an actual NBA player.  He's a YMCA player who can knock down an NBA 3 on occasion.  His defense is not respectable and he shot 38% on college 3's his senior year.  Not bad, for college, but let's not endow him with the Reggie Miller Award.  If it weren't for Hinkiefication, he'd be flipping burgers.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, had a PER of 21.7 as a rookie (up to 32! now), which basically makes him the best player since Wilt Chamberlain.  It's ridiculous to even mention them on the same web page.

If you want cheap players who can shoot better than covington and not submarine your team, try Jared Dudley, Anthony Morrow, Danny Green, Wesley Matthews, etc.  Covington couldn't earn 1 minute of playing time on ANY Western Conference contender.

Anthony Davis was a 13 andn 8 guy who had a ton of highlights and played horrendous team defense. Everybody knew he was a monster, but he was far from a good player. And please stop with the PER nonsense. It's a terrible stat that doesn't actually measure anything, it's a BS holistic value that trends overtly towards big men and high usage guards. 

The Sixers have a 104 ORtg with Covington on the court and a 94 ORtg overall... So yeah, I think it's pretty safe to say he's a heck of a lot better than a YMCA player. Their DRtg doesn't change when he comes on the court so I'm not exactly sure how you'd argue he's bad defensively.

And did you seriously just use his 3 pt percentage from college?

If you really want to call those guys "cheap"

Anthony Morrow makes 3.5x as much as Covington. (He's also shooting worse than Covington)
Jared Dudley makes over 4x as much.
Danny Green makes 4x as much and is an impending UFA.
Wesley Matthews makes 7x as much as Covington.

They're all at least 3 years older than Covignton, Morrow isn't even having a better shooting season than Covington and if the guy couldn't earn a minute of playing time on a western conference team please tell me how he played 7 games games for the Rockets last year...

He's a guy who was in that gray area of D-League star/NBA rotational player and it turned out to be the latter.

[colincb]

Of 183 NBA players who have played 24 or more minutes per game, MCW is in the bottom 2%in TS%, Noel is in the bottom 4% in TS%, Mbah a Moute is in the bottom 9% in TS% and KJ McDaniels is in the  bottom 15% in TS%.  They are the top four players in minutes on the Sixers.  None of them can shoot.

Saric and Embiid have yet to play an NBA game.

So what?  The Sixers deliberately got rid of their veteran talent to tank hard.  Having good shooters/scorers on the roster right now would cost them losses.  A very inefficient offense suits their purposes just fine.

So they're developing guys that cannot shoot or are they getting rid of these stiffs as soon as Embiid gets healthy and Saric-Dirk-Griffin takes the NBA by storm?

KJ McDaniels and Nerlens Noel were drafted almost entirely because of their defensive abilities.

Not to mention shooting is one of the few important NBA skills that at least has a pattern of being teachable. You can't teach somebody to be as athletic as those two. There both plus individual defenders as rookies which is pretty rare.

  Shooting is not an easily learned skill and the Sixers top 4 players in terms of minutes played are currently among the very worst in the NBA.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Of 183 NBA players who have played 24 or more minutes per game, MCW is in the bottom 2%in TS%, Noel is in the bottom 4% in TS%, Mbah a Moute is in the bottom 9% in TS% and KJ McDaniels is in the  bottom 15% in TS%.  They are the top four players in minutes on the Sixers.  None of them can shoot.

Saric and Embiid have yet to play an NBA game.

So what?  The Sixers deliberately got rid of their veteran talent to tank hard.  Having good shooters/scorers on the roster right now would cost them losses.  A very inefficient offense suits their purposes just fine.

So they're developing guys that cannot shoot or are they getting rid of these stiffs as soon as Embiid gets healthy and Saric-Dirk-Griffin takes the NBA by storm?

KJ McDaniels and Nerlens Noel were drafted almost entirely because of their defensive abilities.

Not to mention shooting is one of the few important NBA skills that at least has a pattern of being teachable. You can't teach somebody to be as athletic as those two. There both plus individual defenders as rookies which is pretty rare.

  Shooting is not an easily learned skill and the Sixers top 4 players in terms of minutes played are currently among the very worst in the NBA.

Is there a point I made that you're actually addressing here? Because I never said it was an easily learned skill. I said it was a skill with a track record of being teachable. It is.

Players don't grow a foot or learn how to jump 6 inches higher when they enter the league.

Players with bad jump shots upon entering the league have learned how to shoot. And it really isn't all that uncommon. Particularly when you factor in how important shot selection is in terms of efficiency.

