The one thing I learned this week: youse really don’t like NBA officiating (I agree).
Again, my solicitation for questions turned into something else entirely — this time a lambasting of NBA officiating (which … fair). Don’t ever change, friends.
With that said, there were some non-officiating related questions, so let’s get into them!
Someone proposed this idea recently. I don’t dislike the thought, I’m just not sure it’s a match for either side.
For the Sixers, the idea of adding future draft capital is a good one with uncertainty surrounding the futures of Joel Embiid and Paul George. I liked Nikola Topic coming out. Though the team is suddenly guard-heavy, you could sell me on his fit here.
The Thunder saw value in drafting him because his injury caused him to fall, but if OKC is already willing to move on before Topic has played a single NBA minute, doesn’t that make you wonder a bit? Like if they’re willing to use Topic to move up for a player in this year’s draft, wouldn’t it behoove the Sixers to simply draft that player themselves?
From the Thunder’s perspective, which player are they moving up for? The bigs are likely not a fit with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein under contract. A ball-dominant guard like Jeremiah Fears likely doesn’t make sense with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander running the show. Maybe OKC values the shooting of Tre Johnson or Kon Knueppel enough for such a move? I’m not sure.
Maybe if someone like Ace Bailey or V.J. Edgecombe has an unexpected fall down the board that could tempt them, but again, wouldn’t it make more sense for the Sixers to simply take one of those guys themselves?
I’d be on board with the Sixers trading back only if the primary return is serious draft capital. This team needs to get younger and accumulate as many valuable assets as it can.
Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon and Kelly Oubre, Jr. would not be eligible to be traded until they officially pick up their player options. The deadline for all players to pick up their options is June 29, so a few days after the draft.
While they can’t be used as trade pieces during the draft, using those contracts for a younger player down the line is an interesting thought. Maybe the Sixers explore a guy like Keegan Murray. The Kings will likely look to shake things up this offseason and maybe the new front office will decide to move on from the previous regime’s No. 4 overall pick from 2022.
This is a good question but one I can’t give much clarity on, unfortunately.
I will say this, their developmental staff did an outstanding job. Jared McCain, Adem Bona and Justin Edwards all played as rookies and all three looked ready for NBA minutes. And when you consider how gnarly the roster got at the end of the season, they did an excellent job of assimilating so many new players. Much of the credit goes to the players themselves, but the coaches deserve a little there as well.
If the Sixers move on from anyone on the staff, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a player development coach get a shot at a more prominent role. I’m not sure any changes to Nick Nurse’s staff are imminent but I get fans wanting some type of shakeup after this past season.
My personal opinion is that way too many people would have to be involved in this conspiracy to work in this day and age. And with social media and the attention the league gets, I’m not sure they could get away with something like that.
But if it is, the Sixers are certainly due for things to be rigged in their favor. It’s the least Adam Silver can do after the Colangelos.
There was so much ref talk in the comments I felt like I had to address one of the questions. I chose this one because it’s Sixers-adjacent.
Typically, I’m a “do enough so the refs don’t impact the outcome” guy. You could argue that if the Sixers simply box out Hartenstein in Game 2 last year, they still win that game. But this is one instance where it really should never have come to that. Tyrese Maxey was fouled multiple times and there appeared to be multiple instances where the Sixers should’ve been awarded a timeout.
Now, in all likelihood, the Sixers still lose that series. Embiid’s knee felt like a ticking time bomb (and he still scored 50 points in Game 3 and 39 in Game 6!) and it’s difficult to imagine the Sixers winning Game 7 at MSG, but it would’ve been nice to know for sure. The Sixers got robbed at the end of Game 2, plain and simple.
As our Greg Frank recently wrote though, the Knicks are basically the new Sixers. They sure look like they have a hard ceiling on the second round for the foreseeable future. I would be pretty surprised if they were able to take down the Celtics, especially after the fight the Pistons are giving them. It appears running your players into the ground does eventually catch up.