Sixers-Pelicans Lottery Thread

[MDS]

i dont see how drafting someone else other than andrew embiid is "going for the 5 seed." you try to win, you build the team, you have success, you can add the missing piece via free agency or trade. look at the clippers. or the rockets.

gutting their roster and tanking for 2 top 10 picks was of course the right call. they did that. they did it by adding mcw and noel. awesome. they followed that up by taking a walking corpse and a croatian that wont be in the league for 2 years. thats horrible.

you draft SOMEONE who can play, take your lotto pick in 15 and go from there. essentially im OK with saric. its the embiid pick thats driving me crazy. plus the worshiping of hinkie, who has no track record whatsoever to get behind.

[ice grillin you]

hinkie is of course the antithesis of amaro, but the blind faith in the "plan" is similar. everyone was loving the phillies mortgaging the future, and everyone is loving the sixers never attempting to have one. in hinkie we trust.

actually much of the fanbase was against what they did on draft night....the problem is the complainers have no plan of their own....no matter who the sixers drafted the last two years they were never winning anything for at least five years...when dante exum or whoever you wanted at three becomes a superstar and embiid never plays pro basketball then you can complain...but as of now hinkie has done no wrong and has the sixers right where they should be at this point in his tenure...embiid is the 9th highest rated nba prospect in the last 15 years....thats the kind of potential superstar that wins you titles and it was more than worth the risk

[ice grillin you]

sixers released james anderson....so the worst shooting team in the nba just got rid of their one shooter who wasnt a good one to begin with

[ice grillin you]

Sam Hinkie Is Not Trolling Anybody
July 1, 2014
Miles Wray

The true superstar of last week's draft — and far more so than #1 pick Andrew Wiggins and his technicolor dream coat — was Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Sam Hinkie.

At the moment the draft began, Hinkie owned seven of the draft's sixty picks — two in the top 10 and five second-rounders — and then proceeded to make four trades by the end of the evening. In addition to receiving two future picks from the Orlando Magic (in exchange for swapping picks 10 and 12), now Pierre Jackson, Jordan McRae, Vasilije Micic, K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid are all Philadelphia 76ers.

The immediate response to Hinkie's evening was howling in indignation, specifically at Hinkie's two lottery selections. Between Embiid's famously broken foot and Saric's new contract that will keep him playing in Turkey for at least two years, the Sixers didn't exactly acquire an "immediate contributor" in the draft. "You mean you tanked all last year," popular consensus cried, "just so you could tank all next year?!"

The ideological rift was perhaps best distilled in this three-minute segment from ESPN's Bristol studios (
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11143952) featuring Chad Ford and Amin Elhassan, both of whom have opinions and expertise that I respect. A massive generational split begins to reveal itself as the conversation unfolds: like the YouTube videos of grandparents trying to listen to dubstep, Ford, the elder of the pair, can't wrap his head around Hinkie's wheelings and dealings, and proclaims that Philly had the worst draft of all thirty teams. Elhassan proclaims that Philly had the best draft of any team.

I side with Elhassan and his argument — up to a point. Elhassan proclaims that it was a wise draft for a team who plans to be "awful" in 2014-15. That is: even Elhassan, who believed that Hinkie pulled off the best draft of all 30 general managers, still believes that the Sixers will manage something of a repeat performance of last year's 19-win team. I believe that the Sixers had a really great draft (ask me five years from now who had the "best" draft) and I also believe that they will not be awful next year.

I don't believe that the Sixers will make the playoffs next year, but I would be far from surprised if they remain in contention for the Eastern Conference's eighth seed as late as the All-Star Break. That may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but how about this: I would much rather have Philadelphia's roster today compared to the rosters of two Western Conference teams.

Unlike the Sixers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings have evaded accusations that are consistently leveled at Hinkie for cynically manipulating the NBA's system of punishments and rewards. All three franchises experienced tremendous flashpoints of change in the spring/early summer of 2013, and have reacted in different ways since:

Los Angeles Lakers

Mercifully putting an end to the petty drama that at times overwhelmed the 2012-13 basketball season, in the summer of 2013 the Lakers saw the departure of a Top-10 superstar, with Dwight Howard signing with the Houston Rockets in free agency. In last summer's free agency market, the Lakers exclusively acquired low-cost Band-Aids, signing journeymen Nick Young, Chris Kaman, Wesley Johnson, Shawne Williams, and Xavier Henry, all to one-year contracts. The Lakers made one significant in-season move, signing Kobe Bryant to a two-year/$48.5M contract extension. After a predictably awful 27-win season, they fired their coach.

