King Not Happy, but Not Ready to Talk Trade

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Billy King is overseeing a 76ers team that went into last night's finale of its road trip with a disappointing .500 record and involved in a continuing search to become more consistent.

But if he intends to add or trade for a player to help give the Sixers a jolt in the right direction, King wasn't showing his cards.

"You never say never," the team's president and general manager said yesterday at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, where the Sixers conducted their morning shoot-around before last night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Later, pressed on the trade question, King appeared a bit annoyed.

"We still have 50 games left," he said. "I don't think it's to a point where you write the season off and say this is who we are. You're asking me to look in the crystal ball and say, 'OK, I'm going to make a trade and get this player' or 'I'm going to do this or that.'

"We aren't playing as well as we probably should, but I think we can play better. Is there a trade that's going to make us play better? I don't know at this point in time. Last year at this time, I didn't know we were going to get Chris Webber, either."

King gave up Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner to acquire Webber and two other players on Feb. 23, when the Sixers were 26-27. The team finished 17-12 with Webber on the roster, but lost to Detroit in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Whom King could dangle in front of other teams to get an impact player is anyone's guess. Webber and Allen Iverson are presumably untouchable, and King does not want to break up the young nucleus of Kyle Korver, Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala.</div>

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For now, AI is untouchable, but I hardly think Webber is in that category. He's played much better this year, but he still can't guard anyone and he's not a difference maker.

I say if the right deal comes along, King won't hesitate to trade him. I would love to see him go to the Lakers and we get back Lemar Odom. I know..I'm dreamin.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting wc76er:</div><div class="quote_post">
I say if the right deal comes along, King won't hesitate to trade him. I would love to see him go to the Lakers and we get back Lemar Odom. I know..I'm dreamin.</div>
Lamar Odom has not shown anything to say he is better than Webber. He has been inconsistent, and nothing really special since being traded to Los Angeles. I don't know why you would do that trade.

 

No way Odom would be traded for Webber. AI needs somone who can help him out a little he keeps basicaly doing all the work.

 

Webber isn't going anywhere, nobody is going to want to take his contract. Besides, I don't think he is the problem anyway, he has done what the 76ers asked him to od.

 

He has done everything we could hope for. We got a 20 and 10 guy in the Eastern Conference. The only trade bait is John Salmons, the rights to Willie Green(?), Steven Hunter (big contract), Kevin Ollie, and Lee Nailon. SO really the only bait is Salmons or picks, and I would hate to see us keep giving up picks in the draft.

Also, we need a defensive player, not another guy to come in and take 20 shots a night like AI and CWebb. People would like to see Al Harrington or a player of his caliber, but theres no way he would fit in with this team. We need defensive players that fit Cheek's style.

 

We don't have much to trade this year but next year there will be teams lining up to take Webber because his contract comes off the books (I believe it's next year). We consider Iverson, Iguodala, and Dalembert almost untouchable, nobody wants C-Webbs huge deal this year so our only trade bait would be Kyle Korver, John Salmons, or Steven Hunter.

 

Webber's contract doesn't expire til the offseason of 2008. He has the option of terminating the contract after this season, but considering the last two years pay him a total of over 42 million, I doubt he will do that.. He's not going anywhere for at least another season after this one.

 

I agree, he's averaging 20 and 10, but so what...he's still just a shade of his former self.

It's a pipe dream but if we can get someone younger, cheaper, and more athletic, you damn right I'm gonna make that trade. And the only reason why I brought up Odom is bc the Lakers were talking about bringing in a veteran scorer to lessen the load on Kobe.

Let's face it, we're not getting out of the 1st round this yr and should be much better than a .500 team. Once again, Webber is no difference maker and is a huge liability on defense.

 

iverson and webber are untouchable,if the world was a fair place then dalambert would be packing his bags because the guy is a scrub

the only moves that billy will do is if it involves hunter or mashburn or both

 

I like what King is doing right now. We shouldn't be in a state of alarm because we have a bad road trip. We just need to refocus and settle down. Start playing like a team and things will get better naturally. Mentioning that a trade will come up will only distract the players and make matters worse. We would have never guess we would have landed Webber last season so who knows what he is up to, he is man that's working in the shadows. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we got Artest. King knows what he is doing so we just need to give him time as far as the trade goes and for the team, we got a former MVP and one of the most skilled big men in this league. Things will get better.

