Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
If Simmons isn't bringing the ball up then you've got a problem. The only two things you should expect from him is being the playmaker bringing the ball up and guarding the other team's best offensive player especially on the perimeter. If he's not doing those two things then I'm not sure how he helps you.
Fate rewards Daryl Morey's stubbornness as Joel Embiid finally gets the running mate he deserves
BY DEREK BODNER – 11 FEB 2022 – VIEW ONLINE →
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Joel Embiid will turn 28 next month, with 336 NBA games under his belt and totaling more than 10,000 minutes on an NBA court so far in his career
A five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection, a runner-up for the 2021 NBA MVP and the league's leading scorer so far this year, Embiid's list of individual accomplishments is impressive, and growing even more so by the day.
Yet to this point in his career Embiid has not played with a single, elite scorer by his side, despite the fact that the game has steadily trended towards perimeter play over the course of his time in the league, and despite the fact that the Sixers used back-to-back No. 1 overall picks to select point guards that would hopefully become foundational pieces alongside of Embiid.
The closest he came was the six-month stint he played alongside of Jimmy Butler, which not so coincidentally was also the only time the team was close to legitimately contending for a title. But Butler, a five-time All-Star, was a star more because the completeness of his all-around game and his two-way impact, not because of the terror he would instill in the opponent as a scorer. Plus, Butler had taken a back seat during the majority of his tenure in Philadelphia as they tried to figure out the fit between Butler and Ben Simmons, one of those aforementioned No. 1 picks who was, at that point, seen internally and externally as a rising star in the league.
Now, nearly eight years since the Sixers selected him with the third pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Joel Embiid will, for the first time in his career, get his chance to play alongside of another elite offensive force. He'll finally have a championship caliber running mate by his side.
James Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP, the 10-time All-Star, the the six-time All-NBA First Team guard, is a Philadelphia 76er.
The path to this point has been dark, and full of terrors, with enough twists and turns that a Hollywood director would dismiss it for being downright implausible.
The controversial rebuilding strategy that the entire NBA world debated for three years straight; the NBA royalty whose career was ended because vanity compelled either him, or his inner circle, to trash his own players under anonymous burner accounts on Twitter; the former player, with less than two years of front office experience under his belt, hired to guide the team during one of the most pivotal periods in franchise history; the point guard who always had a fear of shooting, and the one who developed a phobia of doing so seemingly out of thin air.
Normalcy isn't really our thing.
When the Philadelphia 76ers hired Daryl Morey in November 2020 to right the ship after a half-decade of missteps, the narrative that he was hired to finish Hinkie's Process was unavoidable. Hinkie, who spent eight years with Morey in Houston before taking over basketball operations in Philadelphia in 2013, kickstarted this era of 76ers basketball with the selection of Joel Embiid one year later. Now, his longtime mentor would have the chance to salvage the last vestiges of the Sixers' championship equity. The story practically wrote itself.
The comparison between Hinkie and Morey can, at times, feel a little bit forced. Outside of a shared (but hardly unique) belief that data can be used to make more informed decisions, and an unshakable (but, still, not unique) focus on the outsized impact that the league's select few true superstars have on the game, Hinkie and Morey could not be more different. That's especially true in their personality, with the guarded and reserved Hinkie at a stark contrast with his outgoing, ever-present mentor.
One personality trait that the two do share, though, is that they're stubborn. They're really, really, freaking stubborn to their core. It's that shared stubbornness, more than any other factor -- from analytics to the salary cap to any overlap in world view or team building philosophy -- which is why the Sixers are more relevant now than they've been since the Reagan administration.
Sam Hinkie and his team of front office personnel were described in many ways, from staunch adherents of advanced analytics to "the smartest people in the room", which was used equally as praise or as criticism, depending on the perspective, and the level of sincerity, from those making the statement. But the truth is, there are incredibly smart people in every NBA front office. Beyond that, we never really got a chance to see how analytics would inform Hinkie's team-building philosophy, since he never really got to the point where he was actually building a team whose goal was to win games in the present.
The foundational pillars Hinkie was looking to build his house with were delayed on arrival.
