Final Thoughts on the Sixers Draft

+1, rec, etc. What’s to say about this team? They think they are close to being real contenders when they should realize they are actually about as close as Minnesota. Maybe I’m being hyperbolic, but I’m not convinced that being the perennial 8th seed is that much better than camping out in the lottery for several years.

I don’t know how Vucevic will turn out, and it is unlikely a #50 pick makes the team. I will root for both guys to exceed expectations and turn doubters into believers like some previous pick have done.

As for “they should have traded back”- I don’t buy that. They were picking #16. It’s not like making a reach with a top 5 selection. If you see a guy who your coach really wants and the guy is projected to go in the 1st round then you take them. It does not matter if 28 other GM’s are not interested- it only takes 1 other GM to grab the player you want if you pass on them. And no one can say they were plugged in well enough to know what all of the other teams would have done after pick #16. This is not the NFL where you have a 53 man roster, many needs and a big selection of available players to fill them. Instead you have 1 1st round pick and you want to get the right guy. There may only be 15 players who become solid pro’s in the entire draft. If you ID a guy at #16 who you feel is your guy you don’t get fancy and try to get an additional #55 pick.

I’m not a huge fan of the pick mostly because it re-inforces a trend away from athletes. Look at their recent acquisitions: Vucevic, Hawes, Turner, Brackins and Nocioni. All of these guys have knocks against them in terms of lacking elite athleticism. But that seems like the direction that Thorn and Collins want to take the team. I guess we will have to see how it pans out. To be fair, the athlete first strategy the Sixers used to have (Sam, Iguodala, Carney, Thad, Smith) had mixed results.

We don’t know how good Vucevic will be. A lot depends on how his game develops and whether he has the bulk and length to get shots off effectively in the lane. If not he will become a perimeter guy like Hawes or Okur- which is less ideal. But people should not assume he will be a bad player just because they would have preferred a different type of player. There are hyper-athletic centers who fail and plodding ones who succeed. We’ll just have top hope Vucevic proves a lot of doubters wrong and that Collins is right that this was the type of player he needed.

Also I’m not sure why some of you think Allen doesn’t make the roster. We are definately losing 3 or 4 players(Dong, Kapono, Daniels, & maybe Battie) & then we don’t know what will happen with a couple other players. Collins supposedly likes him & he came in for a couple workouts. He probably goes through what Brackins did last year or he is on the bench getting minutes here & there at the end of games

Ed Stefanski

“We talked to so many teams about so many things, moving here and moving there,” Stefanski said. “We were very serious about moving up, but we couldn’t do it because the price was too expensive. It fell our way.”

Who knows who the team was targeting in trying to move up. We all assume the front office was offering Andre Iguodala as the main enticement from the Sixers side of a trade, so you have to wonder which other Sixers player/s other teams wanted that made the price to high.

As for trying to acquire late first round picks or early second round picks, it’s hard to blame the front office if the owner won’t put up the money for these moves. The front office can only do what the owner sanctions, and I’ve read here plenty of times that the Sixers are an afterthought for the owner.

And as for the drafting of Lavoy Allen. It’s quite possible that he was drafted with the intention/knowledge that he won’t make the team. Maybe we tried off loading the number 50 selection, but no team wanted to take it.

As I have already said elsewhere, I am sure that the NBA owners are looking to reduce the number of playing staff they have to pay. I am sure I have read (I just can’t find the source to reference it) that the owners want a 12 man roster in the new CBA. If we resign Hawes and Young, and add Vucevic, then we’re at a 12 man roster.

but this year, in this weak draft, with the impending lockout, I don’t know if I blame them this year. If they’re stagnant next year, then feel free to rip them a new one.

I’ve warmed to Vucevic and wouldn’t be surprised if he takes Hawes’ job after he finds his way on the NBA level. But I guess its just a reflection of how poor our center position is. Sure, we addressed a weakness in the draft, but we didn’t solve the problem. We stuck a bandaid on a blown water main.

This draft is a destined afterthought, along with an ownership change and being mired in this uncertain atmosphere of the CBA where we might not even have a season next year. I know how uncreative and conservative our front office is, but I truly believe that this time, there are other factors in play that are keeping us grounded. Which, honestly, is a buzzkill, because we want something (good) to happen.

There’s still a chance that Andre gets traded after the CBA/ownership shakes out. I watched those post-draft vids of the FO and Collins and they still say a primary scorer is a need. They say that Jrue or Evan can be that guy, but you know Ellis and others are on their list as well. But overall, I’d say the chances of Andre returning a Sixer are a good one, which may not be a bad thing, provided we can cultivate a primary scorer on our own roster.

That’s a big “if,” however.

I understand the frustration people are having with their selections. But before we officially judge let’s see what we do with some of these undrafted rookies. I feel like we may have a more light-hearted (Lighty) view of the draft if we selected that #23 guard from Ohio State, Demetri McCameym, or even a Matt Howard from Butler. I understand the disappointment with the picks. I, myself, wasn’t pleased. But let’s see what happens in the next couple weeks before we jump to final conclusions.

We did trade for Brackins post draft last year, so technically we’ve done something with the draft other than just stand pat. Just not on draft day.

It’s not going to become a constant battle of TOLDJA SO!!’s

Everyone will be saying this, either about Vucevic’s success or lack thereof. My personal thoughts are as follows: From watching his draftexpress workout, the guy seemed to have a solid jump shot. He doesn’t have a lot of lift when he shoots (obviously because he can’t jump high) so I’m not sure how well he’s going to be able to create space to get off his shot. I’m also not sure how well he’s going to be able to back down NBA centers. I hear that he can go to both hands in the post. He’ll definitely need to rely on this if he wants to resemble any bit of effectiveness at the NBA level. Either that or just hope he gets guarded by David Lee every night. Where I’m optimistic is in his apparent work ethic. This is something Hawes doesn’t have. Couple this with his impressive wingspan and I think his ceiling should be higher than Hawes’. If that is the case, then this indicates an improvement in the roster. I’m definitely in support of any type of improvement.
All in all, I’m more in favor of not signing Hawes to anything long term and keeping options open to improving the center position in the future.

the way I feel about the draft has already been stated by other members of LB. I would have liked to see them possibly go for upside and potential of a player like Singleton but I’m not crying about the selection of Vucevic (only on draft night). After the dust settled and I looked at the situation rationally I don’t think it was a monumental mistake. Hopefully he proves everyone wrong and ends up being a great pick.

I think another thing that makes the Sixers passive strategy so frustrating is watching what Ed Snider’s other team is doing. On the day of the NBA draft the Flyers traded two of their best players because they didnt think the team was good enough. This was from a team that had made the finals the previous year. The Sixers barely make the playoffs but dont seem to have a sense of urgency to try and get better.