Is this year's Sixers team the worst NBA squad ever?

[snively]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

[Moranis]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him). 

[celticsclay]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him).

Moranis your assessment of the 76ers role players has become like a parody at this point. I have heard some other talent evaluators say Covington is ok, and maybe he is an NBA player. I usually can't stand to watch their games cause they are flat out ugly. The other guys though are just not good. If they were good, and playing along talented young players like Noel, Okafor and previously MCW they 76ers wouldn't be winning 18 games a year.

[PhoSita]

Setting aside talent and record, my guess is that the worst NBA squad ever, whichever team you'd like to peg for that unpleasant distinction, was probably characterized, among other things, by a lack of effort or cohesion on both ends of the floor.

The Sixers go into every game at a talent disadvantage, and clearly working in Okafor at center has torpedoed their previously solid defense, but whenever I've watched them it looks like they're at least trying.  They play hard and fast, attacking the rim and trying to force turnovers.  They just don't have enough real NBA players to win that way.

[celticsclay]

One or two good vets are extremely important for a team with young stars. The best leadership is by example from fellow guys on your roster. There is no guidance or leadership there for the young players on Philly's roster, no matter how much talent they have, and that's a massive failure of management in my opinion.

Not all vets provide good leadership especially when they're on a team that is losing a lot.  Good vets would rather sign with a contender unless the Sixers significantly overpaid.  Last season, they did have Mbah a Moute which probably helped some.  However, Noel said that the lack of vet leadership forced him to step into a leadership role which is a good thing.  I do think it would have helped Okafor's and Noel's offensive development if they could have signed a good vet PG but I don't know of any one available that they could have gotten at a reasonable contract.

I agree with jdz. You're right in that not all vets provide good leadership but that's why you pay - and perhaps overpay - for vets who can provide that kind of leadership. You want mentors and glue guys to keep the locker room going even while losses pile up. Maybe the lack of one forced Noel into that role but it's quite questionable that at his young age whether or not he is effective in that role...or whether it's hindering his overall game. Being forced to step up isn't a great thing when it detracts you from learning your position or the weight of it brings you down. Thus a guy like Jae Crowder could do wonders for the Sixers and show the youngsters what a true professional does in the workout room, locker room and on the court.

As for them being the worst team ever, who knows? It's highly unlikely but you are what your record says you are and the Sixers are 0-11 right now.

You have to wonder if Embiid would have been less likely to clean out the mini fridge on trips, insist on going to vegas on a broken foot and not follow the orders of training staff if there was someone like KG around. I really think that is a fair point. We also can't say they couldn't get a vet player like KG or Prince when a team with a worse record than them ended up with those two guys (and i think andre miller?)

[Moranis]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him).

Moranis your assessment of the 76ers role players has become like a parody at this point. I have heard some other talent evaluators say Covington is ok, and maybe he is an NBA player. I usually can't stand to watch their games cause they are flat out ugly. The other guys though are just not good. If they were good, and playing along talented young players like Noel, Okafor and previously MCW they 76ers wouldn't be winning 18 games a year.

Thompson is an excellent 3 point shooter.  That is all he does, but if you put him on a team like Golden State he would be shooting 50% from three and playing like 10 minutes a game.  His shooting is that good.   That is his role.  Philly hasn't had any one else and he is playing way more minutes than he should in a role he shouldn't be.  Thompson will be in the league for years though.  He has a unique skill set that teams love to have on their bench.  Stauskas has finally moved Thompson to the bench, but Stauskas is still far too young to contribute much of anything to winning.  Mind you Stauskas was a top 10 pick 2 drafts ago.  He clearly has talent. 

Covington is a solid player.  Good defender and ok and varied offensive game.  He too is better suited to a bench role, the Sixers just don't have anyone else to start.  Wroten and Marshall who have yet to play are both fairly recent 1st round picks.  Landry has been in the league awhile.  Once the Sixers get healthy, they will be bad, they just won't be epically bad.  They need a real wing scorer (Saric would have helped immensely) and could use a true PG (MCW was not that and neither is Wroten). 

[snively]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him).

Moranis your assessment of the 76ers role players has become like a parody at this point. I have heard some other talent evaluators say Covington is ok, and maybe he is an NBA player. I usually can't stand to watch their games cause they are flat out ugly. The other guys though are just not good. If they were good, and playing along talented young players like Noel, Okafor and previously MCW they 76ers wouldn't be winning 18 games a year.