Tanking, by itself, was not a novel idea, nor was it a path that only practitioners of the voodoo arts of analytics could arrive at. By the time Hinkie arrived in 2013 tanking was a tried and true method of acquiring elite talent, and at the heart of an incentive structure that the NBA had spent decades trying to devise rules to offset, or to at least curtail just enough that people running teams would be too scared to pursue them.
What was undeniably unique about Hinkie and his staff was how stubborn they were in sticking to their strategy, in not flinching when others would have. When Michael Carter-Williams won Rookie of the Year, they saw through the noise, realized his play wasn't sustainable and that he wouldn't move the needle, and traded him at a premium. When other teams thought they couldn't risk taking a player in Embiid who was going to miss (at a minimum) his entire rookie season, the Sixers instead saw an opportunity that could come to define their franchise.
When everybody around them, from CEOs to owners to fans and media members alike, wanted them to hit the gas pedal, they realized they didn't have the traction to do so. That hitting the gas pedal at that time would have just spun the tires, and perhaps uncontrollably so. Analytics schmanalytics, it was stubbornness at its heart, and while Hinkie and his crew are responsible for their share of mistakes as well, the stubbornness that resulted in the selection of Joel Embiid is the only real reason this franchise has been relevant at any point over the last decade.
One star, one home run, had the ability to offset a decade of missteps and mistakes. In many ways, Embiid is Hinkie's Harden, the player he is inescapably linked to, and the one who will come to define his legacy. It is only fitting then that Morey, sharing the same star-centric worldview, brings in the literal Harden to to breathe new life into the franchise.
Morey has become known for many things in his 15 years of running an NBA franchise, from how his willingness to embrace analytics helped usher in the era of the 3-point shot, to the series of step moves that ultimately landed him James Harden (the first time) back in 2012, to his impressive manipulation of the salary cap that has resulted in massive, convoluted three and four team trades with a dizzying number of moving pieces.
But none of that is really applicable in Morey's latest act. There were no cap gymnastics at play, nor analytical projections required to uncover an undervalued future star. This was as straightforward as a star acquisition will ever be. It just took an extreme level of patience, and stubbornness, to get to this point.
It may seem odd to give someone credit for being stubborn, but whether it's coming from a place of conviction or laziness will largely determine whether it's a positive or negative character trait.
In the business of the NBA, conviction, and the stubbornness born out of it, can be critical to success, especially given the amount of scrutiny their jobs receive, the pressure coming in from a million different angles and the lack of job security that comes along with it. Mistakes are often made out of some combination of self-preservation, vanity, and succumbing to outside pressure.
If we are going to embrace the inevitable narrative that Morey is here to finish Hinkie's Process, it is their shared ability to avoid these trappings that has ultimately resulted in the Embiid-Harden superstar pairing.
Yesterday's acquisition of Harden doesn't guarantee the Sixers anything, and we don't have to look too far up the I-95 corridor for proof of that.
The basketball gods have a funny way of laughing at the best-laid plans of NBA general managers, and that's especially true when you're talking about a 7-foot-2 big man with more lower body injuries than we'd care to remember, who is now being paired with a 32-year-old who doesn't necessarily have the maniacal attention to detail in his diet and conditioning that's often required to be effective in this sport late into their 30s. For the first time in his career, Harden has had to deal with persistent and nagging injuries, and we're seeing the first glimpses of a potential decline in his play.
But the Sixers have spent the better parts of the last eight years watching Joel Embiid transform from an oft-injured ball of wondrous potential and into the most unstoppable force in the entire planet, yet have spent precious little of that time as a true threat to win the title. A flurry of errors and a depressing lack of organizational foresight have seen to that.
The Sixers' acquisition of James Harden may not guarantee the Sixers a championship, or even a conference banner, but it does give them a fighting chance to do so. Just as importantly, it gives fans hope.
After watching Simmons, Embiid's co-star in all of this, go through an epic meltdown against the Hawks last June, and demand a fresh start immediately thereafter, the Sixers benefitted greatly by having someone so impossibly stubborn to run the show.