[PickNRoll]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

Covington isn't an actual NBA player.  He's a YMCA player who can knock down an NBA 3 on occasion.  His defense is not respectable and he shot 38% on college 3's his senior year.  Not bad, for college, but let's not endow him with the Reggie Miller Award.  If it weren't for Hinkiefication, he'd be flipping burgers.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, had a PER of 21.7 as a rookie (up to 32! now), which basically makes him the best player since Wilt Chamberlain.  It's ridiculous to even mention them on the same web page.

If you want cheap players who can shoot better than covington and not submarine your team, try Jared Dudley, Anthony Morrow, Danny Green, Wesley Matthews, etc.  Covington couldn't earn 1 minute of playing time on ANY Western Conference contender.

Anthony Davis was a 13 andn 8 guy who had a ton of highlights and played horrendous team defense. Everybody knew he was a monster, but he was far from a good player.

You're actually saying that Anthony Davis isn't a good player?  I'll just stop right there.  You win.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

Covington isn't an actual NBA player.  He's a YMCA player who can knock down an NBA 3 on occasion.  His defense is not respectable and he shot 38% on college 3's his senior year.  Not bad, for college, but let's not endow him with the Reggie Miller Award.  If it weren't for Hinkiefication, he'd be flipping burgers.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, had a PER of 21.7 as a rookie (up to 32! now), which basically makes him the best player since Wilt Chamberlain.  It's ridiculous to even mention them on the same web page.

If you want cheap players who can shoot better than covington and not submarine your team, try Jared Dudley, Anthony Morrow, Danny Green, Wesley Matthews, etc.  Covington couldn't earn 1 minute of playing time on ANY Western Conference contender.

Anthony Davis was a 13 andn 8 guy who had a ton of highlights and played horrendous team defense. Everybody knew he was a monster, but he was far from a good player.

You're actually saying that Anthony Davis isn't a good player?  I'll just stop right there.  You win.

Can you please quote where I said that? It's like people don't even read the posts they respond to.

I said as a rookie he was a terrible team defender and all things considered not much more than a above average player if that as a rook. His team had the 28th ranked defense in the NBA. Dominant defensive big men don't tend to anchor bottom 5 defenses.

[LarBrd33]

Some people scoff at the way Philly is being built.  I think it's amazing.  Hinkie is running his team like I'd run it playing NBA 2k15... dump everyone for draft picks and cap space, tank for a few years, try to land phenom prospects... sim a few years and you have a dynasty.  It's ridiculous.  You'd never expect a real team to do that, because they have tickets to sell and they can't just click "Sim to next season".  Philly is actually doing it.  Lol.

I get that people think that's absurd and that this could all bust horribly.  Sure... it's a risk.  I remember thinking Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ty Thomas was an amazing young core for Chicago.  That didn't work either.

That said, they have a really impressive young core.

MCW - Solid young PG.  One of the best young players in the league statistically

Noel - He's legit.  His numbers aren't that far off from young KG and young Anthony Davis.   I don't get why people are down on him.  He's coming off major surgery, he's 20 years old, and he's averaging 8 points 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals in 30mpg.   He's probably a better prospect than anyone on the entire Celtic team.  A legit defensive center.   Based on the progression of other elite prospects like him, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to average 15, 10, 3 and 2 within a couple seasons.

Embiid - Widely thought to be the best prospect in the 2014 draft.  Some even suggested the Cavs should have taken him #1 in spite of his injury.  Thought to be a dominant two-way big man.   Kid is a potential game-changer.  They are comparing him to Hakeem with a straight face.   I know people unfairly expect Oden, but but aside from Oden there are only a handful of bigs I've seen get the insane hype treatment... Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis.   I heard some folks very high on Andre Drummond's boom/bust potential.   It's not like every super-hyped big fails... there is actually a pretty solid track record for ultra-hyped bigs like Embiid.

Saric - Don't know much about him, but some say he's got elite Dirk-level potential.

Whoever they take top 5 this year - Could be another elite prospect

Few other guys on that team that have some potential.  Wroten seems solid.   KJ McDaniels seems ok.   Jerami Grant is someone David Thorpe was ga-ga over prior to the draft (and felt should have been taken late 1st) and has recently been living up to THrope's hype.  Apparently a very hard worker.  He's been a top 10 rookie over the past month.  A  few people have said he has the potential (same body size/athleticism/work ethic) to be the next Kawhi Leonard.

That team is loaded with youth.  It's a fascinating situation to watch.  I'm still a little jealous.  Marcus Smart looks ok, but I'm not sure he has all-star potential.  Outside of him, our current prospects are pretty mediocre.  Sully is aiight.   Oly has some game.  Young might have a future.

