I wrote this blueprint back in early March, and I thought it would be fun to see how the Sixers followed my personal plan for them. Here is what I realistically predicted the team would look like at the beginning of TC:
PG - Andre Miller, Louis Williams, Royal Ivey, Ty Lawson
SG - Andre Iguodala, Anthony Parker, Louis Williams, Willie Green
SF - Thaddeus Young, Anthony Parker, Andre Iguodala
PF - Elton Brand, Marreese Speights, Jason Smith, Reggie Evans
C - Samuel Dalembert, Marreese Speights, Jason Smith
Coach - Eddie Jordan
And here's what it actually looks like:
PG - Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday, Royal Ivey
SG - Andre Iguodala, Jason Kapono, Rodney Carney, Bill Green
SF - Thaddeus Young, Jason Kapono, Andre Iguodala
PF - Elton Brand, Marreese Speights, Jason Smith
C - Samuel Dalembert, Marreese Speights, Jason Smith, Primoz Brezec
Coach - Eddie Jordan
Based on my blueprint and the actual roster, the Sixers essentially traded Andre Miller, Ty Lawson, Anthony Parker, and Reggie Evans for Jrue Holiday, Jason Kapono, Rodney Carney, and Primoz Brezec. The blueprint team is obviously better simply because of Andre Miller, but based on the economic circumstances, the Sixers could not afford to re-sign him. So, if you take Andre Miller out of the equation you get: Lawson, Parker, and Reggie for Holiday, Kapono, Carney, and Brezec. Based on those moves, I think the Sixers had a better off-season than I hoped for.
I loved signing Rodney Carney to the veteran's minimum; he's basically a poor man's Anthony Parker. Then, trading Reggie Evans for Jason Kapono was better than any trade I could've cooked up in March. But the Sixers made their mark by drafting Jrue Holiday. The only player I'd rather have is Stephen Curry. Did they get lucky Holiday fell into their laps? Absolutely. But, could they have messed it up and taken someone else? Definitely, so you have to give them credit for making the right selection.
What do you guys think? In retrospect, did the Sixers have a good off-season considering the circumstances? My emotional reaction would be no, but based on the expectations I had in early March, I say yes.
P.S. Training camp starts tomorrow!!!
P.P.S. For those of you wondering what Thaddeus worked on most this summer, I asked him via Twitter, and he replied: "3 ball and ball handling."