Fate rewards Daryl Morey's stubbornness as Joel Embiid finally gets the running mate he deserves
BY DEREK BODNER – 11 FEB 2022 – VIEW ONLINE →
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Joel Embiid will turn 28 next month, with 336 NBA games under his belt and totaling more than 10,000 minutes on an NBA court so far in his career
A five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection, a runner-up for the 2021 NBA MVP and the league's leading scorer so far this year, Embiid's list of individual accomplishments is impressive, and growing even more so by the day.
Yet to this point in his career Embiid has not played with a single, elite scorer by his side, despite the fact that the game has steadily trended towards perimeter play over the course of his time in the league, and despite the fact that the Sixers used back-to-back No. 1 overall picks to select point guards that would hopefully become foundational pieces alongside of Embiid.
The closest he came was the six-month stint he played alongside of Jimmy Butler, which not so coincidentally was also the only time the team was close to legitimately contending for a title. But Butler, a five-time All-Star, was a star more because the completeness of his all-around game and his two-way impact, not because of the terror he would instill in the opponent as a scorer. Plus, Butler had taken a back seat during the majority of his tenure in Philadelphia as they tried to figure out the fit between Butler and Ben Simmons, one of those aforementioned No. 1 picks who was, at that point, seen internally and externally as a rising star in the league.
Now, nearly eight years since the Sixers selected him with the third pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Joel Embiid will, for the first time in his career, get his chance to play alongside of another elite offensive force. He'll finally have a championship caliber running mate by his side.
James Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP, the 10-time All-Star, the the six-time All-NBA First Team guard, is a Philadelphia 76er.
The path to this point has been dark, and full of terrors, with enough twists and turns that a Hollywood director would dismiss it for being downright implausible.
The controversial rebuilding strategy that the entire NBA world debated for three years straight; the NBA royalty whose career was ended because vanity compelled either him, or his inner circle, to trash his own players under anonymous burner accounts on Twitter; the former player, with less than two years of front office experience under his belt, hired to guide the team during one of the most pivotal periods in franchise history; the point guard who always had a fear of shooting, and the one who developed a phobia of doing so seemingly out of thin air.
Normalcy isn't really our thing.
When the Philadelphia 76ers hired Daryl Morey in November 2020 to right the ship after a half-decade of missteps, the narrative that he was hired to finish Hinkie's Process was unavoidable. Hinkie, who spent eight years with Morey in Houston before taking over basketball operations in Philadelphia in 2013, kickstarted this era of 76ers basketball with the selection of Joel Embiid one year later. Now, his longtime mentor would have the chance to salvage the last vestiges of the Sixers' championship equity. The story practically wrote itself.
The comparison between Hinkie and Morey can, at times, feel a little bit forced. Outside of a shared (but hardly unique) belief that data can be used to make more informed decisions, and an unshakable (but, still, not unique) focus on the outsized impact that the league's select few true superstars have on the game, Hinkie and Morey could not be more different. That's especially true in their personality, with the guarded and reserved Hinkie at a stark contrast with his outgoing, ever-present mentor.
One personality trait that the two do share, though, is that they're stubborn. They're really, really, freaking stubborn to their core. It's that shared stubbornness, more than any other factor -- from analytics to the salary cap to any overlap in world view or team building philosophy -- which is why the Sixers are more relevant now than they've been since the Reagan administration.
Sam Hinkie and his team of front office personnel were described in many ways, from staunch adherents of advanced analytics to "the smartest people in the room", which was used equally as praise or as criticism, depending on the perspective, and the level of sincerity, from those making the statement. But the truth is, there are incredibly smart people in every NBA front office. Beyond that, we never really got a chance to see how analytics would inform Hinkie's team-building philosophy, since he never really got to the point where he was actually building a team whose goal was to win games in the present.
The foundational pillars Hinkie was looking to build his house with were delayed on arrival.
Tanking, by itself, was not a novel idea, nor was it a path that only practitioners of the voodoo arts of analytics could arrive at. By the time Hinkie arrived in 2013 tanking was a tried and true method of acquiring elite talent, and at the heart of an incentive structure that the NBA had spent decades trying to devise rules to offset, or to at least curtail just enough that people running teams would be too scared to pursue them.