I know a lot of talent evaluation is opinion with players based early in their career. Some people are high on Noel others are low. However, you can't really say with a straight face that MCW is statistically one of the best young players in the game. He shoots 38% from the field as a point guard and 25% on 3's (despite taking 3 a game) and is second in the league in turnovers at 4.2. 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds are nice, but not at that efficiency level. We could easily name a lot of top young players with better overall statistics. They have also floated him in trade deals, so the 76ers may not even view him as a foundation piece themselves.

So he's basically a rich man's/much younger Rajon Rondo

At 23, Rondo's PER was about 19.  MCW is 23 and his PER this season is 12.9.  MCW is closer to Evan Turner than Rajon Rondo.

Mike

His PER surrounded by hall of fame talent was 19 for a single season... his rookie season his PER was 13.  His per last season was 14.  His per in Dallas is 12.4.   Rondo is closer to Evan Turner than Rondo. 

23 year old MCW > 28 year old Rondo

Not really, though.  Rondo is averaging 9 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 40% (26% from FT) since joining Dallas, but I imagine he'll improve slightly.  Or maybe not.

[colincb]

Some people scoff at the way Philly is being built.  I think it's amazing.  Hinkie is running his team like I'd run it playing NBA 2k15... dump everyone for draft picks and cap space, tank for a few years, try to land phenom prospects... sim a few years and you have a dynasty.  It's ridiculous.  You'd never expect a real team to do that, because they have tickets to sell and they can't just click "Sim to next season".  Philly is actually doing it.  Lol.

I get that people think that's absurd and that this could all bust horribly.  Sure... it's a risk.  I remember thinking Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ty Thomas was an amazing young core for Chicago.  That didn't work either.

That said, they have a really impressive young core.

MCW - Solid young PG.  One of the best young players in the league statistically

Noel - He's legit.  His numbers aren't that far off from young KG and young Anthony Davis.   I don't get why people are down on him.  He's coming off major surgery, he's 20 years old, and he's averaging 8 points 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals in 30mpg.   He's probably a better prospect than anyone on the entire Celtic team.  A legit defensive center.   Based on the progression of other elite prospects like him, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to average 15, 10, 3 and 2 within a couple seasons.

Embiid - Widely thought to be the best prospect in the 2014 draft.  Some even suggested the Cavs should have taken him #1 in spite of his injury.  Thought to be a dominant two-way big man.   Kid is a potential game-changer.  They are comparing him to Hakeem with a straight face.   I know people unfairly expect Oden, but but aside from Oden there are only a handful of bigs I've seen get the insane hype treatment... Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis.   I heard some folks very high on Andre Drummond's boom/bust potential.   It's not like every super-hyped big fails... there is actually a pretty solid track record for ultra-hyped bigs like Embiid.

Saric - Don't know much about him, but some say he's got elite Dirk-level potential.

Whoever they take top 5 this year - Could be another elite prospect

Few other guys on that team that have some potential.  Wroten seems solid.   KJ McDaniels seems ok.   Jerami Grant is someone David Thorpe was ga-ga over prior to the draft (and felt should have been taken late 1st) and has recently been living up to THrope's hype.  Apparently a very hard worker.  He's been a top 10 rookie over the past month.  A  few people have said he has the potential (same body size/athleticism/work ethic) to be the next Kawhi Leonard.

That team is loaded with youth.  It's a fascinating situation to watch.  I'm still a little jealous.  Marcus Smart looks ok, but I'm not sure he has all-star potential.  Outside of him, our current prospects are pretty mediocre.  Sully is aiight.   Oly has some game.  Young might have a future.

I know a lot of talent evaluation is opinion with players based early in their career. Some people are high on Noel others are low. However, you can't really say with a straight face that MCW is statistically one of the best young players in the game. He shoots 38% from the field as a point guard and 25% on 3's (despite taking 3 a game) and is second in the league in turnovers at 4.2. 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds are nice, but not at that efficiency level. We could easily name a lot of top young players with better overall statistics. They have also floated him in trade deals, so the 76ers may not even view him as a foundation piece themselves.

So he's basically a rich man's/much younger Rajon Rondo

At 23, Rondo's PER was about 19.  MCW is 23 and his PER this season is 12.9.  MCW is closer to Evan Turner than Rajon Rondo.

Mike

His PER surrounded by hall of fame talent was 19 for a single season... his rookie season his PER was 13.  His per last season was 14.  His per in Dallas is 12.4.   Rondo is closer to Evan Turner than Rondo. 

23 year old MCW > 28 year old Rondo

Not really, though.  Rondo is averaging 9 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 40% (26% from FT) since joining Dallas, but I imagine he'll improve slightly.  Or maybe not.