Entering 2014-15, the Lakers have only $35M committed in salary, which in theory will empower them to pursue big-name free agents this July. Any free agent who joins the Lakers will be signing up for a roster with:

◦Starting guards (Bryant, Steve Nash) who are a combined 76 years old, with 21 games played between them last year.

◦A young core of Kendall Marshall, Robert Sacre, Julius Randle, and...that's everybody. (Ryan Kelly will also return if he accepts his qualifying offer from the team.)

◦No coach.

The team's main pitch to those coveted free agents will presumably about the glory of their past championship trophies. The Lakers have yet to assemble any plan for their future that doesn't lean entirely on their decorated past. In games played in the 21st century where the Lakers were not coached by Phil Jackson, the team is 147-165.

Sacramento Kings

In May of 2013, the Kings were purchased by an ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive, with new General Manager Pete D'Alessandro installed shortly thereafter. The Kings have been extremely prolific in making transactions ever since, with most being surprised that the team drafted and kept their eighth overall pick from last week, used to select Nik Stauskas, instead of trading it. With Jason Thompson already signed to a deal that could stretch to summer of 2017, before the regular season tipped off D'Alessandro also made long-term commitments to DeMarcus Cousins and Carl Landry. (Remember Landry? You're forgiven if you thought he wasn't in the NBA anymore — he only appeared in 18 games this season due to injury.)

Then, in December, the Kings tried their best to "splash" with a giant move to bring Rudy Gay into town. With mastermind Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri on the other end of the phone, Sacramento sent the better part of a playoff bench unit to Toronto (Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes, John Salmons) in exchange for Gay and all of his many, many midrange shot attempts.

Although everything has transformed for the Kings off of the basketball court, nothing has changed for the team that actually goes on the hardwood. The Kings won 28 games in 2012-13, and 28 games again in 2013-14. With Gay already exercising his $19.3M player option for next season (he is no fool), the Kings are already capped out with their 28-win nucleus, owing $67M in salary before the draft got started. Since just about the whole gang is coming back together again, is there any reason to predict a different win total for 2014-15?

Philadelphia 76ers

Perhaps the only team in the NBA who makes moves more often than the Kings, the Sixers' moves have enabled them to maintain flexibility while pursuing the type of long, lean, well-conditioned athletes that head coach Brett Brown will push to run at a league-leading pace. Players who did not fit the run-and-gun profile — Kwame Brown, Lavoy Allen, Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes — have been jettisoned in favor of a full roster of hustlers with terrifying wingspans.

Seven of the thirteen players who were under contract before draft night — that's James Anderson, Elliot Williams, Henry Sims, Brandon Davies, Hollis Thompson, Jarvis Varnado, and Casper Ware — have deals that are not guaranteed. Combined with the massive draft class listed above, and the Sixers are essentially going to be holding auditions throughout the summer and preseason to see who stays in Philadelphia and who will be delegated to their exclusive NBDL affiliate, the Deleware 87ers. The team will also be activating lottery pick Nerlens Noel, who has no NBA game experience but has already spent a full year under the training and tutelage of the Philadelphia coaching staff. International talents Furkan Aldemir and Arsalan Kazemi have gained another year of experience overseas, and there is no rush to bring them over. As much scorn as the 2013 Draft class receives, it seemed far from obvious on draft night that Philadelphia found the eventual Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, way back at the 11th pick.

If the Sixers wish to pursue free agents in July, they can. They'll probably want to sit tight, keeping minutes open for their new, young players to receive playing time. But that's the thing — the Sixers have allowed themselves to have options to do what they want. The Lakers must pursue somebody in free agency — they won't come into the season with enough warm bodies otherwise. The Kings, with their full roster and full cap, have cornered themselves into stagnation.

With last week's haul of second-round picks, the Sixers will, unlike last year, be employing a good number of players with guaranteed contracts, meaning that there shouldn't be close to 23 different players to appear in a Philadelphia uniform, as happened last year, a feature of the team that constantly disrupted continuity that could have been responsible for the team's massive, post-trade deadline losing streak.

Next year's Sixers will lose a bunch of games, as they did last year, in which they gave up 120 points. But they'll also steal a few when they score 125. The point of Hinkie's plan is not to lose forever, and I am sure he is aware that even the most patient public couldn't be expected to put up with two additional basement-dwelling years after the 2012-13 on-court debacle. He has only been on the job for 13 months, and for most of that time he has had to scrub away the not insignificant follies of the administration that preceded him. Embiid and Saric are consensus lottery talents who will be joining the team at a relaxed pace that is most conducive to them.