What was undeniably unique about Hinkie and his staff was how stubborn they were in sticking to their strategy, in not flinching when others would have. When Michael Carter-Williams won Rookie of the Year, they saw through the noise, realized his play wasn't sustainable and that he wouldn't move the needle, and traded him at a premium. When other teams thought they couldn't risk taking a player in Embiid who was going to miss (at a minimum) his entire rookie season, the Sixers instead saw an opportunity that could come to define their franchise.
When everybody around them, from CEOs to owners to fans and media members alike, wanted them to hit the gas pedal, they realized they didn't have the traction to do so. That hitting the gas pedal at that time would have just spun the tires, and perhaps uncontrollably so. Analytics schmanalytics, it was stubbornness at its heart, and while Hinkie and his crew are responsible for their share of mistakes as well, the stubbornness that resulted in the selection of Joel Embiid is the only real reason this franchise has been relevant at any point over the last decade.
One star, one home run, had the ability to offset a decade of missteps and mistakes. In many ways, Embiid is Hinkie's Harden, the player he is inescapably linked to, and the one who will come to define his legacy. It is only fitting then that Morey, sharing the same star-centric worldview, brings in the literal Harden to to breathe new life into the franchise.
Morey has become known for many things in his 15 years of running an NBA franchise, from how his willingness to embrace analytics helped usher in the era of the 3-point shot, to the series of step moves that ultimately landed him James Harden (the first time) back in 2012, to his impressive manipulation of the salary cap that has resulted in massive, convoluted three and four team trades with a dizzying number of moving pieces.
But none of that is really applicable in Morey's latest act. There were no cap gymnastics at play, nor analytical projections required to uncover an undervalued future star. This was as straightforward as a star acquisition will ever be. It just took an extreme level of patience, and stubbornness, to get to this point.
It may seem odd to give someone credit for being stubborn, but whether it's coming from a place of conviction or laziness will largely determine whether it's a positive or negative character trait.
In the business of the NBA, conviction, and the stubbornness born out of it, can be critical to success, especially given the amount of scrutiny their jobs receive, the pressure coming in from a million different angles and the lack of job security that comes along with it. Mistakes are often made out of some combination of self-preservation, vanity, and succumbing to outside pressure.
If we are going to embrace the inevitable narrative that Morey is here to finish Hinkie's Process, it is their shared ability to avoid these trappings that has ultimately resulted in the Embiid-Harden superstar pairing.
Yesterday's acquisition of Harden doesn't guarantee the Sixers anything, and we don't have to look too far up the I-95 corridor for proof of that.
The basketball gods have a funny way of laughing at the best-laid plans of NBA general managers, and that's especially true when you're talking about a 7-foot-2 big man with more lower body injuries than we'd care to remember, who is now being paired with a 32-year-old who doesn't necessarily have the maniacal attention to detail in his diet and conditioning that's often required to be effective in this sport late into their 30s. For the first time in his career, Harden has had to deal with persistent and nagging injuries, and we're seeing the first glimpses of a potential decline in his play.
But the Sixers have spent the better parts of the last eight years watching Joel Embiid transform from an oft-injured ball of wondrous potential and into the most unstoppable force in the entire planet, yet have spent precious little of that time as a true threat to win the title. A flurry of errors and a depressing lack of organizational foresight have seen to that.
The Sixers' acquisition of James Harden may not guarantee the Sixers a championship, or even a conference banner, but it does give them a fighting chance to do so. Just as importantly, it gives fans hope.
After watching Simmons, Embiid's co-star in all of this, go through an epic meltdown against the Hawks last June, and demand a fresh start immediately thereafter, the Sixers benefitted greatly by having someone so impossibly stubborn to run the show.
Perfectly sums up the last decade right here. Great article.
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
Did you even read what I wrote? Lol
when was the last time he played again?
Good luck. I think he mistook you for a Sixers fan...
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
Did you even read what I wrote? Lol
when was the last time he played again?
Lol of course not - he's too busy digging his heels in to defend some dumb point.
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
Did you even read what I wrote? Lol
when was the last time he played again?
Lol of course not - he's too busy digging his heels in to defend some dumb point.
