What is track oaking Hardwoodknox listeners, I am Damp Valley coming at you with
a Sunday edition of this podcast once more, sans my co host Adam Prommel.
I am, however, pleased and excited to be joined by one of
my co workers to talk about the Philadelphia seventy Sixers, Brian Toporrek. He
is a quality editor for Bleacher Report, which is also where I work full
time. He's the co host of the MBA podcast. Follow them on Twitter
at the NBA Pod, and he also covers the Sixers and the MBA at
large for Sports and Fansided. Follow Brian on Twitter at b to Porrek.
That's at bt O p O r E. Kay. We have a great
conversation about the Sixers. We probably talk a little bit about Ben Simmons,
believe it or not. Before we get started, though, just my usual
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right without further delay. Let's get into talking Philadelphia seventy six ers basketball and
Ben Simmons trade saga, whatever you want to call it with Brian Taporak.
Brian, thank you so much for coming back on the Hardwood Knox podcast,
and unlike Ben Simmons, thank you for showing up. It's it's really appreciated
and super convenient. This podcast will be better for it. How are you
doing, I'm doing well. Are you trying out for a Philadelphia newscaster job
right now? Because you're you're really nailing it? Look, I'm I'm kind
of I'm sympathetic to Ben simmons situation in a lot of ways. But the
thing and by the way, like the thing that people struggle with here and
if anyone's surprised we're gonna begin the podcast talking about Ben Simmons. We need
to be able to juggle multiple truths and like Ben Simmons and Rich Paul,
like they're not blameless in this scenario. And it's become like I don't want
to ship all over players because I've become very cognizant of like imagine they're checking
Twitter the mental health aspect of it. But he's he and Rich Paul and
just his camp. They're not doing themselves any favors at this point. And
I have to throw it to you, like, what is just what the
fuck is going on? What are your thoughts on general the implicate and for
the law er picture? Yeah, what is the like are there implications for
the for the league here long term? Given what Ben Simmons is doing?
For anyone who doesn't know, and I don't know how you wouldn't and listening
to this podcast, Ben Simmons has four years, one hundred forty seven million
dollars left on his contract, has refused to report to Philly training camp.
They have been trying to trade him. They tried to trade him for James
Harden. I get we're dealing with people and feelings are involved, but this
is just like, I don't know who looks good coming out of this right
now. My answer would be no one. But I'm just curious just to
feel. I'm curious to know how you feel about this, just anything,
any thoughts you have on it. Exhausted I think it is the only word.
Like I had a newborn at home a couple of months ago, and
I was less tired than that. I am now of the Ben Simmons situation.
I think you're right though, like no one looks good coming out of
this. You know, I don't blame Ben Simmons for wanting out for a
multitude of reasons, like I you know, the fit questions with him and
MB have existed for years. I know that came up and a couple of
recent reports, I think it was the same Ammoc of the Athletic Kevin O'Connor
of the Ringer, you know, said that was one of the many reasons
he cited for wanting out. He thinks he can be maximized as elsewhere,
and frankly I agree, like you were never going to get a fully maximized
Ben Simmons alongside Joel Embiad and vice versa. They papered over it during the
regular season. It became an issue in the playoffs. I will say this
though, he has to take some accountability for the fit issues, Like if
he had made the improvements to his offensive game that Joel Embiad has over the
past few years, then the fit issues would not be as glaring as they
are right now. You know, and Bead has improved as a three point
shooter, really improved as a passer, still turnover prone, especially when it
gets double team, but tightened up his dribble a little bit. And the
revolution last year was that he just started facing up more instead of being like
a more back to the basket guy. So if someone came in double teamed
them for the week side he was you could see it. He had a
line of vision that he didn't otherwise have. Ben Simmons, I don't want
to say he hasn't improved at all, because I think the conversation about him
has gotten so poisoned at this point because of what happened in the Hawks series,
and the past few months since he has improved in certain areas of the
game, and not even just like I don't care that he you know,
like the shooting thing is just what it is at this point. You would
love to see him develop it. I don't know if it's ever going to
happen, but like during the regular season, he was toying around with the
hook shot that he you know, that he really hadn't shown in years past,
and I think it was your own Whitesman wrote a piece of five Yeah,
five thirty eight about it back in March. It was like he's taking
a higher volume of these than ever before, and like maybe this is the
counter for all of these playoff woes. And then he went back into his
turtle shell in the playoffs. So so you know, I don't blame him
for wanting out, but I'm with you and that the way he and rich
Call are handling this is you know, I think the perception is going to
start shifting more toward like ha ha, serves you right, sixers to like,
oh wow, f Ben Simmons, like screw this guy, you know.
