Right when the Celtics peak... the 76ers will come alive

[slightly biased bias fan]

What they attempted here should not have happened period, the league should have stopped it. What if every team doing poorly tanked like 76ers for 3-4 years...there would be next to no league. I am quite sure Adam Silver had a part to play in Hinkie being sacked and hopefully he will never be rehired as a lesson to GM's in the future.

After all that mess they have Noel who will leave for next to nothing this season or leave for free in the offseason. Okafor has shown he is a poor mans Big Al with a bad attitude (something a losing culture does not improve), Embiid has major health concerns at such a very young age and is still extremely raw but amazing talented. As others said who knows with Simmons but even if one of their guys is a cornerstone talent, who cares? Look at Sacramento and Cleveland (before James came back) having 1 star in a bad culture doesn't win you anything...and they have dragged their franchises name and reputation through the mud in the process.

Look at the Bucks, the perfect example of anti Hinkie operation. They were middle run team who made intelligent moves in getting Kidd, drafting well with Giannis and Parker, now they look like a few moves away from being a contender in the East.

[saltlover]

The whole deal still comes down to Embiid for them, doesn't it? If he's healthy, they can get pieces to surround him. If he's not, the other "assets" are a team that probably wins 30 games a year. Who knows what Simmons and Saric will be. Okafor has regressed. And they could easily strike out on their upcoming picks, they've done it before.

Maybe Philly's upside is as high as ours right now, but their downside risk is much worse, in my opinion.

who says he doesn't bolt that mess in Philly the first chance he gets?  play for his QO and go somewhere that's run a lot better and won't take another decade to win a division much less contend for a title.

only reason he would have for staying is uncertainty about his continued health this year and he feels the need to cash in asap before his legs go out for good.

Wake up to reality.  No rookie turns down a MAX extension.  Which is what Embiid will get offered this offseason assuming he stays healthy.  Embiid will be a Sixers for at least another 5 years but with the new CBA changes it will probably be another 10 years.

Could be 10 years.  I personally would bet against him being a remotely useful player in ten years, myself.

[tazzmaniac]

I am not the slightest bit worried about the Sixers ever being a threat to the Celtics.  They're like 6 players away from fielding a competitive team, by the time their draftees are all good enough, some will become too expensive to keep.

They're much more likely to wind up being a slightly better version of the Wizards.

Funny that these arguments about retaining rookies only get applied to the Sixers even though they have the best cap space and shouldn't have a cap issue for many years.  Assuming that Embiid stays healthy and Simmons comes close to his projections, the Sixers should be in great shape.  If they get really lucky and have 4 rookies deserve MAX that is only 100% of the cap to retain them all.  Or more likely they'd trade the least of the 4 away for good support players and/or picks. 

Why not raise the issue about the TWolves?  Their cap space is much worse and their rookies hit free agency sooner.  They already had to extend Dieng.   This offseason they'll have to decide on retaining Muhammad and on extensions for Wiggins and LaVine.  The Lakers are worse off than the Sixers too. 

[LarBrd33]

heh

[saltlover]

I am not the slightest bit worried about the Sixers ever being a threat to the Celtics.  They're like 6 players away from fielding a competitive team, by the time their draftees are all good enough, some will become too expensive to keep.

They're much more likely to wind up being a slightly better version of the Wizards.

Funny that these arguments about retaining rookies only get applied to the Sixers even though they have the best cap space and shouldn't have a cap issue for many years.  Assuming that Embiid stays healthy and Simmons comes close to his projections, the Sixers should be in great shape.  If they get really lucky and have 4 rookies deserve MAX that is only 100% of the cap to retain them all.  Or more likely they'd trade the least of the 4 away for good support players and/or picks. 

Why not raise the issue about the TWolves?  Their cap space is much worse and their rookies hit free agency sooner.  They already had to extend Dieng.   This offseason they'll have to decide on retaining Muhammad and on extensions for Wiggins and LaVine.  The Lakers are worse off than the Sixers too.

1) Because it's a Sixers thread.
2) Because the Sixers play in the Eastern Conference, and thus what happens to them affects the Celtics more than Minnesota or even LA.
3) Because people thought Minnesota would be better than they are.  They weren't supposed to be staring yet another high lottery pick in the face -- it's unclear which of their young players they should even try to keep on long term deals aside.  But since you're concerned with them, yes, they are facing a similar situation.
4) As for the Lakers -- they will have no problem spending into the luxury tax to keep the players worth keeping, and will have less trouble attracting free agents if their roster turns it on in time for the summer of 2018.  They are not in the same situation.

How many players on the Sixers roster do you think will still be on the team when they make the playoffs again?  Two? Three? I think it's just Embiid and Simmons.  And that's assuming that Simmons pans out and Embiid stays healthy.  They are a bad team of mostly replacement-level NBA players, and are so many pieces away.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Not a fan of the 6ers route and I don't care whether it pans out or not, all I know is that they have a lot of talented players with more top lottery talent on the way. I also know that a lot of people bagging on Noel and Okafor would be all over them if they were Celtics and I know that because of what We say about our young players who have shown far less than those 2 guys! They didn't get there the right way and they still don't win but it's time some of you face reality, they already have at least 4-5 young guys who can still turn out to be very good players with a couple possible stars.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Whenever Team X is good, there's always at least one other team that's good at the same time, especially in the modern NBA with all the player movement among teams. There's likely never going to be a scenario when Team X (in this case the Celtics) is really good but no other team is. It might be Philly, but it might be someone else; either way, it'll be somebody.

