<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NBA teams may begin talking to free agents on Thursday, with the signing period beginning on July 14. The 76ers are over the salary cap, but team president and general manager Billy King said the team will use its $5 million salary cap exception to sign an inside player, and O'Brien already has in mind the man he wants. He wouldn't say whether he has coached the player in the past, but a free agent who would probably sign for the exception and would seem to make a lot of sense is Boston center Mark Blount, who played under O'Brien when he coached the Celtics. As Boston's starting center, Blount, 28, shot 56.6 percent from the field last season, second in the NBA. The 7-foot, 250-pounder averaged 10.3 points per game, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. If not him, the 76ers need someone a lot like him. "We definitely need some size," King said. "Right now, we need to focus on a big guy." That's because the only big players likely to return as 76ers are 6-11 Samuel Dalembert and 6-10 Marc Jackson. Derrick Coleman has a year remaining on his contract but is a logical candidate to either retire or have his contract bought out. Amal McCaskill and Zendon Hamilton, big guys brought in last year during the rash of injuries, are free agents who are unlikely to return if the 76ers are successful in finding anyone better. The rest of the roster is made of up natural guards and small forwards. And one of them could be traded in an effort to thin the ranks. For instance, third-year man John Salmons shares qualities with first-round draft pick Andre Iguodala. "I can't find time for all those guys," O'Brien said of the glut of similar players. "The guys who earn the minutes will get the minutes. I'm not going to distribute the minutes equally, nor will I try to keep people happy."</div> Full Article Article courtesy of Doug Lesmerises/Deleware News Journal Below are the free agents, and big men who the 76ers could afford: - Chris Anderson - Brian Cardinal - Vin Baker - Steven Hunter - Antonio McDyess - Adonal Foyle - Michael Doleac - Brian Skinner - Robert Traylor - Zeljko Rebracca - Mark Blount Out of these guys, the only ones who could be servicable to our team are Mark Blount, and Zeljko Rebraca. What O'Brien is aiming at, is that he wants a player that will be able to rebound, and hit the outside shot, seeing as many of these guys can do that, it is still puzzzling who they will sign. Though with O'Briens experiences with Mark Blount, he may be the one. However, many of these guys are not worth the MLE, some may be worth half of it, but it seems Billy wants to get us deeper in the salary cap woes, then we are already in. From the looks of the article, and Billy's and Jim's thinking, they want to get a stronger lineup, a more defensively present one. This will include whoever we sign, Kenny, Samuel, and Glenn. However this will create confusion within the team causing maybe to sit Glenn, and move Kenny down to the three, or to sit Sammy, and let the signee control the five. I am not in favor of sitting Sammy because it will most likely stunt his growth, playing in the shadow of someone else. Let's face it though, the only reason he got the job last year was because of Derrick not being able to play. Have the staff's opinions changed about Sammy, and can he handle playing the entire season is a big question.
I hope the Sixers are busy in the off season I think the addition of Mark Blount will be helpfull,but will it be enough?I was hoping the Sixers would go after someone like Eric Dampier,but I guess we dont have the money this is what we get for giving all these old players huge contracts.
Would anyone be against having Skinner back ? He did well for us when he was with us last time. Plus we know how his worth ethic is unlike the others. So that could help or hurt his chances depending on what the staff an billy think of him.
Is he worth the MLE though, why spend money on someone we will bench for the most of the season, and get rid of next season. Blount and Rebraca are the ultimate choices, let's hope Billy takes off his blinders and sees that.
If those are the choices I would rather just not spend the money and just try to work some trades. Blount an Rebraca aren't all stars or anything so it's not like they will come in an take us to the championship or anything. The true impact will come from a trade. Billy has to be smart an clear out the cap. These bad contacts are holding us down.
You cannot just clear the cap in one season, it takes many years, and many NBA teams are over the cap limit. As for the trade, who would you trade? When saying you would like a trade, explain so the conversation actually has some value.
I liked Skinner and if it comes done to taking him because others are already signed by other squads, I wouldn't mind least bit. He is a hard worker and averaged good #'s for the Bucks last season. Another thing I like about him is that he is a straight banger low under the boards and seeing him and Marc Jackson on the same squad is a pretty tough team. But then again I'd like to see a new face in a new place so, oh well.
Billy King should consider bringing Brian Skinner back. During his little run in Milwaukee, he's proven he can be a decent player. I'm not sure if it was his confidence level or playing time that disabled him playing the way he has opposed to the way he's played on the Sixers. But I believe that Skinner should worth a look. Even though, O'Brien is aiming for a player that can rebound and hit those outside shots, Skinner could rebound the ball and provide something in the low-post as well. An ideal PF would be Okur, but he's pretty much way out of our reach. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That's because the only big players likely to return as 76ers are 6-11 Samuel Dalembert and 6-10 Marc Jackson.</div> Why isn't Kenny Thomas name in there? ______________________________ <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As the free agency period opens, the 76ers are expected to target center Mark Blount, formerly of the Celtics. Blount averaged 10.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 2002-03. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the 76ers only have their mid-level exception (around $5.1 million) to offer a free agent big man, and the Heat and Celtics will also be in the market to sign Blount.</div> <div align="center">Blount on the Radar</div>
Kenny will return, trust me. Just because he wasn't quoted in an article does not mean that he is to leave the 76ers. As for the Blount link, I already posted that.
Of the players on that list, I think that the 76ers should go after either Adonal Foyle or Mark Blount. They were trying to get Foyle last year near the trade deadline, but obviously a deal was never reached. He's a big shot blocker and I think that Dalembert could benefit from playing with him. Blount... Thats because he had a good season this year and he may want to reunite with Jim O'Brien. Antonio McDyess might be looking for more money than the MLE. He probably won't get it and the 76ers don't really need him anyway with Kenny Thomas at PF.
Sixers Reportedly Want To Split MLE Noted today in a Philadelphia newspaper is this: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Now the Sixers have to see what Blount is worth on the open market. It is believed they don't want to use the entire midlevel exception on Blount, who made $1 million last year, but the center is in much demand after a season that saw him reach career highs in scoring (10.3 points per game), rebounding (7.2) and field-goal percentage (56.6 percent).</div> This could be a good thing, and then a risky thing as well. Blount of course will ask for the whole thing, and will bring up the point that he played the best ball of his career last year. It's some tough thoughts the staff will process, let's hope they make a concenscious decision. With this news comes a question, which pair of players would you want to see applied with? Myself, I would take Mark Blount, and Rodney White if Mark were to sign on with the splitting of the MLE. Then take the one million dollar exception (actually worth $1.6 million) to sign Brian Cardinal. Cardinal, and Blount having the same agent could be good thing for both, maybe Cardinal and their agent can persuade Blount to take half of the MLE, in order to get three guys into Philadelphia and have a stronger force. Now some would argue with the recent rumors of the Sixers looking for a way to get Keon Clark (cough*cancer*cough) in, that he would be a better fit. However, he has been known as having chemistry issues on and off the court with teammates. That was one of the problems that he was not signed last year when Philly had the oppurtunity to do so. Your opinions?
