If there has been one thing King does well it has been draft. This year was no different, after surprising us a bit last year, King came back strong with the Carney pick in this years draft. Rodney Carney was the best available player on the board when we picked. notice I said best player and not arguably some say we should of took Marcus Williams, but Carney is the better player. I think one thing that hurt Marcus Laptop Williams was the character issues that surrounded him. The same character issues that caused Marcus to miss a entire semester at Uconn. Carney is a highlight reel waiting to happen, and playing next to Iguodala we now have a double feature rolling in Philadelphia. Both Carney and Iguodala have the explosive abilities to put fans back in the seats in Philly. We might end up having two representatives at the slam dunk contest this year. Surely Nate Robinson can?t rob both of them. Can he? Going back to Carney?s strengths he is a established defender. He has a long lean body which allows him to come up with steals, and make it harder on the opposing player to get his shots off, remind you of anyone? Another huge upside is that he works hard at every aspect of the game, especially rebounding. He is going to help our rebounding game immensely last season I cannot tell you how many times I found myself asking ?why the hell do we have only one guy trying to get a rebound?. Expect Carney to fly to the basket as soon as the shot is released. A great rebounder for his size... One of the knocks on his game is that at times he is too passive. The same knock on Iguodala?s game. We need someone to become assertive on this team, especially if AI is traded, which seems likely. Another knock on his game is that he settles too much for the jumper instead of using his athleticism to get a better shot. I was watching his interview on Comcast Sportsnet today and he denied the fact he was ?settling for shots? saying that in the system they played in you either had to take the all to the whole or shoot a three, and that if you check the stats they attest to that. He also said that he would show people he has a lot more dimensions to his game. Can?t wait to see it. The other player we acquired in a draft night deal with the Minnesota Wolves was Bobby Jones. A great defender, who has received comparisons to the Spurs shut down swing man Bruce Bowen. if he turns out to be even half as good a defender as Bowen is we are in good shape. Especially considering where we got him. Similar to Carney he is a great rebounder as well. Two good rebounding swing men added to a team in one draft is a great accomplishment. Jones is tough as nails to he will not be afraid to stick his nose in there on defense, and take care of the dirty work. Get ready to see this team return to it?s good old days. Where defense was actually emphasized. His weakness is the same as his comparison (Bowen) he struggles shooting free throws which puts us in a huge liability having him in during crunch time. He must improve in that area. Some say he ball handling skills must improve as well as his ability moving without the ball. I am not concerned though we have guys to score we just need him to lock people down. Dre, Carney, and Jones are going to be great defenders in the future. My grade for King would have to be B+ - A I am very happy with the picks he made/acquired. I didn?t even discuss the international player we acquired, because I do not know much about him. However, King sat ideally by and watched Dee Brown slip all the way down to 46 a guy who would have helped us out tremendously especially if AI is traded. I can?t knock King though for one night he actually performed like a King instead of a Queen. Kudos to you Billy.
B+. I like both of the players, but i still think Williams was the way to go. Unless we do the AI trade with the Celtics and get a PG, of course.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting WhiteManCanJump:</div><div class="quote_post">B+. I like both of the players, but i still think Williams was the way to go. Unless we do the AI trade with the Celtics and get a PG, of course.</div> My thoughts exactly. I thought Williams was a lock for us, especially after the trade with Chicago. If an Iverson trade goes down, some sort of a solid PG has to be in store. B+
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post"> However, King sat ideally by and watched Dee Brown slip all the way down to 46 a guy who would have helped us out tremendously especially if AI is traded. </div> Why would you want Dee Brown? He's 6ft and isn't a natural pg What are we gonna do with 2 6 ft extremely young PG's? We already have an overabundance of guards. Let's supose AI gets traded because thats what you all believe, you really think Kevin Ollie is going to start? You know Willie Green isn't a natural PG. Louis and Dee won't even be close to be starting in the NBA. Let's supose we get a PG back in the AI trade, you know the PG is going to be somewhat above average. What playing time is Louis and Dee gonna get?!?!??! Seriously man, I don't know why yall so crazy about Dee Brown or Shannon Brown. We don't need anymore freaking guards. I really think we should have drafted a big man in the second round. Couldn't we have traded up to get Paul Davis or someone like him?