Thompson is an excellent 3 point shooter.  That is all he does, but if you put him on a team like Golden State he would be shooting 50% from three and playing like 10 minutes a game.  His shooting is that good.   That is his role.  Philly hasn't had any one else and he is playing way more minutes than he should in a role he shouldn't be.  Thompson will be in the league for years though.  He has a unique skill set that teams love to have on their bench.  Stauskas has finally moved Thompson to the bench, but Stauskas is still far too young to contribute much of anything to winning.  Mind you Stauskas was a top 10 pick 2 drafts ago.  He clearly has talent. 

Covington is a solid player.  Good defender and ok and varied offensive game.  He too is better suited to a bench role, the Sixers just don't have anyone else to start.  Wroten and Marshall who have yet to play are both fairly recent 1st round picks.  Landry has been in the league awhile.  Once the Sixers get healthy, they will be bad, they just won't be epically bad.  They need a real wing scorer (Saric would have helped immensely) and could use a true PG (MCW was not that and neither is Wroten). 

Actually a lot of jump-shooters shoot worse when they don't get extended run. Does anyone in the league shoot 50%(!) from 3 in 10mpg?

Hollis might catch on somewhere now that he's on course for 5000+ minutes of NBA playing time to set him apart from other D-league fodder but I expect him to phase out pretty quickly after that.

Spot-up shooters, even those with size, who can't do anything else aren't all that rare. Europe and the D-league are littered with them.

I agree on Covington. Looks like a decent player.

[celticsclay]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him).

Moranis your assessment of the 76ers role players has become like a parody at this point. I have heard some other talent evaluators say Covington is ok, and maybe he is an NBA player. I usually can't stand to watch their games cause they are flat out ugly. The other guys though are just not good. If they were good, and playing along talented young players like Noel, Okafor and previously MCW they 76ers wouldn't be winning 18 games a year.

Thompson is an excellent 3 point shooter.  That is all he does, but if you put him on a team like Golden State he would be shooting 50% from three and playing like 10 minutes a game.  His shooting is that good.   That is his role.  Philly hasn't had any one else and he is playing way more minutes than he should in a role he shouldn't be.  Thompson will be in the league for years though.  He has a unique skill set that teams love to have on their bench.  Stauskas has finally moved Thompson to the bench, but Stauskas is still far too young to contribute much of anything to winning.  Mind you Stauskas was a top 10 pick 2 drafts ago.  He clearly has talent. 

Covington is a solid player.  Good defender and ok and varied offensive game.  He too is better suited to a bench role, the Sixers just don't have anyone else to start.  Wroten and Marshall who have yet to play are both fairly recent 1st round picks.  Landry has been in the league awhile.  Once the Sixers get healthy, they will be bad, they just won't be epically bad.  They need a real wing scorer (Saric would have helped immensely) and could use a true PG (MCW was not that and neither is Wroten).

Thompson gets 10 minutes a game for golden state? Who does he take minutes away from?

[snively]

Setting aside talent and record, my guess is that the worst NBA squad ever, whichever team you'd like to peg for that unpleasant distinction, was probably characterized, among other things, by a lack of effort or cohesion on both ends of the floor.

The Sixers go into every game at a talent disadvantage, and clearly working in Okafor at center has torpedoed their previously solid defense, but whenever I've watched them it looks like they're at least trying.  They play hard and fast, attacking the rim and trying to force turnovers.  They just don't have enough real NBA players to win that way.

Not only has the Okafor move torpedoed their defense, it's kept their offense in the dumps. Okafor plays such selfish, one-dimensional ball offensively. Will dribble himself into post-ups from the 3-point line. And pushes Noel to the perimeter to waste time bricking 18-footers instead of developing his roll man game.

[KeepRondo]

Sorry if this was posted already but they are the worst until they get Simmons.

[celticsclay]

They are not exactly impressed with Stauskas either

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20151117_Nik_Staukas__defensive_struggles_have_Brett_Brown_concerned.html

Also how long do we call him a shooter: "Stauskas went scoreless in 16 minutes in Monday's game against visiting Dallas, and is now shooting 31.7 percent from the floor and 27.2 percent from three-point range." I am so glad the Celtics don't have this guy cause he is a lottery pick.

[apc]

It would be great if all their high picks refuse to renew contracts with them. payoff for all the years of tanking.

[LarBrd33]

They look pretty terrible this year.  They have a couple guys (Kendall Marshall?  Tony Wroten?) who might help them a tiny bit when they get back from injuries.  Some of the young guys might improve a bit.   They were actually a competent defensive team last year in spite of their record, but they've clearly been awful so far.

[TheTruthFot18]

It would be great if all their high picks refuse to renew contracts with them. payoff for all the years of tanking.