MCW’s career stats have a long ways to go to catch up with Rondo. Rondo's PER was higher during his first 2 years, considerably higher over his career, and higher even this year. Otherwise, MCW’s offensive game is similar to Rondo’s except he turns over the ball a lot more. Good defender and rebounder like Rondo though. Poor man’s Rondo is a pretty apt description for MCW at the same point in their respective careers.

In any case, you claimed MCW was one of the best young players in the NBA statistically. He is not close. Among players aged 24 years and younger who average at least 24 MPG, MCW is 55th of 57 players based on TS% and 42nd based on PER.  MCW also is 2nd among all players in the NBA in turnovers per game. 
 
As for Noel being Davis and KG-like? Defensively yes. Offensively, not a chance. Good shot blocker, lots of steals, great against the PnR, but needs to bulk up to be an elite defender.  Has a very good chance to be that. Offensively he has very bad hands and "Among players 6-foot-10 or taller, only one rookie [Michael Olowokand] in the past 20 years has had a true-shooting percentage as low as Noel's 45.4 mark." 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24998399/ranking-the-rookies-jusuf-nurkic-has-been-a-defensive-difference-maker

My guess is that he is a poor man’s D. Jordan long-term.

[tazzmaniac]

Some people scoff at the way Philly is being built.  I think it's amazing.  Hinkie is running his team like I'd run it playing NBA 2k15... dump everyone for draft picks and cap space, tank for a few years, try to land phenom prospects... sim a few years and you have a dynasty.  It's ridiculous.  You'd never expect a real team to do that, because they have tickets to sell and they can't just click "Sim to next season".  Philly is actually doing it.  Lol.

I get that people think that's absurd and that this could all bust horribly.  Sure... it's a risk.  I remember thinking Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ty Thomas was an amazing young core for Chicago.  That didn't work either.

That said, they have a really impressive young core.

MCW - Solid young PG.  One of the best young players in the league statistically

Noel - He's legit.  His numbers aren't that far off from young KG and young Anthony Davis.   I don't get why people are down on him.  He's coming off major surgery, he's 20 years old, and he's averaging 8 points 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals in 30mpg.   He's probably a better prospect than anyone on the entire Celtic team.  A legit defensive center.   Based on the progression of other elite prospects like him, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to average 15, 10, 3 and 2 within a couple seasons.

Embiid - Widely thought to be the best prospect in the 2014 draft.  Some even suggested the Cavs should have taken him #1 in spite of his injury.  Thought to be a dominant two-way big man.   Kid is a potential game-changer.  They are comparing him to Hakeem with a straight face.   I know people unfairly expect Oden, but but aside from Oden there are only a handful of bigs I've seen get the insane hype treatment... Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis.   I heard some folks very high on Andre Drummond's boom/bust potential.   It's not like every super-hyped big fails... there is actually a pretty solid track record for ultra-hyped bigs like Embiid.

Saric - Don't know much about him, but some say he's got elite Dirk-level potential.

Whoever they take top 5 this year - Could be another elite prospect

Few other guys on that team that have some potential.  Wroten seems solid.   KJ McDaniels seems ok.   Jerami Grant is someone David Thorpe was ga-ga over prior to the draft (and felt should have been taken late 1st) and has recently been living up to THrope's hype.  Apparently a very hard worker.  He's been a top 10 rookie over the past month.  A  few people have said he has the potential (same body size/athleticism/work ethic) to be the next Kawhi Leonard.

That team is loaded with youth.  It's a fascinating situation to watch.  I'm still a little jealous.  Marcus Smart looks ok, but I'm not sure he has all-star potential.  Outside of him, our current prospects are pretty mediocre.  Sully is aiight.   Oly has some game.  Young might have a future.

I know a lot of talent evaluation is opinion with players based early in their career. Some people are high on Noel others are low. However, you can't really say with a straight face that MCW is statistically one of the best young players in the game. He shoots 38% from the field as a point guard and 25% on 3's (despite taking 3 a game) and is second in the league in turnovers at 4.2. 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds are nice, but not at that efficiency level. We could easily name a lot of top young players with better overall statistics. They have also floated him in trade deals, so the 76ers may not even view him as a foundation piece themselves.

So he's basically a rich man's/much younger Rajon Rondo

At 23, Rondo's PER was about 19.  MCW is 23 and his PER this season is 12.9.  MCW is closer to Evan Turner than Rajon Rondo.

Mike

His PER surrounded by hall of fame talent was 19 for a single season... his rookie season his PER was 13.  His per last season was 14.  His per in Dallas is 12.4.   Rondo is closer to Evan Turner than Rondo. 

23 year old MCW > 28 year old Rondo

Not really, though.  Rondo is averaging 9 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 40% (26% from FT) since joining Dallas, but I imagine he'll improve slightly.  Or maybe not.

