Blow Up The 76ers, Please!

If any team is doomed to stay in the NBA’s version of eternal purgatory, it is the Philadelphia 76ers. For two years, they have succeeded, yet failed and are destined to repeat this outcome year after year for the foreseeable future. They have made the playoffs two years in a row, and got bounced in the first round. They have talent, yet no stars. They have a coach, yet they don’t. They are in essence good enough only not to be bad. And now, after years of consecutive success and failure, it appears that they are spinning the wheels of mediocrity and will continue to do so until something drastic occurs. That time is now.

Andre Miller (right) wants to be gone. Fine. Samuel Dalembert wants out too. Better. In fact, anyone who wants to leave, go ahead and good luck. Most of the guys on the roster, with the exception of Miller would either have a hard time finding a role on their team or finding playing time ‘cause they stink. Andre Miller is a good point guard for a team who can convince him that he doesn’t need to shoot the ball. He hadn’t requested a trade, probably because he wanted to see how things would turn out in Philly. Now he can predict that the opportunity for him to win is most likely elsewhere. Samuel Dalembert anyway, could even get a job with the Canadian National Team, so I don’t know who’ll take a big stiff with no heart with a bigger contract and lesser skill.

The rest of the team is a rabble of athletic guys who are more of a mish-mosh of talent than a solid team. Andre Iguodala, although young, is not a guy who is ever going to develop into a go-to, take the last shot, star. He hit a big shot against Orlando this year, but no one would have been even slightly surprised if that ball rimmed out. Thaddeus Young (left) I like a lot, but he doesn’t really have a position to call his own. Since Iggy can’t play the two guard, the whole team gets screwed up trying to put Andre and Young on the court at the same time. Either Thaddeus gets stuck behind Andre at the three or he is forced to play the small four. It doesn’t help the team in either case. One has got to go, either one, but whoever it is…make sure they take Willie Green with them.

Then there is the case of Louis Williams (right), who was drafted out of what seems like junior high school. He is one of those tweeners, half point, half shooting guard who can look promising or compromising depending on who he is matched up against. He is still young, but guess what, in five years he’s going to be the exact same player and not so young. Better see where he can be moved in order to get a bona fide point guard now that Miller is on his way out.

The last main piece of the debacle called the Sixers is Elton Brand. All I will say about him is that he makes the Sixers look more like the Clippers every day he is on the roster.

So, let’s take stock. We get rid of Dalembert, Iguodala or Young, Willie Green, and Lou Williams, Miller walks as does anyone else on a one year deal. That’s four starters, so yep, that constitutes a blow up. Whoever the coach is going to be, whether it’s Tony DiLeo or some new guy, shouldn’t they be given the opportunity to have a team that they can lead into the second round of the playoffs before getting their ticket home? Please, at least for the fan’s sake, let make it happen.

Sixers Need to Trade a Star

There is only a matter of time before the obvious comes to light. The 76ers, although a young, perhaps up and coming, playoff team, have a dilemma on their roster. Not only do they not have a guy to play the point after this season, no sharpshooters, a potential bust in Elton Brand, but more intriguing they have two starters at small forward. Andre Iguodala was signed to a huge deal, paying him upwards of around 80 million dollars over the next six years. It was a great deal for Andre, but it proved to show little insight on the part of the Sixers. They drafted a guy by the name of Thaddeus Young back in 2007, who looks as if he is going to be a real player, at the three. Now what do they do? Neither can play the two guard, and even though they threw Young in at power forward, that is not his spot, that belongs to Marreese Speights.

It would appear that T.Young is hurt right now but he will be forever without of a position. His average of 15.2 points per game can be picked up by other guys, but his skill without the ball and his defense will be missed just as much. But what it can get the team is what it needs to get passed the first round of the playoffs. Thaddeus Young has absolutely the highest trade value on the team. He can get you a player like Michael Redd, maybe not straight up due to the salary cap, but Young would be the integral piece in any deal if you throw in Samuel Dalembert. I personally would rather the Sixers trade Iggy, but with the new contract is unlikely to be as desirable as a 20 year old kid who everyone knows can play and has nothing but upside at this point in his career.

Right now the Sixers have holes. And those holes are only going to get bigger when Andre Miller leaves town. There is no sense trying to force square pegs in when you can trade for round ones. The team on the whole is young enough to grow, and by adding a veteran that will clearly fill a need and the whole dynamic of the team changes. Maybe Elton Brand get good again, maybe the Sixers find a better shooting guard than Willie Green, and maybe the whole team goes to hell and Philly makes back into the lottery. Either way, Young is going to be a wasted talent, even more so if he stays in Philadelphia. Get what you can to improve the team, before his boat runs out of steam.