 

i hope your right avery. lol. because things have looked just the opposite of right so far, but i do agree with BK saying that he doesnt want to pull the trigger so soon. i feel we have the pieces to be a contender, but all we have to do is get some chemistry and play together better. after all, if i said that we were going to be a .500 team this season after our off season, nobody would have believed me.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post">I like what King is doing right now. We shouldn't be in a state of alarm because we have a bad road trip. We just need to refocus and settle down. Start playing like a team and things will get better naturally. Mentioning that a trade will come up will only distract the players and make matters worse. We would have never guess we would have landed Webber last season so who knows what he is up to, he is man that's working in the shadows. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we got Artest. King knows what he is doing so we just need to give him time as far as the trade goes and for the team, we got a former MVP and one of the most skilled big men in this league. Things will get better.</div>

i agree with absolutly nothing in that post !



sixers have less than zero chance of getting artest

things wont get better without a trade

king does not know what he is doing

mentioning a trade might be the kick up the butt that the team needs

get rid of dalambert/hunter or just swap them for some skittles and half an oreo

 

Yeah get rid of Dalembert. Hes only averaging 10, 10, and 3 a game. He's just progressed in every game this season and has been our only rebounder along with Webber. Thats crazy. Do you even watch the games? Do you think big men come along every day? Whether you like it or not, this guy is the franchise C, he won't score 20 a game, but he will get you 11 boards and 3 blocks. Name me another C in the East except Shaq and Ben Wallace that put up monster numbers?

Get a coach for Dalembert and help him stay in the game instead of fouling out.
Give Salmons more minutes. He is our bench.
Get Iggy more involved in the offense, and tell him to drive and create.

We're .500, we're still alive and right now would qualify for the playoffs. Anything can happen if u make it, so be a little more optimistic.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AI2AI888:</div><div class="quote_post"> Name me another C in the East except Shaq and Ben Wallace that put up monster numbers?
.</div>

Name me another centre in the east?? lmao

being the 3rd best center(IYO) in a conference with only 1 real center and a muscly dude with no jumpshot means diddly-squat

Since when was 10/10/3 monster numbers?? ...........webber averages 20/10 and 90% of philly fans(the ones i talk to at the actual games !!) think he`s playing like crap this year so what does that say about dalambert

perhaps if he could play 20 mins without fouling out he could prove me wrong but i very much doubt it

 

Athletic centers like Dalembert are hard to come by, so unless you get a great player back in a package for Dalembert, he isn't going anywhere. He just needs to learn how to stay on the court, and raise his basketball IQ.

Whoever said we have the pieces to be a contender needs to pass whatever they are smoking to me...

Billy King needs to be fired.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">sixers have less than zero chance of getting artest</div>

You're probably right. But there are some guys out there that WE don't think we have a chance at getting but King might be working on a deal to get that player as we speak. If we were able to land Webber who knows what we could get.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">things wont get better without a trade</div>

I bet you weren't saying that when the Sixers won 6 straight.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
king does not know what he is doing</div>

Sometimes.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">mentioning a trade might be the kick up the butt that the team needs</div>

That only works for veteran teams. With a bunch of youngin's on this squad they will get very worry and their game will be off.

The way I see it, if I was Billy King I'd give this squad one more chance to see how good they really are. They have a bunch of home games coming up and let's see what happens. If they can't do well at home then there need to be some drastic changes if they do well maybe a little tweak will do, but nothing drastic.

People are jumping into conclusions way too often. One the 6 game winning streak some us felt as if we have established ourselves as legitimate threats in the East, now we go on a bad road trip some us think we are possibly lottery bound. This team is roller coaster, I'll admit that and maybe there should be some changes here and there but for the most part this team has show signs of brilliance and there are a bunch of game left, so just stay calm and optimistic.

 

We have a right to be critical of the way this season has gone.

Two things that have been consistent all year with this team are:

1) Weak Bench = low production. As a result, our starters are having to play a lot more minutes. Webber and AI are already nursing injuries.

2) Our defense is one of the worst in the league. We'd have more wins if our D would show up and make some stops the 4th qt.

 

Ben Wallace is considered the best defensive big man in the game. He gets 8, 12, and 2 a game. Sammy in less minutes averages 9, 10, and 3. Look like the same numbers. Opponents don't go into the lane as much when their in there. Sammy shoots a better percentage. Hes doing everything we should be asking him to do, and hes going to get better. Also, go ahead and trade Dalembert and see how truly bad we are at rebounding. Is Hunters 2 boards a game going to make up for it? We have two players that average almost half of our rebounding. That needs to improve (Hunter, Randolph, Iggy, Korver)

If you want to get on someone's case, get on Korvers. Its his defensive, not Dalembert, that hurts us. He is supposed to make up for it on the offensive but hes still too inconsistent. AI2 also is too inconsistent on O right now.

Instead of trading away players, lets start building a bench through the draft and free agency. I dont want another big name here to shoot more shots, I want hard nosed defensive players that come off the bench and shut some people down.

 

Also, Webber could average 40 and 30 a game and fans in Philly would still not be satisfied.