MCW’s career stats have a long ways to go to catch up with Rondo. Rondo's PER was higher during his first 2 years, considerably higher over his career, and higher even this year. Otherwise, MCW’s offensive game is similar to Rondo’s except he turns over the ball a lot more. Good defender and rebounder like Rondo though. Poor man’s Rondo is a pretty apt description for MCW at the same point in their respective careers.

In any case, you claimed MCW was one of the best young players in the NBA statistically. He is not close. Among players aged 24 years and younger who average at least 24 MPG, MCW is 55th of 57 players based on TS% and 42nd based on PER.  MCW also is 2nd among all players in the NBA in turnovers per game. 
 
As for Noel being Davis and KG-like? Defensively yes. Offensively, not a chance. Good shot blocker, lots of steals, great against the PnR, but needs to bulk up to be an elite defender.  Has a very good chance to be that. Offensively he has very bad hands and "Among players 6-foot-10 or taller, only one rookie [Michael Olowokand] in the past 20 years has had a true-shooting percentage as low as Noel's 45.4 mark." 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24998399/ranking-the-rookies-jusuf-nurkic-has-been-a-defensive-difference-maker

My guess is that he is a poor man’s D. Jordan long-term.

It is funny that the author of the article you reference has both McDaniels and Noel ranked higher than Smart. 

[tazzmaniac]

Some people scoff at the way Philly is being built.  I think it's amazing.  Hinkie is running his team like I'd run it playing NBA 2k15... dump everyone for draft picks and cap space, tank for a few years, try to land phenom prospects... sim a few years and you have a dynasty.  It's ridiculous.  You'd never expect a real team to do that, because they have tickets to sell and they can't just click "Sim to next season".  Philly is actually doing it.  Lol.

I get that people think that's absurd and that this could all bust horribly.  Sure... it's a risk.  I remember thinking Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ty Thomas was an amazing young core for Chicago.  That didn't work either.

That said, they have a really impressive young core.

MCW - Solid young PG.  One of the best young players in the league statistically

Noel - He's legit.  His numbers aren't that far off from young KG and young Anthony Davis.   I don't get why people are down on him.  He's coming off major surgery, he's 20 years old, and he's averaging 8 points 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals in 30mpg.   He's probably a better prospect than anyone on the entire Celtic team.  A legit defensive center.   Based on the progression of other elite prospects like him, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to average 15, 10, 3 and 2 within a couple seasons.

Embiid - Widely thought to be the best prospect in the 2014 draft.  Some even suggested the Cavs should have taken him #1 in spite of his injury.  Thought to be a dominant two-way big man.   Kid is a potential game-changer.  They are comparing him to Hakeem with a straight face.   I know people unfairly expect Oden, but but aside from Oden there are only a handful of bigs I've seen get the insane hype treatment... Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis.   I heard some folks very high on Andre Drummond's boom/bust potential.   It's not like every super-hyped big fails... there is actually a pretty solid track record for ultra-hyped bigs like Embiid.

Saric - Don't know much about him, but some say he's got elite Dirk-level potential.

Whoever they take top 5 this year - Could be another elite prospect

Few other guys on that team that have some potential.  Wroten seems solid.   KJ McDaniels seems ok.   Jerami Grant is someone David Thorpe was ga-ga over prior to the draft (and felt should have been taken late 1st) and has recently been living up to THrope's hype.  Apparently a very hard worker.  He's been a top 10 rookie over the past month.  A  few people have said he has the potential (same body size/athleticism/work ethic) to be the next Kawhi Leonard.

That team is loaded with youth.  It's a fascinating situation to watch.  I'm still a little jealous.  Marcus Smart looks ok, but I'm not sure he has all-star potential.  Outside of him, our current prospects are pretty mediocre.  Sully is aiight.   Oly has some game.  Young might have a future.

I know a lot of talent evaluation is opinion with players based early in their career. Some people are high on Noel others are low. However, you can't really say with a straight face that MCW is statistically one of the best young players in the game. He shoots 38% from the field as a point guard and 25% on 3's (despite taking 3 a game) and is second in the league in turnovers at 4.2. 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds are nice, but not at that efficiency level. We could easily name a lot of top young players with better overall statistics. They have also floated him in trade deals, so the 76ers may not even view him as a foundation piece themselves.

So he's basically a rich man's/much younger Rajon Rondo

At 23, Rondo's PER was about 19.  MCW is 23 and his PER this season is 12.9.  MCW is closer to Evan Turner than Rajon Rondo.