The thing about Paul Davis is that to many he doesn't play good d, and thats what the 76ers are looking for. From what I saw of Davis he was more of an ofensive minded bigman. I think picking Carney allows us to play Dre at SG, and Carney at SF. Moving Korver to where he belongs, coming off the bench. Carney has a long frame and we needed another athletic player like him because people were always blowing by Kyle so easily, and then getting into the paint for easy buckets or trips to the foul line. When players get into the paint, that draw away our big men, thus leading to the problem of the 76ers rebounding, and how they gave up so many boards. I'm not sure about the Bobby Jones pick, but I am not stressed out about it sense it is just the second round. There were some other players I would have liked us to take instead. But Jones sounds like he can be an impact player, and I heard that he is a very good defender so that is definitely a plus. As for that Edin dude, I think he is a center from some foreign country. I'm not expecting much from him. I also read that we are signing Steven Smith to our summer league team. Which is good, I have heard nothing but positives about him. Overall I am satisfied with our draft. I still have some questions though about AI being traded. If they are indeed trading AI, then why are they trying to get all of these defenders, player that would mesh well with The Answer? If the 76ers do indeed trade AI will they be able to get a PG back? We'll see. I give this draft a B+
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting iversonfan3:</div><div class="quote_post">Why would you want Dee Brown? He's 6ft and isn't a natural pg What are we gonna do with 2 6 ft extremely young PG's? We already have an overabundance of guards. Let's supose AI gets traded because thats what you all believe, you really think Kevin Ollie is going to start? You know Willie Green isn't a natural PG. Louis and Dee won't even be close to be starting in the NBA. Let's supose we get a PG back in the AI trade, you know the PG is going to be somewhat above average. What playing time is Louis and Dee gonna get?!?!??! Seriously man, I don't know why yall so crazy about Dee Brown or Shannon Brown. We don't need anymore freaking guards. I really think we should have drafted a big man in the second round. Couldn't we have traded up to get Paul Davis or someone like him?</div> I'm going to throw it out there right now. I have absolutely no love for Louis Williams. I don’t think he is doing any more than taking up a roster spot, and giving us false hope that we might have a great young player in him in the future. His shot is weak, and his strength is even worst. With that said... Dee Brown is more than ready to play in the NBA. He stayed all four years in college, and led his team to a final four appearance in his junior year. Dee Brown displayed excellent point guard skills this season. Although, his shooting percentage was lower that was mostly because defense where keying in on him due to him being the teams really only offensive option to get them going. Dee is an incredible three point shooter, and has great speed. His nickname is the one man fast break. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have a problem having a guy nicknamed the one man fast break playing with Carney and Iguodala. A highlight reel waiting to happen. To me over the last decade you have become to accustom to having two small guards in the back court due to AI’s lack of size, but a six foot point guard and a 6-6 (6’7’) shooting guard is not bad size in the back court. Paul Davis wouldn’t really have fit in this team any where. I think our need for a big man is extremely exaggerated. Although, I would love to add depth. Webber plays over 30 minutes a night, and then we have the Hunter/Dalembert duo that worked so well in the front court together last year. Not to mention a player we could sign with the MLE. Now you mentioned Green. Last time I checked he is a free agent. As is Salmons. Right there that is two guards we are losing from last season. Assuming we trade AI three. I don’t know if it’s just me because I watched Dee all season at Illinois last year, and the year prior, but I personally think he is better than any point guard on the Celtics squad (the team we are rumored to trade AI to). There is a reason people wanted us to draft Marcus Williams, we need a point guard, assuming AI is traded. By the way despite his size Dee is not a liability on defense. He has great strength, and played on one of the best defensive teams in the country at Illinois. A lot of times we where able to beat teams with far superior talent simply because of our defensive pressure. not only that Dee is a leader in every sense of the word on and off the court. Oh, well he is a Jazz now so I guess I should just let it go...