After being defeated in the first round of the 2005 playoffs, it was obvious the 76ers were missing a piece to the puzzle of winning an NBA championship. The upcoming summer was going to be a big one as well, with three important restricted free agents, and a pay roll that doesn't give them much room to work with it was definitely going to be an interesting and vital off season for the 76ers. Most of the free agents have signed, and the 76ers are unlikely to make any major changes before the season starts. It is safe to say that by this day (7/18/05) that the off-season for the 76ers is pretty much finished. With that being said I am going to offer my grades and analysis and I'd advise that you offer yours as well. <font color="Red"><u>With the 45th pick the 76ers select........</u></font> I'm going to start out with the 2005 draft, in which the 76ers traded their picks in an earlier date. Billy King sense then expressed interest in grabbing a pick so the 76ers traded a first round draft pick for the 45th pick in the 2005 Draft from the Utah Jazz: <div align="center"><u>Louis Williams</u></div> <div align="center"> The rest is what it is, the 76ers selected Louis Williams, guard out of South Gwinnett Georgia (HS). Williams is likely going to be a project in which the 76ers will mentor him with Allen Iverson and Mo Cheeks. But there may be a chance that he might actually play at times due to Green getting hurt. Williams is often described like AI himself, very quick with a highflying game. Unlike some assume, Williams supposedly has a nice touch on his outside shot, and solid footwork when it comes to perimeter defending. Hopefully over the years he can actually sum up to be a good player and not a bust like some other fans think. </div> <font color="Red"><u> Free Agency</u></font> The 76ers had three important guys they needed to resign this off-season before looking at many other players. As most of you know, those guys include Dalembert, Korver, and Willie Green. The 76ers have inked two out of the three, but stuff happens and this time Willie Green had some bad luck. The 76ers also made an unexpecting move in signing free agent center Steven Hunter. With him and Dalembert at the center position the 76ers definitely added more to their frontcourt depth. Although it is still possible the 76ers sign a player King has said that they will likely go into the season with their current line up and then tweak it from there. Signee's: Name: Steven Hunter Position: Center What he brings to the 76ers: Hunter is a young athletic player who will likely mesh with the Sixers from day one because of his ability to run the floor. The 76ers are a team that thrives off of running the floor from the turnovers they create, so Hunters athletic style of playing will likely do the Sixers and himself good. <div align="left"></div>Name: Samuel Dalembert Position: Center What he brings to the 76ers: Dalembert was probably the most important part of free agency for the 76ers. Although Dalembrt has yet to break out into what he is projected to be the 76ers wisely inked him to a nice sized contract. Though a risky move, it was a move they had to make because Dalembert was likely going to get that type of money from another team if the Sixers didn't show him they meant business. Hopefully, Sam can come threw this year, he has had solid years the past two seasons but once he was shown consistent playing time he played well for the 76ers. He is definitely going to need to step up, he can't relax just because he has a big contract now. Name: Kyle Korver Position: G-F What he brings to the 76ers: Korver is the teams best shooter so it is obvious that he was resigned to provide the team with offense solely, Korver isn't the most skilled guy around but he tries hard and is one of the best shooters from long range in the league. <u>Undrafted signee's</u> Name: Deng Gai Position: F What he brings to the 76ers: Gai is a rookie out of small college Fairfield, where he averaged 4.4 blocks per game in his time there. Although you can't really have much expectations of him, there may always be Ben Wallace type guys floating around there. Name: Shavlik Randolph Position: F What he brings to the 76ers:Randolph, a player who did not get drafted out of Duke, is said to be a real hustle player and hard worker. The 76ers need garbage type guys for their bench so maybe he will produce some how. <u> Pending Deal</u> Name: Willie Green Position: G What he brings to the 76ers:Green is a young guy, who was getting a nice contract from the 76ers, unfortunately the deal is now pending because Green recently hurt his knee. That injury is going to cost him 6-9 months off the court and the 76ers cannot risk signing a critically injured player. Once Green heels, look for him to be back in a Sixer uni. <u> Other players??