2018-19 Sixers Thread

[jrs1024]

The way I understood it, Philly only wanted Richardson. And three other players need traded elsewhere.

Correct. Philly didnt want to take on any more salaries because they knew they had Horford waiting.

 

[Cletus11]

I love Horford as the 6th man off the bench playing maximum type minutes. Allows Embiid to play 4-6 less minutes per game in the regular season and sit out on back-to-back and still have a legit line-up on the floor. So perfect type player to try to get more out of Embiid in the long term and playoffs. Horford is a guy who can be the captain of the second string and be a main scoring option. Just not cannot see a line-up with Horford and Embiid on the floor at the same time being very productive and with money Horford got, you have to play him and not sure exactly how that works. I guess we will see.

 

[Judge Smails]

I love Horford as the 6th man off the bench playing maximum type minutes. Allows Embiid to play 4-6 less minutes per game in the regular season and sit out on back-to-back and still have a legit line-up on the floor. So perfect type player to try to get more out of Embiid in the long term and playoffs. Horford is a guy who can be the captain of the second string and be a main scoring option. Just not cannot see a line-up with Horford and Embiid on the floor at the same time being very productive and with money Horford got, you have to play him and not sure exactly how that works. I guess we will see.

Horford was most effective last year for the Celtics playing the 4, and he prefers to play the 4 at this point in his career. He's a very good 3 point shooter, and a great defender. Probably the best defender of Giannis in the NBA. I'll bet the Sixers get Boban for the NBA min to play backup regular season minutes at the 5, and then in the playoffs they will just use Horford at the 5 for the 10-15 minutes that Joel sits.

 

[MJG-90]

I love Horford as the 6th man off the bench playing maximum type minutes. Allows Embiid to play 4-6 less minutes per game in the regular season and sit out on back-to-back and still have a legit line-up on the floor.

I agree. But it shouldn't really matter who starts and who comes off the bench. It's more about different lineups and getting max minutes out of the five that play best together and limited dropoff when other lineups are on the floor. This group does provide lineup flexibility because so many of the players can play multiple positions.

The one weakness the team had in the postseason was what happened when Embiid was on the bench. Adding Horford solves that problem (hopefully). He's been a tough defender.

Does closing that hole make up for losing Butler? If Richardson is at least 80% of Butler, and develops a better chemistry with Simmons, etc. then maybe these moves turn out to be winners. I'd still love to see a straight up three point specialist off the bench, but with our size, I don't think it's a requirement. Both Embiid and Horford (and Harris) can knock down threes, so defenses still have to be honest.

Time will tell, but I'm definitely excited (maybe because yesterday wasn't the total failure some were predicting). Can't wait to see what moves come next.

 

[jrs1024]

Some thoughts.

- most of the talking heads are nothing more than fans speculating
- Butler did not confide in anyone what his plans were. He's been evasive for months as to what he planned to do when FA hit
- the few talking heads that seemed to have inside info did caution that Butler's situation was pretty fluid
- there is some belief that the Sixers overpaid for Tobias. He played really well for a stretch in the regular season, but didn't play as well in the playoffs. It did appear that when Jimmy and he were on the court, there weren't a lot of plays run for him, or in areas where he was used to getting the ball. Perhaps he'll thrive without Butler on the court
- star hunting? The Sixers are trying to win a championship. They were so, so close to getting to the Finals this year. I suspect they'll add whomever they think will get them to the final/enable them to win a final, regardless of what star reputation they bring to the table
- also, keep in mind that there have been rumblings from Minny that Butler wasn't a great influence in the lockerroom, and some muted comments suggesting as much from Philadelphia. It's hard to tell how true those reports are; I'm just mentioning them. However, the Sixers and Jimmy got to try out each other for half a season, and at the end of the experience, either 1 side of the equation, or both sides, wanted to move on. Butler seemed to indicate that the only reason he wanted out of Minny was because he wanted to win a ring. He's a lot further from that in Miami than he was in Philadelphia

Lot of good points here tom.

1) I absolutely LOVE the Horford signing. Sixers overpaid, but there's so many benefits to having Horford:

- Sixers biggest issue the last two years is how they play with embiid off the court. He fills that gap in a major way.
- Hes a guy who can defend embiid and now hes not in their way.
- He can practice against Embiid and help him get better.
- Hes a great character guy.
- Minimal injury history
- Great defender...and gives a certain Milwaukee Buck fits too. Giannis wont be able to bully both Embiid and Horford.

2) I've heard rumors since the end of the season that when FO asked Embiid and Simmons about who theyd rather keep between Butler and Harris, both said Harris. Harris is still a great fit for both on the court. Probably overpaid, but hes a really good player that was a #1 option on the Clips and now theyre asking him to be Kevin Love. That's not awful.

3) I'm not upset about losing Butler. Both sides are sending out smokescreens, but that just tells me neither side was motivated to make it happen. He was great in the playoffs, but sometimes thats not always as important. Embiid and Simmons made it just as far the previous year, and now they're WAY better on defense than they were in either this year or last year.

4) Sure, the sixers are short a backup ball handler and theyre short a killer shooter, but they will be able to D up anyone. Harris can shoot. Scott can shoot. Richardson and Horford hit 36% from 3 and are above 80% from the charity stripe. None of them are redick, but they make up for some of it on defense.

 

[Cletus11]

I don't have any issue with Butler not being re-signed as realistically cannot have 4 guys on max type contracts, so either Butler or Harris was going to leave in the off season. My issue is that when Reddick had a poor shooting night, on most occasions the Sixers really struggled to score. Sixers have to find a off guard that can punish teams when they double team Embiid down low.