If he's perfect, then Stotts' system is broken. If we're going after an ORL big man, I want Ibaka. This team needs to surround Dame (and C.J., if we don't trade him) with 2-way players. We are in the predicament were are in due to too many 1-trick ponies. Ibaka isn't elite at either end, but he's above average at both ends. He's shooting .422 from 3-point range on 3.4 attempts per game and blocking 1.8 shots per game. He's easily good enough on offense to be a sold 3rd or 4th option and greatly improves our interior defense. He's a bigger, way better version of Aminu (can you imagine how good we'd be if Amuni was shooting .422 from 3-point range with all other opne looks he gets). With his .422 3FG%, he'd be the perfect 4 to pair with a defensive stud center with limited offensive range - like Nerlens Noel. If we could get both of those guys (and maybe Bogut) without giving up C.J., it would improve our team immensely. Again it's 2-way players we need, and with Dame and C.J., we don't need more elite scorers, just competent scorers who are above average to elite defenders. BNM
Why is getting Vucevic - Very Good, but getting Noel - meh? You think offense is a more pressing need than defense for this team? BNM
I don't think it's a question of that....it's a question of defense sure...and Vucevic I've watched isn't horrible or lazy defending but you seem to not like his game much....Noel I'm not sure about but I'm shy about injury prone bigs for some reason ...just haven't seen him play and when I did, he sprained his ankle in a handful of minutes....Dieng in Minny does what Noel is said to do and I've seen him several times.I really like Dieng. I think our lack of any offensive threat in the frontcourt makes our guards have to work way harder and tired legs have trouble playing both ways.
Noel is not a team player, he gets injured all the time yet he have the balls to complain about not getting enough minutes and asks for a trade. Noel would give us more trouble come re-sign time. Vuc is a better asset as well, neither Vuc or Noel completes us as a balanced team so getting the better player is top priority on our way to the draft.
Really? Noel wants to play. It's the team that refuses to play him and has been jerking him around since training camp. He played out of position last season, for the good of the team, and they rewarded him by shopping him and not offering him an extension. They were shopping both him an Okafor long before Noel even hinted at wanting a trade. And, when he did mention it for the first time, he didn't demand a trade, he just said they needed to do something to balance out the roster. He's right. They have three high lottery picks who all play the same position, while looking to our age old cast offs (Sergio, Bayless and Hendo) for their guard play. Colangelo has been punishing him ever since Noel called the situation in PHI "silly", and then his own coach basically agreed with him last week, that having three, young, staring caliber centers on the same roster is stupid. BNM
Here's how it's gone down and why I can't blame Noel. 1.) He was the first pick that started the Hinkie "Process". They made the playoffs the year before he got there, and blew it up and started that process by trading Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans for New Orleans' 6th pick, Nerlens Noel. 2.) He missed a year due to rehab, but was coined the cornerstone of that rebuilding process. In the off-season, the team decided to draft Embiid over other players that would've fit better next to Noel (Randle, Smart, Warren, etc.). It was the right pick, but certainly not endearing to Noel as it was obvious Embiid and him wouldn't fit next to each other. They also drafted ANOTHER big at 12 in Saric. 3.) Noel finally played as a rookie and put up great numbers while Embiid was hurt. There was still no problems from Noel, even though the team won only 18 games. 4.) Then, in the off-season, they drafted YET ANOTHER CENTER in Okafor. Now they had 3 centers and Saric waiting to come over. To recap: Noel, once coined the cornerstone of the rebuilding process, had two centers drafted at #3 in consecutive years. I'd be pissed too. 5.) Fast forward to this year: Embiids finally healthy and playing great, Okafor is his backup at C, and Saric has come over. There was some talk that the team delayed his return from injury because of the logjam they created. Then he finally comes back and they barely play him because they have two many bigs. They barely play him even though he's a great defensive big and would be the best C on some playoff teams. So he states how he shouldn't be playing only 8 minutes and that the organization put themselves in a spot where 1 of their 3 young centers will have to be traded. That's obvious. He's not saying he should be playing above anyone, and he never complained about the players they brought in. Embiid called him his best friend. He simply stated that he's too good to be playing 8 minutes (truth) and that the organization will have to trade one of the centers (truth). ------------------------ So given that situation, how do you figure he'd give us trouble? We haven't coined him the center of our franchise then drafted over him, made him go through sub-20 win seasons, delayed his return from injury, then benched him for the guys we drafted over him. It's situational. He's not a bad team player or a bad teammate. I've heard many good things about him. The only thing that might've been a problem is how he treated a rental house (which we don't even know is true or not). Even if it was, he's 22. He's been in a shitty situation that's gotten the best of a (so-called) classy guy in Jahlil Okafor. Our situation would be heaven to him.