</u> Supposedly, the 76ers are looking at guard Dajuan Wagner from the Cavs. They are also holding a mini camp for some undrafted guys and free agents and such. Mo Cheeks seems very high on ex-Temple player David Hawkins. According to Cheeks Hawkins has ?NBA? talent. We will have to wait and see if any other young players are added. <u> Trades and waived players</u> 1)The 76ers made one key trade, sending Marc Jackson and cash to the Nets for future draft picks. The 76ers did this because they were trying to avoid the luxury tax. Jackson was a great provider off the bench for Philadelphia, and he definitely loved playing for his hometown, it is hard to see him go. Evidently King must have an out with the old and in with the new philosophy for this team if he can. 2)The 76ers also parted ways with long time Sixer Aaron Mckie, using the new amnesty clause the Sixers were allowed to waive one player who had a big contract or something like that. Unfortunately for Mckie it was he. Mckie is definitely a 76er for life, he has had a long ride with Philly and he has been good for them over the years. Well in a couple of months, the NBA season will be reborn. The 76ers have a solid team put together but they are still in need of a couple things. Either they will some how get these missing things, or we might just see a normal Sixers team, a team that will be an on and off great team. Hopefully, Webber has rejuvenated and rehabbed his bum knee this off-season because the 76ers are definitely going to need Allen Iverson and him to mesh in order to make their team play to their potential. <font color="Blue">Overall Off season Grade:</font> For me it is a <font color="Red">C+</font>, trading Marc Jackson and signing Steven Hunter was a risky move but I think it was a smart one never the less. Like I said, the Sixers still have some holes to fill. That is why this off-season has been kind of average to me.
D+ Simple as that. Sure they re-signed all their free agents but the least Billy King could have done was explore the offers for them but he didn't and we over paid for both Korver and Dalembert. The thing that turned me off the most was the pick of Louis Williams with Ryan Gomes still on the draft board at 45. Gomes was a proven college player that was sitting in their lap and would contribute right away. The reason the Sixers get a D+ and not an F for this is because they did sign Steven Hunter and trade away Marc Jackson's salery but other then that it was a poor off-season for Billy King.
At this point, I have to agree with CK. This offseason King seems to be pushing the team into the future and not thinking about winning now. I have a feeling that we made a huge mistake picking Louis Williams, pure potential, over Ryan Gomes, a proven college player that can contribute right away. On top of that, we ridiculously signed Korver, Dalembert, and Green (was going to) to lucrative and overpaid contracts. None of those guys besides maybe Korver have proven themselves to be consistent players and can turn out to be nothing more than role players. Although Dalembert has tons of potential, he has really proven to be a great defensive player that he's hyped up to be and in my opinion, isn't worth his six million dollar contract, at least right now. Too many risks were taken in these moves. The only really good moves that we did was open up some cap space and saving some money by waiving Mckie and trading away Marc Jackson. Oh yeah, and Hunter. My grade- C-.
If you think signing Dalembert is a risky, how is signing Hunte rnot a risky move. Like I said, if Dalembert and Hunter both blossoms this year, this can be one of the best offseasons. But if they're busts, like CK said, this is a F- offseason.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If you think signing Dalembert is a risky, how is signing Hunte rnot a risky move. Like I said, if Dalembert and Hunter both blossoms this year, this can be one of the best offseasons. But if they're busts, like CK said, this is a F- offseason.</div> Hunter wasn't signed to a freakin 60 million dollar deal for six years.
Ok....so on AIM we agreed....Hunter's contract is probably AROUND 20 million, if not more.(or else he wouldn't sign with us). And yet you said it's ridunculous that we signed Korver and Green for 20 mil contracts....?They're proven....yet Hunter isn't...so signing HUnter is a risky move
If we don't take risks we will continue to be average. While the off season did not net us a big name like Marshall, Abdur-Rahim or Finley, Hunter is a solid gamble. Also, we do need to shore up bench so Randolph and Gai and even Wagner if we get him, are chances we should take. If they blossom, we look like geniuses!!! Plus, we cannot stay stagnate through these periods, we have to do something even if it is a risk (calculated risk though). So far I would grade us a B with the possibility of A if everyone performs as we think they should!!