This is the same guy who compared both Ben Simmons and Carson Wentz to Mike Schmidt as "great" players the fans tried running out of town just 12 months ago. He's not someone who should be taken seriously. lol
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Only negative thing I'll say on this (I swear) - of all the people losing their minds that we got Harden: how many of them do you think actually have watched Harden play (I'm not talking his current defense and when he's "hurt", I'm talking his normal style)? It's productive, but boy is it absolutely brutal to watch.
Right bill Simmons was talking about the difference in a motion offense with curry vs harden and saying have you ever seen harden in motion. Basically said it’s going to go from handoffs to pick and rolls. I can’t pretend to know much about harden, but sounds about right
I think Stephen A. may not be totally off. BUT, it's not even him who's the issue. All of a sudden it seems like the media en masse that spoke to all of Ben's faults apparently, miraculously, all of sudden did a 180 and now he's the missing link to a Nets championship. T what?
He’s not the ball handler while on the Nets. That should make a huge difference. If Simmons can’t figure it out on that team then he has proven he does not belong in the NBA.
doesn't belong in the NBA really? dude has been an all-star 2x. Just because he doesn't do what fans necessarily want him to do doesn't mean he isn't a good player. he is still one of the best perimeter defenders and rebounders for a non center. doesn't belong in the NBA...
Did you even read what I wrote? Lol
when was the last time he played again?
Lol of course not - he's too busy digging his heels in to defend some dumb point.
This is the same guy who compared both Ben Simmons and Carson Wentz to Mike Schmidt as "great" players the fans tried running out of town just 12 months ago. He's not someone who should be taken seriously. lol
Haha guess I’m still not on ignore. You just can’t stop huh? Just promise if the Sixers do win a title you wont push old people out of the way to get to the parade first.
Right bill Simmons was talking about the difference in a motion offense with curry vs harden and saying have you ever seen harden in motion. Basically said it’s going to go from handoffs to pick and rolls. I can’t pretend to know much about harden, but sounds about right
I'm even talking Prime Harden was/is a bore. It's an aesthetic, at least for me, that's just not fun to watch. Don't get me wrong - the end result is well worth it, but he either will pull up and shoot or P&R slash and lean into every phantom foul then 40 minutes of free throws.
Edit: ok I'm done even remotely sounding like I'm bashing a guy who hasn't even donned a Sixers jersey who is replacing a malcontent POS.
Right bill Simmons was talking about the difference in a motion offense with curry vs harden and saying have you ever seen harden in motion. Basically said it’s going to go from handoffs to pick and rolls. I can’t pretend to know much about harden, but sounds about right
I'm even talking Prime Harden was/is a bore. It's an aesthetic, at least for me, that's just not fun to watch. Don't get me wrong - the end result is well worth it, but he either will pull up and shoot or P&R slash and lean into every phantom foul then 40 minutes of free throws.
Edit: ok I'm done even remotely sounding like I'm bashing a guy who hasn't even donned a Sixers jersey who is replacing a malcontent POS.
I have not liked Harden's style of play at all. Especially when he was in Houston--so many isolations. And, yeah, that's boring. But he has kind of changed the style of his play at each place he's been. So hopefully he recognizes the opportunity he has with Jo and everything meshes well.
One weird thing I have noticed of folks who do not like this trade is a lot of them feel as if we gave up too much and are concerned about losing a couple picks and how much we will be paying the guy five years from now. Ironically, but not surprisingly, a lot of these people were the same ones pissed at the Sixers for playing the long game during the process years. Now it's championship or bust time and these people are concerned about 2028. Lol.
Those picks (certainly this year's anyway) are going to be useless. This year's will be in the mid 20's at worse. Simmons was never playing in Philly again. Folks complaining about money should realize you just unloaded his salary, which was brutal for a guy who can't shoot.
Only chance this trade is a Philly Phail is if Harden is actually hurt and aggravates it and doesn't play much. Otherwise, it's like swapping the lesser Curry for Harden and Drummond for Milsap...what GM wouldn't do that?
Those picks (certainly this year's anyway) are going to be useless. This year's will be in the mid 20's at worse. Simmons was never playing in Philly again. Folks complaining about money should realize you just unloaded his salary, which was brutal for a guy who can't shoot.