Mike

His PER surrounded by hall of fame talent was 19 for a single season... his rookie season his PER was 13.  His per last season was 14.  His per in Dallas is 12.4.   Rondo is closer to Evan Turner than Rondo. 

23 year old MCW > 28 year old Rondo

Not really, though.  Rondo is averaging 9 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 40% (26% from FT) since joining Dallas, but I imagine he'll improve slightly.  Or maybe not.

Why would you make the comparison using Rondo's stats on Dallas rather than his Boston stats (8.3pts, 10.8 asts and 7.5 rebs)?  Rondo's role on Dallas is much more defensive focused.  Dallas sure could have used him last night when Curry lit them up for 51 pts. 

[PickNRoll]

I wrote and commented on a few threads earlier in the season about how bad the 76ers were and how they were an embarrassment to the league. Since starting the season 0-17 or whatever it was, they have actually played pretty competitive basketball and are now all the way up to 11 wins.

First of all Robert Covington is a 24 year old making 1 million dollars a year for 4 years shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc...

Every shot that goes in makes him more and more valuable. Seriously, how many contenders would give up an asset for that? A LOT.

KJ McDaniels is a rookie. He's younger than MCW. So how is him contributing to winning a bad thing again? If the Sixers win more games because their rookies are "too good" then that is a good thing for them.

Nerlens Noel is absolutely a huge reason for the 76ers success. They've gone from a bad defensive team to a league average one in the span of a year and he's a major reason for that. He's already an impact defender at 20. That's incredibly rare.

You're also forgetting Jerami Grant who is way better than expected from beyond the arc and is a rookie 2nd round pick as well.

Hollis Thompson is a young guy on a cheap contract as well. If he keeps shooting well he becomes more and more valuable as a trade asset.

In short, their success has been almost entirely because of young players on long, cheap(in many cases non-guaranteed) contracts.

How is this a bad thing again?

The top 2 prospects in the draft log jam the Sixers anyways. As long as they have a top 6 pick they'll be fine. And they have Miami's 1st Rounder this year as well.

The Sixers suck.  The players you just listed suck.  But they don't suck enough to fulfill Philly's plan to have the worst record in the league again.

Again, the Sixers are worse than the Celtics and it's not accurately reflected in just wins and losses.  Look at the point differential for each team.  And while Philly does have two picks from last draft that have yet to play, Boston has at least 7 first rounders in the next 4 drafts.

Mike

Scorching hottake from a guy who has no idea what he's talking about.

The Sixers suck because they're young, and they flat out don't care about roster construction whatsoever. Young players, in general, are not contributors to good teams. Hell Anthony Davis probably wasn't a net positive for his team as a rookie.

Robert Covington does not suck, and his contract is unreal. If you want to find a 24 yr old 40% 3 pt shooter who can swing between 3/4 and has a 4 yr 4 million dollar per year deal anywhere else in the league be my guest. There aren't a whole lot of guys that cheap who can shoot and play respectable defense.

Nerlens Noel is probably the best defensive rookie since Duncan was a rook. He's already defending the rim as well as guys like Duncan, Sanders, Howard, Drummond, the Gasols, Cousins, etc. 

Covington isn't an actual NBA player.  He's a YMCA player who can knock down an NBA 3 on occasion.  His defense is not respectable and he shot 38% on college 3's his senior year.  Not bad, for college, but let's not endow him with the Reggie Miller Award.  If it weren't for Hinkiefication, he'd be flipping burgers.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, had a PER of 21.7 as a rookie (up to 32! now), which basically makes him the best player since Wilt Chamberlain.  It's ridiculous to even mention them on the same web page.

If you want cheap players who can shoot better than covington and not submarine your team, try Jared Dudley, Anthony Morrow, Danny Green, Wesley Matthews, etc.  Covington couldn't earn 1 minute of playing time on ANY Western Conference contender.

Anthony Davis was a 13 andn 8 guy who had a ton of highlights and played horrendous team defense. Everybody knew he was a monster, but he was far from a good player.

You're actually saying that Anthony Davis isn't a good player?  I'll just stop right there.  You win.

Can you please quote where I said that? It's like people don't even read the posts they respond to.

[colincb]

Some people scoff at the way Philly is being built.  I think it's amazing.  Hinkie is running his team like I'd run it playing NBA 2k15... dump everyone for draft picks and cap space, tank for a few years, try to land phenom prospects... sim a few years and you have a dynasty.  It's ridiculous.  You'd never expect a real team to do that, because they have tickets to sell and they can't just click "Sim to next season".  Philly is actually doing it.  Lol.

I get that people think that's absurd and that this could all bust horribly.  Sure... it's a risk.  I remember thinking Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ty Thomas was an amazing young core for Chicago.  That didn't work either.