But the report from Kyle Nubeck Philly Voyce the other day, whereas like
one of the things they cited was he went to a team that was too
good. That was my favorite that's come out of this head. The Sixers
were too good. That was that was my favorite thing. My internet was
out on Tuesday without report came out, so someone texted that to me,
and I honestly thought I had to like check that it was not from a
fake account. Like I thought that excerpt, you know, was just like
someone made that up, But no, that's a real and so like that,
I am less sympathetic toward and the bigger picture question, I think is
really the big thing to focus on here. And when the news of his
holdout came out, I wrote a piece at four Sports about that because like
there's only so much you can say about the Sixers specific ankle here, right,
Like they're I don't think he ever plays another game for the Sixers,
or if he, if he does, maybe he'll do what James Harden did
and just like totally mail it in for eight games then they trade him in
a month. He should probably only play on the road if he's going to
play with the six Yeah, right, I don't think he ever plays another
game in Philadelphia throughout his career. I will say that, like, you
know, as a sixer. But when he gets traded, I don't if
he's gonna come up with some injury every single time his team, And I
hope they have to play them in the playoffs because I think that would be
really funny. But yeah, I mean, like, if this works,
what's to stop the next star from doing it? Like if a guy with
four years left on his contract can hold out and say I'm never reporting again,
you have to trade me. I'm willing to swallow all this money that
you're gonna find me. What's to stop Luca Doncha from doing that to the
Mavericks next year if the Jason Kidd think blows up and Chris Stops doesn't get
back to what he was, Or what's to stop Zion Williamson. We're already
hearing reports that he wants out in New Orleans. If he sees this work
with Ben Simmons, he could sign his rookie max extension and then it could
demand out in a year. And so, like you know, there have
been reports that teams around the league have been like silently cheering philliy On because
if this works, contracts effectively become meaningless, and for especially for teams in
small markets where you know you win the number one pick, you think,
okay, well I've got this guy for at least four years. He's going
to take a rookie max, so I've probably got him for you know,
seven to seven to nine years. If you don't have that, then like
how do you build a team, Like how do you ever get out of
you know, like the Lakers that the nets and the heat are going to
be good for a while because they're marquee markets. But like, if you
don't have the promise of we get Zion Williams and we've got him for a
while, if you only have him through three or four years, you know
you've got the number one pick for a reason, You're not gonna have time
to build a team around him before he wants out. Yeah, that's a
great point. I am just wondering if it's you know, the Zion stuff.
I think you mentioned the extension and trying to force his way out after
that. I think that would be the larger issue then people thinking he's gonna
sign his qualifying offer, I will I know they're getting I know, the
qualifying offers are getting up there. I think he's gonna end up being like
seventeen million or something like that when someone does it. And I'm not counting
Greg Monroe like that, it also didn't pan out for him when you think
about it long, Like he got paid it, but like it didn't pan
out for him. Really, I'll believe that that's going to happen when I
see it, and I don't think that Zion is going to be the guy
to do it, just because Zion's health has been all over the place.
That's going to be healthy to start this season. I'm just wondering if Ben
simmons a situation is a little bit more unique because this is a team that
tried to trade him actively for James Harden and then you knew they were going
to shop him anyway, and you also kind of had as correct as Joel
and Bead and Doc Rivers have been and maybe they haven't thrown him under the
bus. I mean Rivers doing the deplete one eighty after the game. I
get it's right after the moment that Hawks game and that it's hard to answer
questions like in those emotional times, but like that just felt like as the
coach, like you can't. He is the second most important player on your
team in theory. So I'm just wondering, like, if that stuff isn't
happening, if Joel Embi doesn't say what he says after the game, if
the relationship between them hasn't always been weird, does it maybe not get to
the point because I do feel like that has to be part of this,
which is why I understand where Simmons like forget about the en court fit.
