Celticsblog forum has become the LarBrd33 "I'm always right and lets all ballwash Joel Embiid" forum.
I've been trying to get the mods to accept that re-branding for months and it's fallen on deaf ears.
Charles Barkley just compared Embiid/Simmons to Durant/Westbrook in terms of having two superstars. He says if they stay healthy, they can be transformational players.
10 years of six posts a day worth of condescending tripe...I'm surprised the philly board hasn't made you a mod already.
I really don't care what Barkley thinks.
Please do not disparage my home dingers.
What Barkley says is true, though. These two teams right now (Philly and the Timberwolves) have two of the most exciting young collections of talent in the league. 5-10 years from now we might be seeing these teams in the Finals against each other.
Then again, Embiid might be hurt again. So who knows.
I'd be surprised if both Wiggins and Towns stay long term in Minnesota.
Re: Philly, I have no idea. They are such an embarrassment to the NBA and their fans that I could see Ben Simmons wanting to bounce right after his rookie deal to head to one of the major target cities that has a winning team. I hope Embiid stays healthy and stays in Philly, they need something to go right. Okafor and Noel will both test the market, and I don't see either staying. Maybe Saric stays?
None of those rookies are leaving unless the TWolves and Sixers want them to. Wiggins and Embiid will both probably sign long term extensions this offseason. The new CBA will probably make it even easier for teams to keep their players.
Is that true? I don't know much about the CBA.
Why wouldn't one of the bigs in Philly want to go elsewhere? I would think that Minnesota and Philly are not the first or second most popular teams for NBA stars.
Simmons in particular must have felt like his hands were tied with the LSU decision, and then couldn't have been too excited to get drafted by Philly. On a player's second deal, are the salary differences that much different that Simmons wouldn't think about going to LA (not even considering the difference in marketing opportunities)? He hired Lebron's agent Rich Paul, who has effectively worked shorter term contracts for his client.
With salaries going up across the league, wouldn't all teams have more money to spend in FA? I would think Simmons would be better off to test the market and listen to what teams want to pitch him.
http://www.nba.com/knicks/freeagency/faqs.htmlAfter their rookie contracts expire, first-round picks become restricted free agents. So long as their original team extends a relatively small one-year "qualifying offer" contract (125% of the last year's salary under the rookie deal), they are allowed to match any larger contract by an opposing team. So if the Sixers offer Embiid the qualifying offer, he could meet with the Celtics, and Danny could sign him to the max; however, Philly retains the right to overrule us and resign him if they match that max offer.
Basically the only way to circumvent this system is if either the original team does NOT offer the qualifying offer, or if the player accepts the tiny 1-year deal, taking a big hit on salary and security for a year because they just really want to leave, or are betting on themselves getting a better deal with an extra year's experience under their belt. Greg Monroe jumped ship when he took the QO with Detroit, then bolted for Milwaukee the next year.
Hard to see Simmons or Embiid rejecting a huge deal because of the uncertainty of their health; but you never know, as the situation is Philly is indeed pretty toxic, there isn't much leadership on that club.