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm going to throw it out there right now. I have absolutely no love for Louis Williams. I don?t think he is doing any more than taking up a roster spot, and giving us false hope that we might have a great young player in him in the future. His shot is weak, and his strength is even worst. With that said... Dee Brown is more than ready to play in the NBA. He stayed all four years in college, and led his team to a final four appearance in his junior year. Dee Brown displayed excellent point guard skills this season. Although, his shooting percentage was lower that was mostly because defense where keying in on him due to him being the teams really only offensive option to get them going. Dee is an incredible three point shooter, and has great speed. His nickname is the one man fast break. I don?t know about you, but I wouldn?t have a problem having a guy nicknamed the one man fast break playing with Carney and Iguodala. A highlight reel waiting to happen. To me over the last decade you have become to accustom to having two small guards in the back court due to AI?s lack of size, but a six foot point guard and a 6-6 (6?7?) shooting guard is not bad size in the back court. Paul Davis wouldn?t really have fit in this team any where. I think our need for a big man is extremely exaggerated. Although, I would love to add depth. Webber plays over 30 minutes a night, and then we have the Hunter/Dalembert duo that worked so well in the front court together last year. Not to mention a player we could sign with the MLE. Now you mentioned Green. Last time I checked he is a free agent. As is Salmons. Right there that is two guards we are losing from last season. Assuming we trade AI three. I don?t know if it?s just me because I watched Dee all season at Illinois last year, and the year prior, but I personally think he is better than any point guard on the Celtics squad (the team we are rumored to trade AI to). There is a reason people wanted us to draft Marcus Williams, we need a point guard, assuming AI is traded. By the way despite his size Dee is not a liability on defense. He has great strength, and played on one of the best defensive teams in the country at Illinois. A lot of times we where able to beat teams with far superior talent simply because of our defensive pressure. not only that Dee is a leader in every sense of the word on and off the court. Oh, well he is a Jazz now so I guess I should just let it go...</div> I hear you man. It's only a difference of opinion. You can't really argue which one is better.
B- I wanted Carney from weeks before the draft started which should have given this draft an A. But when I saw that Ronnie Brewer was still on the board when we were on the clock at 13 I wanted King to pick him up. From the looks of things early it looked like Brewer was going to go anywhere between 7 and 11. But again I love the pick of Carney. I would have walked away content with either Brewer or Carney but just looking back five years from now we might be saying "Should have picked Brewer". Also with the last of the second round picks I would have loved to see us roll the dice on a guy like Darius Washington Jr. or pick a guy like Steven Smith out of La Salle. Great pick with Carney though...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Smitty:</div><div class="quote_post">^C.K, we signed Steven Smith to the summer squad.</div> As of right now it looks like Steven Smith is on the Warriors summer league team as well as ours. Don't know how that can happen, but according to DraftExpress.com, he's on Golden State/Philadelphia. Interesting...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting C.K.:</div><div class="quote_post">As of right now it looks like Steven Smith is on the Warriors summer league team as well as ours. Don't know how that can happen, but according to DraftExpress.com, he's on Golden State/Philadelphia. Interesting...</div> Really? That's weird..how does that work?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Smitty:</div><div class="quote_post">Really? That's weird..how does that work? </div> i think it means he still has to decide whether or not to be on the warriors squad or the sixers squad, but im not sure. if that indeed is true, expect us to lose out since billy king will do absolutely nothing
I'm guessing he can play for both? They're probably in different leagues/cities in different dates. Warriors are in Las Vegas league... What are the Sixers in?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm guessing he can play for both? They're probably in different leagues/cities in different dates.</div> Most likely. I'm hoping that he'll come home to play for us because we seriously need boards on this team. But if I were Steven Smith, I would go to the Warriors. Bottom line is that the Sixers, until they trade A.I., are stuck in reverse.