I just don't think stuff. And this is this pre dates Daryl Morey.
This is around the Sam Hanky error, whereas like, did these young guys
have too much agency behind the scenes where they not reigned in enough given the
control and like it's also not Ben Simmons's fault that they chose like him over
Jimmy Butler and didn't try to force that to make it work, Like you
then emboldened him too much in that, And so I'm just curious, like
if the organization had I know, people said the Sixers should have moved Ben
Simmons earlier. Look sure, but like I think we've seen enough times like
guys that are this good, they don't get moved on their rookie contracts.
It's talked about like the shake Gil just Alexander stuff leading up to the draft.
No, these guys signed extensions and then most of them are going to
finish out like their extensions or get traded towards the end of it. So
I'm just curious as to whether this really won't have the ripple effect that we
think it does. But I do understand, like, even if it does
have the ripple effect, and you're dealing with what are their twenty to twenty
five players in the league that have that type of leverage, you don't want
to see someone sign a rookie extension then ask out like what that does to
parody and stuff like that. And then also do we get to a point
where that pool expands where like, you know, a top thirty five,
top fifty player is still like a number two or a number three, so
like we're gonna give them that leverage. So I do see how it could
get messy. I'm just wondering if this is like the extreme case because of
everything that's just happened leading up to this point, right, And I mean,
it's this is so weird because usually it's a guy on a bad team
that wants out because he wants to go to a good team. This is
like the Sixers were the number one. I've seen it last year, but
we haven't seen a guy who saying I want to go to any other team,
like I'm willing to go to Sacrobato, Will it go to Cleveland?
Will it to go to Minnesota? Like teams that have been in the latter
year after year after year. So I think in that respect, it is
definitely an edge case. And I hear you like, I don't know that
there will be a huge wave of disgruntled stars that want out just because it
worked for Ben Simmons, But I think, you know, if the team
owners in particular have to hedge against that. So I wonder, you know,
we've got this new CBA coming up in a couple of years, Like
depending on how this play is out, I'm sure that is going to be
a topic of conversation in those negotiations as well. And like, you know,
do you put a restriction where if you sign this rookie max extension,
you you know, you can't be traded for X number of years? And
then do the players push back and say, like, look, man,
the way the syst their contracts to the game, Like this system is screwed
up that you if you draft me, you have my rights effectively for nine
years, if you know, if you get the rookie max, like limit
rookie max or limit rookie extensions to three years instead of five. So I
think that's the thing to focus on long term, Like outside of just Sixers
specific is you know, what are the implications league wide? Does this come
up in New CBA? Does this change the system itself such that we don't
run into this problem again, Because I guarantee you as much as some of
the other owners in the league might be laughing at the Sixers now, they
won't find it so funny when it's their team dealing with their star running out
a couple of years left. And there are I'm sure, and I think
we talked about this on Twitter ones. I'm sure there are teams that think
they can benefit from these types of situations, even in maybe smaller markets.
But you are right, until it happens to them, that's when it's going
to be a problem. And I would say, if you really wanted to
take a stand against it, like they would need to be a tacit agreement
that hey, we're not trading for Ben Simmons then, because that helps the
precedent. I don't know how probable that would be looking at the actual Sixers
situation now though, and the reality of what this has become right now,
If Ben Simmons never plays another game for them, if he doesn't have a
functional way of removing the bad taste from people's mouth that they remember from that
Hawks game, what would be And we've seen Darryl Moore's asking price, assuming
that's accurate, they are they are epic in how egregious they are. I
think like he lowered his asking price to Portland for like CJ McCollum and then
three first and three pick swaps or whatever that report was. What would what
would be you're the GM of the Sixers, what is the minimum type package
or the baseline right now that you would accept for Ben Simmons, Whether it's
an example of a specific team or just like you know, a theory of
it, like, oh, we'll take a starting ball handler and we will
take future picks because we'll hope that we can parlay those into maybe a bigger
blockbuster trade later on. Yeah, I mean that's the tough question, especially
before the season starts, because I think at this point, you know,
teams feel pretty good about the rosters or at least like want to see how
their off seasons play out. So I don't think we get to see it,
Like I think there's gonna be a waiting period where, you know,
the Sixers are gonna want to see if other teams get off to a slow
start, Like maybe the Blazers just totally fall flat on their face, and
then Damian Lillard, like all the stuff that came out about the him this
offseason starts to bubble up again. Or maybe the Wizards after there, you
know, the off season overhaul, they get off to the slow start.