I think the Sixers (BK) did just fine. They unloaded a so-so big man in Marc Jackson and replaced him with a younger player with more potential. Do we know if it will work out better ? No, but sitting with Marc Jackson was not going to win a title. So, you pays your money and you takes your chances. The same goes with signing Dalembert and Korver. There are no guarantees. And all the nay sayers will conveniently "forget" their negative positions if these players turn out to be winners. With Webber, hopefully, looking to be more active this year and Cheeks pushing for defense, the Sixers are going to be fun to watch. Will they win an NBA championship ? Probably not. So what. After all, only 1 team does. I just think the Sixers improved themselves dramatically and will be fun to watch. B+
i would give this team a D. i really dont like the off so far, but it's just my opinion. but anyways, i feel that we should be looking to win now, not later. after all, we have to stars on our team, and that doesnt happen often. right now, it seems like BK is preparing for the future with williams and hunter. i still dont understand how we passed up gomes if BK was looking to win now. also, if we were looking to win now, a FA choice IMO would be tyson chandler or reggie evans. but we signed stephen hunter, who isnt a proven player yet with most of our MLE, when we couldve gotton chandler and reggie with our MLE. but then again, that's my opinion.
Some quick thoughts on this off-season I have. I think the 76ers had a up and down off-season lets start with the downs, because I hate being happy then having something negative brought up. We lost a couple key players that we have had the past couple of seasons. Letting Marc Jackson go for a second round selection and opting to sign Steven Hunter that was the riskiest move of the off-season. You let a proven good scorer who can get his basket down low, fight for a few rebounds, and be a good community leader. For a player who has never averaged double digits in his career in points, played under a run and gun system last season which this team struggles with at times, and can not hit a shot outside point blank range. However, he does have potential he is a good shot blocker, and could be a good defender he needs to be more disciplined however he picks up fouls way to quickly. Then we also lost Mckie a guy who been with this team for a long time though he was not a star any more he still had his moment, and was a above average defender in the clutch. He was a good leader in the locker room and could still hit the open shot when it was left for him. He will most likely rely on John Salmons to fill the void left by Mckie I think he can fill the statistics that were lost, but as far as being a leader, and clutch player that seems a little bit far fetched in my mind. Also the draft was a bad move in my opinion sure we drafted Louis Williams who is a highly regarded high school player, but his body is weak, he is small, and he does not have anything remotely close to a outside shot. He reminds me of a shorter Stevenson. A guy who will get a few baskets off pure athletics, but never be a starter or consistent role player on a winning team. At least not unless he develops a bit more. We have a built to win team on our hands right now with Iverson and Webber, and Billy instead of getting a Gomes to complement them and improve our lineup now takes a risk on a kid who won?t be a factor for at least the next two seasons. The good part of the off-season was the fact we resigned Dalembert true he was paid 67 million dollars, but what would have been worse over paying him a bit or losing him to another team without any type of compensation. Most of the players this off-season where over paid any how Webbers salary comes off the cap in the next two seasons right about the time Iguodala hits free agency so we will have money to resign him so there is nothing to worry about in that aspect. The best move of the off-season in my mind did not involve players, but the coaching change Cheeks was always the coach this organization wanted from the moment Larry resigned, and to get him was a huge plus. He will be a guy who can teach young guys, and not demoralize their confidence by not playing them or benching them in key situations. He is a player?s coach and will be the commander this team has been looking for since Brown left. Overall I give the off-season a C+ to a B no big names no significant superstar/player loses. Some good additions so overall not bad.
yeah C+ is about right...I like them adding Hunter...however, I thought jackson was a nice player for the Sixers and added some inside presence...I thought keeping Korver and Dalembert were necessary but I dunno about Green, especially with Louis Williams in the mix...it was a decent offseason...they kept their core intact so I'm hoping the Sixers see progress this year as the guys are gaining more experience playing with each other...