That said, they have a really impressive young core.

MCW - Solid young PG.  One of the best young players in the league statistically

Noel - He's legit.  His numbers aren't that far off from young KG and young Anthony Davis.   I don't get why people are down on him.  He's coming off major surgery, he's 20 years old, and he's averaging 8 points 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals in 30mpg.   He's probably a better prospect than anyone on the entire Celtic team.  A legit defensive center.   Based on the progression of other elite prospects like him, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to average 15, 10, 3 and 2 within a couple seasons.

Embiid - Widely thought to be the best prospect in the 2014 draft.  Some even suggested the Cavs should have taken him #1 in spite of his injury.  Thought to be a dominant two-way big man.   Kid is a potential game-changer.  They are comparing him to Hakeem with a straight face.   I know people unfairly expect Oden, but but aside from Oden there are only a handful of bigs I've seen get the insane hype treatment... Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis.   I heard some folks very high on Andre Drummond's boom/bust potential.   It's not like every super-hyped big fails... there is actually a pretty solid track record for ultra-hyped bigs like Embiid.

Saric - Don't know much about him, but some say he's got elite Dirk-level potential.

Whoever they take top 5 this year - Could be another elite prospect

Few other guys on that team that have some potential.  Wroten seems solid.   KJ McDaniels seems ok.   Jerami Grant is someone David Thorpe was ga-ga over prior to the draft (and felt should have been taken late 1st) and has recently been living up to THrope's hype.  Apparently a very hard worker.  He's been a top 10 rookie over the past month.  A  few people have said he has the potential (same body size/athleticism/work ethic) to be the next Kawhi Leonard.

That team is loaded with youth.  It's a fascinating situation to watch.  I'm still a little jealous.  Marcus Smart looks ok, but I'm not sure he has all-star potential.  Outside of him, our current prospects are pretty mediocre.  Sully is aiight.   Oly has some game.  Young might have a future.

I know a lot of talent evaluation is opinion with players based early in their career. Some people are high on Noel others are low. However, you can't really say with a straight face that MCW is statistically one of the best young players in the game. He shoots 38% from the field as a point guard and 25% on 3's (despite taking 3 a game) and is second in the league in turnovers at 4.2. 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds are nice, but not at that efficiency level. We could easily name a lot of top young players with better overall statistics. They have also floated him in trade deals, so the 76ers may not even view him as a foundation piece themselves.

So he's basically a rich man's/much younger Rajon Rondo

At 23, Rondo's PER was about 19.  MCW is 23 and his PER this season is 12.9.  MCW is closer to Evan Turner than Rajon Rondo.

Mike

His PER surrounded by hall of fame talent was 19 for a single season... his rookie season his PER was 13.  His per last season was 14.  His per in Dallas is 12.4.   Rondo is closer to Evan Turner than Rondo. 

23 year old MCW > 28 year old Rondo

Not really, though.  Rondo is averaging 9 points, 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 40% (26% from FT) since joining Dallas, but I imagine he'll improve slightly.  Or maybe not.

MCW’s career stats have a long ways to go to catch up with Rondo. Rondo's PER was higher during his first 2 years, considerably higher over his career, and higher even this year. Otherwise, MCW’s offensive game is similar to Rondo’s except he turns over the ball a lot more. Good defender and rebounder like Rondo though. Poor man’s Rondo is a pretty apt description for MCW at the same point in their respective careers.

In any case, you claimed MCW was one of the best young players in the NBA statistically. He is not close. Among players aged 24 years and younger who average at least 24 MPG, MCW is 55th of 57 players based on TS% and 42nd based on PER.  MCW also is 2nd among all players in the NBA in turnovers per game. 
 
As for Noel being Davis and KG-like? Defensively yes. Offensively, not a chance. Good shot blocker, lots of steals, great against the PnR, but needs to bulk up to be an elite defender.  Has a very good chance to be that. Offensively he has very bad hands and "Among players 6-foot-10 or taller, only one rookie [Michael Olowokand] in the past 20 years has had a true-shooting percentage as low as Noel's 45.4 mark." 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24998399/ranking-the-rookies-jusuf-nurkic-has-been-a-defensive-difference-maker

My guess is that he is a poor man’s D. Jordan long-term.

It is funny that the author of the article you reference has both McDaniels and Noel ranked higher than Smart.

I don't take rankings of rookies seriously. I only cited the article for the one stat that I saw referenced to in a Sixers blog mid-season report card.  I probably should have included that since it was more interesting and the guys actually follow their team.  They were too high on Noel given what they say about his offense and too low on MCW IMO:

1. Michael Carter-Williams:

Eric Goldwein: C. We don’t know how much the shoulder is affecting him. We also don’t know how much the lack of teammates is affecting him. He’s shooting terribly and he’s not taking care of the ball. That’s a concern. What we do know: he’s still (by default) the best option the Sixers have at point guard, which  is evident when Larry Drew/JaKarr Sampson/Tony Wroten run the show. What he does the rest of 2015 will tell us a lot.