Bradley Beal doesn't sign the extension, So like, obviously Dame and Beale are
the top two guys that you would go after. You're never going to get
either one of those in a one for one deal. You're gonna have to
give up Tyrese Maxie, You're gonna have to give up picks as well.
I don't think either one are realistic, honestly, Like, I don't think
Dane's asking out until next summer at the earliest, And I don't think the
Sixers can have this situation hanging over their heads the whole time. So I
think a lot what the return comes down to depends a lot on how they
look in the early going, specifically how Tyrese Maxie and Shake Milton look because
without Ben, for as much as we focus on the shooting and the lack
of shooting and what he does to their half court spacing, he is their
best playmaker by far, especially in transition, and he is their best perimeter
defender, so they are going to really miss him, especially in the regular
season when teams aren't is locked in defensively and you can get out and transition
more like Tyrese Maxie, they are trying to mold into this point guard.
It's not necessarily his game and some of the quotes coming out from camp,
but like, we're really high on this kid, but he still needs to
learn how to play point guard, which is not exactly what you want to
hear two weeks before the start of the season. So I think, you
know, if Maxie and Milton start the season off well and look like they
can actually hold their own there, that widens the scope of the packages that
you can get in return. I'm skeptical that those two guys could be the
top two point guards and a championship team. So I with a Simmons trade,
I would target a primary ball handler and in return, so like you
know, if you go to Indiana, you've got to get Malcolm brag and
you go to San Antonio, is the team that I've had my eye on
the most, probably in terms of just like if there is one team where
one to one swept or like a two team deal makes sense. You know,
a Degente Murray plus you know Devin v Sell Fad Young for salary matching
like that is fine. You know, I think the Sixers are going to
look like they lost the Simmons trade when it's all said and done, like
they are, they are going to be giving up the best player in the
deal, because again I don't think they're getting Dame or I don't think they're
getting deal. But you have to live with that and just know, even
if you're losing the best player, if you can get guys who fit better
around Joel and Bead and make this team make more sense conceptually, it might
be okay because you might be able to plug some of the holes with the
guys that you bring in or maybe you know batist Eyeball has a bigger role
defensively. With Ben Simmons out or Tyrese, Maxe takes on a big role.
I will say, you know, I'm intrigued to see what happens with
Maxi in the early going here, because they have been raving about this kid
really ever since he was drafted. They say they love his work ethic,
and you know they're gonna look different until they trade Simmons, and you know,
whether it's a good or a bad thing, we'll find out soon.
But no, if Maxie's not going to be the playmaker or defender that Ben
Simmons is, but he is a better scorer, He's a more willing shooter.
He can run pick and rolls, So we like haven't really seen Joela
Bead run pick and rolls. We're gonna actual could to see that this year.
So I'm intrigued about the Simon list sixers. But I'm skeptical that you
know, they can't like let this linger for full season. They are going
to be worse without him. And Joel Embiea said as much. Now,
how would you map out the ending to this? Do you expect him to
report at some point you've already said you think he's played his last game.
So do you think he's traded? You know, is there when do you
think he's traded? Is it just going to be in mid December when there
are when teams have they're there are more players that can be included in packages.
Couldn't linger closer to even the deadline? Is there even a chance that
he still finishes the season on Philly's roster? Like, what is if you
just just map out how this is going to go, what do you think
happens. Yeah, I don't think there's a chance he finishes the season.