[LGC88]

Many teams have huge potentials with their young core talents.
However, for one Golden State, you have many teams that are good but won't win championships.
It takes something else to win, that's something to learn for a long process. It is also within the organisation, the staff, the coaches. Everything must come together. Not every team has a Lebron who can take most of the weight on himself.
By the time the Celtics are seriously contending, Philly will finally start to learn winning games and have a 0.400 to 0.500 season.

[tazzmaniac]

I am not the slightest bit worried about the Sixers ever being a threat to the Celtics.  They're like 6 players away from fielding a competitive team, by the time their draftees are all good enough, some will become too expensive to keep.

They're much more likely to wind up being a slightly better version of the Wizards.

Funny that these arguments about retaining rookies only get applied to the Sixers even though they have the best cap space and shouldn't have a cap issue for many years.  Assuming that Embiid stays healthy and Simmons comes close to his projections, the Sixers should be in great shape.  If they get really lucky and have 4 rookies deserve MAX that is only 100% of the cap to retain them all.  Or more likely they'd trade the least of the 4 away for good support players and/or picks. 

Why not raise the issue about the TWolves?  Their cap space is much worse and their rookies hit free agency sooner.  They already had to extend Dieng.   This offseason they'll have to decide on retaining Muhammad and on extensions for Wiggins and LaVine.  The Lakers are worse off than the Sixers too.

1) Because it's a Sixers thread.
2) Because the Sixers play in the Eastern Conference, and thus what happens to them affects the Celtics more than Minnesota or even LA.
3) Because people thought Minnesota would be better than they are.  They weren't supposed to be staring yet another high lottery pick in the face -- it's unclear which of their young players they should even try to keep on long term deals aside.  But since you're concerned with them, yes, they are facing a similar situation.
4) As for the Lakers -- they will have no problem spending into the luxury tax to keep the players worth keeping, and will have less trouble attracting free agents if their roster turns it on in time for the summer of 2018.  They are not in the same situation.

How many players on the Sixers roster do you think will still be on the team when they make the playoffs again?  Two? Three? I think it's just Embiid and Simmons.  And that's assuming that Simmons pans out and Embiid stays healthy.  They are a bad team of mostly replacement-level NBA players, and are so many pieces away.

The Lakers are a bad team with a terrible defense and probably aren't going to be much better next year.  Their "brain trust" have tied up more than 30M for three more seasons on Deng and Mozgov.  They couldn't get Melo in free agency and I don't think Aldridge and Jordan even met with them.  If they don't end up with a top 3 pick this year, they'll also lose their 2019 1st.  They're in a significantly worse situation than the Sixers.   

You don't need to be a good team to make the playoffs.  There are a lot of mediocre or worse teams in the league right now that are treading water or declining.  I think the Sixers have an outside shot at the playoffs next season.  I'd be more confident if Simmons hadn't been injured but he should still get a couple months of playing time.  With Embiid as the only big on the court, the Sixers have a slightly positive +/- and they're a solid defensive team.  That's with all those replacement level players you referred to.  At a minimum, I'd expect Saric and Luwawu to also be on their roster when they make the playoffs.  However it really doesn't matter much if they have 2 young stars (Embiid and Simmons) to build around with all their picks and cap space.     

[JBcat]

The only thing that has me worried is our 4 best players Horford, Thomas, Bradley, and Crowder may be peaking right now, and if so how long do all 4 stay at their peak?  Will any of our young players ever get to even their level? 

Those are a couple of my concerns but Ainge is clever, I believe in him, and we still have our Nets picks on the way along with cap space.

[trickybilly]

Another reason to like LA winning is them losing that top-3 protected pick, just wish someone else was getting it though..

I might add that Philly gave up Carter-Willams for this pick and will probably get Tatum/Isaac/Fox instead. Make what you will of that..

[nickagneta]

Oh dear lord, not another Sixers thread.

Boston is competing for a trip to the ECF, has two possible top 3-6 picks over the next two years, has a young player who could be a stud SF in a couple years.

Philly has "assets" and cap space. Their assets are all 23 and under and they absolutely suck this year while not trying to tank on ourpise after the shameful last three years.

I think its preey obvious the Celtics future looks better right now and for years to come.

[oldtype]

You just can't project this far in the future.  It's not even certain that the Timberwolves, with three clear-cut stud prospects, will ever be good; never mind the Sixers who have one stud prospect and one other guy who hasn't even stepped on the court yet.

[celticsclay]

I think we really dodged a bullet that the 76ers ended up with Okafor instead of Porzingas, Turner or Winslow. They probably would have still been very bad with those guys instead of Okafor and still gotten Simmons. If you had Embiid, Porzingas, Simmons, Top level guard and random free agent that is sooo formidable. Having a bit of a project big off the bench instead of a guy that will likely already be an all-star this year is quite a big difference. I think they have the resources to be really awesome, but Okafor not panning out and Noel seemingly forcing his way out make it a little less intimidating.

[Ilikesports17]

You just can't project this far in the future.  It's not even certain that the Timberwolves, with three clear-cut stud prospects, will ever be good; never mind the Sixers who have one stud prospect and one other guy who hasn't even stepped on the court yet.

a stud prospect who is still a massive injury concern