LOL never thought of this. Would be epic.

With the new cap, many other teams can promise them top dollar and a chance to actually play NBA basketball, not some super college d-league hybrid.

[Moranis]

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Of the 12 players to suit up for the Sixers so far this season, six were undrafted and have combined to log 38 percent of Philly's minutes

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 14h14 hours ago

Follow-up to last tweet: Among the NBA's other 29 teams, undrafted players have accounted for just 8 percent of total minutes

The Sixers are an NBA-DLeague hybrid.

I think the tweets are rather simple minded.  The Sixers had a lot more D-leaguers last year.  They burned through a lot of them early trying to find some keepers.  The 6 that have played this year are:

Robert Covington - Hasn't played much this year due to injury but proved last year that he is an NBA caliber player.   Definitely a keeper especially with the Hinkie special contract. 
Hollis Thompson - Not particularly good but shooting 40% from 3 may keep him in the NBA for a while. 
JaKarr Sampson - Probably won't be on the Sixers next year if he doesn't show significant improvement   
T.J. McConnell - Undrafted rookie who has been rather good so far.  They'll need a good starting PG but McConnell seems like he'll be a fine backup. 
Christian Wood - Undrafted rookie but was expected to go in 2nd round.  Young, raw talent but looking pretty good so far in limited minutes. 
Phil Pressey - Only picked up because of all their PG injuries.  He played 125 games for us the last two seasons so it is hard to knock the Sixers for picking him up as a stopgap.

With Covington back now and Wroten and Marshall back early December, I would expect the minutes for Thompson, Sampson, Wood and McConnell to be reduced quite a bit.  Pressey will probably be cut but they may wait until they need a roster sport for a trade.       

Sampson and Thompson were mediocre in D-League and college. They are outright awful in the NBA. Don't think they'd make it past preseason for a single other franchise. That Philly has brought Thompson for the 3rd year in a row is pathetic.

Thompson is one of the best shooting "big men" in history.  In fact, I can't think of a player 6'8" or taller that has shot over 40% from three for 3 consecutive seasons (Thompson is currently on pace for that).  None-the-less that players first 3 years in the league and on a bad team no less.  Shooters that good always have a place in the league, see Korver. 

Thompson is no more a big man than Rasual Butler. He's wing, through and through. And one of the least skilled wings in the league. He's also a terrible defender. Steve Novak's an even better shooter with better size and the only thing keeping him in the league is his contract.

I put "big" in parenthesis for a reason and then said 6'8" or taller.  Steve Novak is one such player.  A guy who built his entire career on being able to shoot the ball.  Just like Kyle Korver and just like Hollis Thompson.  Shooters like that will always be in the league.  Thompson is finally on the bench where he belongs, but he will be in the league for years because he has a skill that is better than 95% of the league and better than 99.9% of the league as tall or taller than him.  You can't teach shooting like that (and for the record Thompson was an excellent shooter at Georgetown, which is the whole reason Philly signed him).

Moranis your assessment of the 76ers role players has become like a parody at this point. I have heard some other talent evaluators say Covington is ok, and maybe he is an NBA player. I usually can't stand to watch their games cause they are flat out ugly. The other guys though are just not good. If they were good, and playing along talented young players like Noel, Okafor and previously MCW they 76ers wouldn't be winning 18 games a year.

Thompson is an excellent 3 point shooter.  That is all he does, but if you put him on a team like Golden State he would be shooting 50% from three and playing like 10 minutes a game.  His shooting is that good.   That is his role.  Philly hasn't had any one else and he is playing way more minutes than he should in a role he shouldn't be.  Thompson will be in the league for years though.  He has a unique skill set that teams love to have on their bench.  Stauskas has finally moved Thompson to the bench, but Stauskas is still far too young to contribute much of anything to winning.  Mind you Stauskas was a top 10 pick 2 drafts ago.  He clearly has talent. 

Covington is a solid player.  Good defender and ok and varied offensive game.  He too is better suited to a bench role, the Sixers just don't have anyone else to start.  Wroten and Marshall who have yet to play are both fairly recent 1st round picks.  Landry has been in the league awhile.  Once the Sixers get healthy, they will be bad, they just won't be epically bad.  They need a real wing scorer (Saric would have helped immensely) and could use a true PG (MCW was not that and neither is Wroten).

Thompson gets 10 minutes a game for golden state? Who does he take minutes away from?

McAdoo, Rush, Thompson, Clark.  Take your pick.  Could even see him taking Barbosa's minutes in certain situations.