Hinkie's team has a vision for the future, an identity to strive for, and options upon options to help get them there. And in the meantime, they'll probably get just as many wins as the Lakers and Kings next season, even in this embryonic stage of Philadelphia's development.

[MDS]

hinkie is of course the antithesis of amaro, but the blind faith in the "plan" is similar. everyone was loving the phillies mortgaging the future, and everyone is loving the sixers never attempting to have one. in hinkie we trust.

actually much of the fanbase was against what they did on draft night....the problem is the complainers have no plan of their own....no matter who the sixers drafted the last two years they were never winning anything for at least five years...when dante exum or whoever you wanted at three becomes a superstar and embiid never plays pro basketball then you can complain...but as of now hinkie has done no wrong and has the sixers right where they should be at this point in his tenure...embiid is the 9th highest rated nba prospect in the last 15 years....thats the kind of potential superstar that wins you titles and it was more than worth the risk

dont care how highly rated he is...the guy cant stay healthy and hes barely played basketball. i cant see how thats worth the risk at 3. at 3 you need to at least get something, even if its winds up being a role player. theres a great chance bynum embiid never plays a game in the nba.

cant wait for 2019 though! go sixers!!

[ice grillin you]

if you think a role player at 3 is what they needed instead of a potential superstar then you just dont get how the nba works and you are beyond help

you cannot use the 3rd pick on anyone but one of the big four...you wanna argue exum over embiid then fine....but a role player over embiid....NO

[MDS]

AT WORST a role player...meaning you take someone who will, you know, play. hopefully they develop into an all star, worst case scenario they wind up at least being an nba-level player. embiid cant even see the court.

this hinkie guy is selling ya'all a con game. oh we'll be good in 3 years, everyone. keep buying in. its gonna be great. long term plan. sam's got a vision. yea OK, so did darryl morey, then he traded for harden and signed howard. what a genius!

[Dillen]

I know this place loves hyperbole but lo-farging-l as if anything less than an All-Star at 3 would matter

[ice grillin you]

AT WORST a role player...meaning you take someone who will, you know, play. hopefully they develop into an all star, worst case scenario they wind up at least being an nba-level player. embiid cant even see the court.

this hinkie guy is selling ya'all a con game. oh we'll be good in 3 years, everyone. keep buying in. its gonna be great. long term plan. sam's got a vision. yea OK, so did darryl morey, then he traded for harden and signed howard. what a genius!

no one is saying its going to work....only that the process thus far has been run to perfection

your entire argument is pretty much just predicting that they wont win a championship under hinkie....thats so easy lazy and weak

[MDS]

yup, all the players drafted after exum are going to suck

it was embiid, exum and a pile of james andersons. #insamwetrust #seeyouin2019

[ice grillin you]

so name the guys you would have taken at 3 and 10 instead of just saying hinkie sucks they will never win

[Eagles_Legendz]

What good does drafting a role player accomplish @3?  How does that get them any closer to winning the championship even if Embiid never plays a minute? 

You need a superstar (or two).  You have a chance (who knows what % but a chance) with Embiid.  What is Aaron Gordon going to do on this team?  They need focal points, not side pieces.

[ice grillin you]

i dont really get it but to some people its more important to win 30 games next year instead of 60 games in five years

[MDS]

these kids are 19 and 20...NOBODY knows how good any of them are. these silly draft evaluations made now are based on promise, not absolutes. again, you need to get something at 3. at 10 if you wanted to take a risk (embiid, saric) thats fine. thats why you have the 2nd top 10 pick.

but i guess outside of wiggins, parker, embiid, exum the rest of the draft sucked and was full of zesty players who will be horrible so they had to pick embiid because he's hakeem jr.

essentially they tanked last season, got 2 top 10 picks and theres a very very good chance they will have nothing to ever show for it. thats just horrible. its horrible they wont be able to start either guy this season. its insulting. why are you watching or following this team? whats the point? in 4 years man, i tell you, they COULD be good. cant wait!!

[ice grillin you]

ill be watching NN hopefully develop....this is a huge year for MCW....i need to see improvement there especially with the shot....and im really looking forward to the crazy athletic wings they got especailly on the defensive end...i couldnt be more excited to watch them.....this isnt like watching the phillies


oh and still waiting on who you would have taken at 3 & 10