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This post will have the shelf life of a take-home slice from The Cheesecake Factory when your fridge is broken. Eat it now, else it's moldsville. With preseason ending last night in a resounding "fwap" last night against Minnesota, the roster is fixing to be trimmed down any minute now. And before that happens, let's guess who makes it.
CONTRACTUAL DEFINITES
- Michael Carter-Williams
- Evan Turner
- Nerlens Noel
- Thaddeus Young
- Spencer Hawes
- Lavoy Allen
- Kwame Brown
- Jason Richardson
- Arnett Moultrie
As much as you forget those last four exist (I actually left Moultrie off for a while because forgotsies), they're going to be in town at least to start the season. Kwame stopped reading this after the cheescake part.
HEY THEY DID STUFF
10. James Anderson
11. Tony Wroten
I got extremely excited about JA when they signed him, and while that was mostly a joke, he's sort of guaranteed himself a starting spot with some legitimately good showings in preseason. Wroten is who he is (also a rapper!), and there's no chance he doesn't make the team as first guard off the bench.
I THINK MAYBE, YEAH
12. Darius Morris
13. Daniel Orton
There's, I suppose, I shot Morris doesn't make the team. But he's sort of the only experienced point guard on the roster (HA!), and I think Brown wants a little of that behind MCW and Wroten, who I still can't believe is a point guard. Orton's got a very clear role (defense! rebounding! stories about demarcus cousins!) and I think the upside is the win there. I think both of these guys stay with the Sixers, too. Not Sevens fodder just yet.
UH ROYCE WHITE
14. Royce White
Dude has not played THAT badly. He's still out of shape, but there's been enough gameplay and not any of the drama (publicly at least) that would worry some people. He'll go to the Sevens at some point, but he'll be on the squad at least. That makes me happy.
BUBBLES T-SHIRT EMPORIUM
The Bubs spot is basically down to Khalif Wyatt, Vander Blue, Mac Koshwal, Rodney Williams, Gani Lawal, and Hollis Thompson. I don't think Lawal and Koshwal have a chance even though the Sixers are sort of hurting in the size department with Moultrie hurt and bad, Kwame old and bad, and Lavoy asleep and bad. The guys below are just better players.
Rodney Williams: Not totally sure how his contract affects his status, but on his own, he's a tremendous athlete that makes good athletes look like Ostertags. But he's also not good at basketball. Definite candidate to develop with the Sevens, but out of the remaining four people, he's the worst basketball player.
Khalif Wyatt: Would be really nice to see him succeed and make the team, but I don't think it happens. He had one good game in preseason and the rest, he just didn't see much time. Think he's a candidate for the Sevens if he feels like sticking around, but maybe Europe is the right place for the Temple grad.
Hollis Thompson: The one out of all these guys who has the size and skills to play decent reserve minutes in the NBA, he just didn't perform in preseason action. He's got a gorgeous shot, but he only made 9 of his 27 shots, including 1-7 from deep. He can rebound the basketball, which is an interesting nugget, but ultimately, I don't think he did enough to impress. In a carte blanche world, he'd be my pick. But I think he's gone.
Vander Blue: Once a hyped prospect, Blue sort of got lost on some post-Crean Marquette teams that underperformed. Maybe the footsteps of Jerel McNeal aren't easy to follow (had to). Blue is athletic, he can shoot, he's got active hands and he had a nice preseason. Plus he looks pretty fresh and rocks a sleeve.
So I think Blue makes the team as the 15th guy and spends much of the year in Delaware. But I wouldn't rule out the Sixers making a move for one of the guys that gets cut by another team in the next few days. Actually, I bet that happens. Who do you think makes the cut?