Only chance this trade is a Philly Phail is if Harden is actually hurt and aggravates it and doesn't play much. Otherwise, it's like swapping the lesser Curry for Harden and Drummond for Milsap...what GM wouldn't do that?
Those picks (certainly this year's anyway) are going to be useless. This year's will be in the mid 20's at worse. Simmons was never playing in Philly again. Folks complaining about money should realize you just unloaded his salary, which was brutal for a guy who can't shoot.
Only chance this trade is a Philly Phail is if Harden is actually hurt and aggravates it and doesn't play much. Otherwise, it's like swapping the lesser Curry for Harden and Drummond for Milsap...what GM wouldn't do that?
Exact Amundo
You guys gonna get Beal this summer?
I think that's what Stevens is angling towards currently. But a lot has to fall into place for it to happen, but he started laying the groundwork Thursday.
Yeah I'd say some people get too hung up on squirelling away assets for a rainy day. This is what you put all that work in for. If you're letting Embiid's prime waste away, then that would be the tragedy. Edit: definitely read your post wrong, Juggs. Yeah I'd say those people are the ones that just want to shit on any kind of move. Plus, they'd be the same people who would make up trade scenarios where the trade is an absolute steal and we give up nothing. These are people that do not operate within reality.
You traded a ghost, Seth, the picks, and a remaining 3 months of Drummond. Completely worth it. Only way it's a bust is if he's injured like Ponc said or if he ends up not extending.
First Sixer with a 40 point triple-double game since Wilt. That's pretty shocking i think with all the other players we've had since then.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
First Sixer with a 40 point triple-double game since Wilt. That's pretty shocking i think with all the other players we've had since then.
Against the moribund Cleveland Cavaliers, languishing in (checks notes...) 3rd in the Eastern Conference.
When is Jimmy H playing? Celtics tomorrow - that sounds like fun.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I'm gonna guess it's 70/30 after the all star break. It's either after the break or at best the Bucks game.
I hear he's "got a hamstring" as they say.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
He's not playing until after the All Star Break due to the hamstring.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Comments
Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
when was the last time he played again?
2010: Newark 5/18 MSG 5/20-21 2011: PJ20 9/3-4 2012: Made In America 9/2
2013: Brooklyn 10/18-19 Philly 10/21-22 Hartford 10/25 2014: ACL10/12
2015: NYC 9/23 2016: Tampa 4/11 Philly 4/28-29 MSG 5/1-2 Fenway 8/5+8/7
2017: RRHoF 4/7 2018: Fenway 9/2+9/4 2021: Sea Hear Now 9/18
2022: MSG 9/11 2024: MSG 9/3-4 Philly 9/7+9/9 Fenway 9/15+9/17
2025: Pittsburgh 5/16+5/18
This is the same guy who compared both Ben Simmons and Carson Wentz to Mike Schmidt as "great" players the fans tried running out of town just 12 months ago. He's not someone who should be taken seriously. lol
Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Edit: ok I'm done even remotely sounding like I'm bashing a guy who hasn't even donned a Sixers jersey who is replacing a malcontent POS.
One weird thing I have noticed of folks who do not like this trade is a lot of them feel as if we gave up too much and are concerned about losing a couple picks and how much we will be paying the guy five years from now. Ironically, but not surprisingly, a lot of these people were the same ones pissed at the Sixers for playing the long game during the process years. Now it's championship or bust time and these people are concerned about 2028. Lol.
Only chance this trade is a Philly Phail is if Harden is actually hurt and aggravates it and doesn't play much.
Otherwise, it's like swapping the lesser Curry for Harden and Drummond for Milsap...what GM wouldn't do that?
You guys gonna get Beal this summer?
You traded a ghost, Seth, the picks, and a remaining 3 months of Drummond. Completely worth it. Only way it's a bust is if he's injured like Ponc said or if he ends up not extending.
First Sixer with a 40 point triple-double game since Wilt. That's pretty shocking i think with all the other players we've had since then.
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
When is Jimmy H playing? Celtics tomorrow - that sounds like fun.
Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16