Wesley Share: C. His shooting is down across the board, he’s getting to the line at a significantly lower rate than last season and he’s just not efficiently moving the ball. Granted, he’s the best and only real option the team has right now at the position. But his shooting regression is an enormous concern for him going forward.

Bryan Toporek: C-. MCW’s shooting regression is a major concern. On the year, he’s shooting 108-of-389 from outside of three feet (27.8 percent), per Basketball-Reference, a marked decline from his 32.9 percent mark last season (229-of-696). The Sixers are six points per 100 possessions worse offensively with him on the court, per NBA.com, which doesn’t exactly scream “future franchise point guard.” The next few months could very well be make-or-break time for MCW regarding his long-term future with the team.

Xylon Dimoff: B-. I never expected him to have a great year after missing training camp and preseason, only to be thrown into one of the most sorrowful offenses in NBA history. My major remaining concerns are the shooting, obviously, but even more so is his propensity to go into hero ball mode — although he has eased up on that in his last couple games after some gripes from last week. He has however tightened up his attentiveness in help defense this season after flying all over the place last year, but I still don’t see him being a long-term piece barring a drastic uptick in his shooting percentage.

Drew Corrigan: C+. As Bryan highlighted and we all know, the shooting is a major problem. However he had an eight game stretch from November 29 to December 13 where he averaged 17.0 points, 11.3 assists, 9.0 boards shooting 43 percent from the field. Stretches like these give me hope — however minimal it may be — that he can figure it all out. I still want to hold onto him until this team has some actual talent to see what he can do. He’s playing without any NBA talent, at least last season he had Turner, Hawes, and those guys. I can’t imagine trying to lead this team and there are times where he tries to score 90 points in one shot. I’m not sold on him as a franchise point guard — is anyone? — but it’s hard to ignore the small success he’s had.

2. Nerlens Noel:

Goldwein: B. The defense is awesome. The Sixers are average there, and it’s because of him. He blocks shots, and he’s also been solid on the perimeter, using his quick hands and wingspan to average 1.5 steals. The offense is problematic. It’s not that he can’t shoot — that was expected. His hands, though, look terrible. Maybe he simply lacks hand-eye coordination and he’ll always be like that. Maybe it’ll improve with time. For now, his offense is tough to watch.

Share: A-. He’s 17th in Nylon Calculus’ Points Saved per game, his opponents are shooting barely 47 percent at the rim and he leads the Sixers in Defensive Win Shares (1.9). His offensive game is a work in progress, but he’s meeting (and exceeding, in some respects) all realistic developmental expectations at this stage in the game.

Toporek: B-. There haven’t been any major surprises with Nerlens. Defensively, he’s a stud, allowing the third-lowest field-goal percentage at the rim of any player who faces at least eight attempts per game, according to NBA.com. The Sixers are four points per 100 possessions better defensively with him on the court, too. Offensively, though, he’s a major work in progress. As CBSSports.com’s Sam Vecenie noted: “Among players 6-foot-10 or taller, only one rookie in the past 20 years has had a true-shooting percentage as low as Noel’s 45.4 mark.” (It was Michael Olowokandi, which… yeesh.)

Dimoff: A-. He’s been miserable offensively, but still only slightly inferior to my expectations of how he’d look after coming off ACL surgery. He’s one of the best 20 year-old pick-and-roll defenders I’ve ever seen, still allows just 47.3 percent of shots taken against him at the rim, and even may currently be the team’s best wing stopper — both a credit to his elusiveness on that end and a representation to how horrendous this roster is. Next season is when I’ll really start to worry about his offensive production, but for now, he’s basically everything I was hoping he’d be.

Corrigan: B. It’s hard to ignore his hideous TS% at 44.6%, but hopefully we will live in a world where he doesn’t need to be relied on for offense. His rebounding has improved recently, averaging 8.2 per game in the past nine games. It’s hard not to notice that he’s starting to show more flashes of being a dominate player more frequently as the season moves on. This kid has been amazing on the defensive end, which is amazing in itself at his age. Some of it can’t even be evidenced by statistics, simply watch him play. There have been plenty of instances where point guards will dribble towards the rim and back off because he’s in the area. He doesn’t get enough credit for coming off of an ACL tear, missing his first year, and playing just 24 games at Kentucky.

http://hoop76.com/5-5-mid-season-report-cards/