Dieng is not as elite defensively as Noel. He's very good, just not as good. Plus, he's 5 years older and not available. He's their starting PF. They aren't looking to trade him. With the shit show in PHI, they have devalued their own asset by refusing to play him. Noel is available and won't cost much to get. To me, that sounds like a lame ass excuse for not working hard on the defensive end. Other players do it, play both ways. You think Micheal Jordan took plays off on defense so his offense wouldn't suffer? OK, maybe an unfair comparison, but what about Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler? They both lead their team in scoring AND play lock down defense. Dame and C.J. are both young professional athletes. Neither have ever said it, but the I'm too tired to play defense line doesn't cut it with me. I'm not even asking them to play great defense. Average defense would be an order of magnitude improvement. BNM
I'll just say my opinion: i got to watch him play a few times during the last 2 years (not a lot, why would i watch Sixers games?) and he never left a strong impression on me. I don't think he's talented enough to be a good starter on a winning team and i don't think that a player with his limited basketball skill set and fragile health should approach his team with special demands or even be surprised that his team is shopping him. MCW was also a lottery pick + ROY, he didn't turn up to be a stud or a starter. I'm not excited to get a player who wasn't good enough to have stats on the Sixers,got injured,listed demands and then was not even considered good enough to play in Sixers uniform. Best case scenario with Noel: He gives you 8 ppg and 10rpg together with good defense while his body is still fragile and you have to extend yet another role player for crazy money. I don't see the point.
Well said and accurate. Noel hasn't been a problem child in PHI the way Cousins has been in SAC, and if anything PHI has been an even bigger shit show than SAC in recent years. The whole point of the process was to deliberately suck for multiple years so they could stockpile young talent. And then, rather than use all those high picks to build an actual team, they drafted three centers in a row creating a horribly imbalanced roster that will force them to make make trades to address the needs they overlooked in the draft. BNM
What "special demands" are you referring to? He has never demanded to be traded. He said he's too good to be playing only 8 MPG. He's right. You do know this latest surgery was totally elective, don't you? And that he did it at the urging of the the team, just to delay the inevitable logjam they are now dealing with. BNM
I remember reading he demanded a trade and then i read he fired his agent. I don't know wtf is going on in philly anymore lol.
Thing is, Embiid was obviously the right pick. He's been a stud. However, they missed on Okafor, and they should've drafted Porzingas. Imagine Porzingas+Saric at PF and Embiid+Noel at C. That'd be amazing. They wouldve been able to experiment with 3-Big Man lineups, which couldve found Noel enough minutes: Simmons SG Porzingas/Saric Noel Embiid That works offensively because the SG, Porzingas/Saric, and Embiid can all shoot the 3. Having 4 guys at 6'10 or taller and 2 guys at 7'2 or taller would've been insane. It also could've worked defensively, as Noel could've guarded SFs with Porzingas/Saric guarding their natural position (PFs) and Embiid guarding centers. But they drafted a 3rd center in Okafor...
His health is why he'd be available for so cheap. If healthy, he has DeAndre Jordan potential. That's something you risk giving up Allen Crabbe for.
You really think so?? I don't know, every time i watched him i didn't see anything exciting in his play. I also remember hearing several times in the the Lowe Post (i think one of them was with Brett Brown) that Noel is incapable of guarding smaller guys or skilled power forwards. According to reports Raptors are offering Ross for Noel, i think Philly would much rather have Ross than Crabbe.