I think he's got to be gone by the deadline. I think the bridges
are too burned at this point based on all of the reporting. And I
know I hear you on the dock at Joel comments after Game seven. But
at the same time, I'm like I was in most a lot of the
six Ers press conferences last year, and Doc just hyped this guy up every
single time, And every time someone brought up the scoring, like, Doc
was like, well, yeah, but focus on everything else that he brings
to the table, which is such a one eighty from that though, which
is what like you went from doing that all of a sudden, like I
don't even know what this who this fucking guy is? Basic? But like,
honestly he was asked. It wasn't like could he be a player on
a championship team? Could he be a point guard? And it's a fair
question because the guy doesn't shoot, right, It's just you go from being
his biggest advocate. Yeah, like not throwing him under the bus, but
all of a sudden being brutally honest at a time when he probably more than
he did during the regular season. Right, It's just I get that at
Like, he wasn't wrong, but it was just so counterintuitive to the way
that he had been carrying Ben Simmons discourse to that point. Yeah, it
was not not ideal, not ideal, But no, I think it wouldn't
surprise me if it goes until mid December, once you know, guys who
signed his free agents couldn't be traded, or even goes up until the trade
deadline. But I don't I'm honestly skeptical that they can wait that long,
especially if Maxi and Milton struggle at the beginning of the season. So it
wouldn't surprise me I mean we saw, you know, Jimmy Butler when he
was in Minnesota got traded like twelve or thirteen games into the season. I
think James Harden, I think he played eight games last year before he got
traded. So that's probably the you know, like around Thanksgiving would be my
better guests. But because like I just don't know which teams in the conversation
now have guys who signed as free agents that the Sixers would want, unless
there's a wild card out there, like maybe the Knicks are out there and
say like, will include Kemba Walker in mid December if you can wait that
long, you know, just throwing out a hypothetic. I don't think the
Knicks would do would be interested in Ben, But you know, there weren't
that many guys who signed big money deals where it's like, oh yeah,
well that that makes sense you would include that guy, and that's someone who
the Sixers would be interested in. So I don't I don't think they have
to wait that long. But at this point I wouldn't be surprised if they're
also just trying to shove it the Bend and rich Fall a little bit and
saying like, all right, you want to hold out, we will keep
finding you three hundred and sixty thousand dollars or whatever the case may be.
And like, I hope you're okay with giving up five million dollars because we
don't really care about these first ten regular season games. We think we can
hold our own until then. Well, and that would be the other element,
too, is if they want to avoid setting a precedent. If that's
the you know, the stuff that's going on behind the scenes, I get
it, But you probably also want to see if you can one get off
to a pretty good start, because that at least increases your leverage, and
two maybe hold out as long as possible just to see what happens to the
trade market as the season soldiers on, Like, because there's always unforeseen players
that are available. There are teams that are worse than expected. Players we
didn't anticipate becoming available become available. I just don't don't know how long you
have to hold out for that market to develop. I don't think it's gonna
be by Thanksgiving. You. I think you would have to gut it out
until around like Christmas at the earliest. And that's just my melting to think
that. Being said, maybe if you're just good. Maybe if you're just
maybe you're top three in the East, top four in the East. Still,
perhaps that teams that are already interested in him, the Minnesota's, the
Sacramentos, if Portland, in so far as, maybe that emboldens them to
up their their offer for Simmons and that makes it easier to strike a deal
at that point. This is just a very interesting game of who of chicken,
I guess of who's gonna be able to wait out on because I personally
don't think like Ben's I can't envision Ben, like if the Sixers really drag
this out, I can't envision Ben Simmons reporting in something for maybe he reports
and then pretends he as an injury he's not punting on thirty plus million dollars.
I just can't. I can't see it. I would be shocked,
And so I'm just interesting who caves first. But I do agree with you
that in all probability that the Sixers are gonna look like they lost the Ben
Simmons trade. Yeah, yeah, and they have to be okay with that.
I think one other point to you know, why it would make sense
to eight is, you know it if Tyrese Maxie and Shake Milton are in
these expanded roles and if they look good in there, that might make them
more appealing to trade partners as well. So if you are trying to get
a Damian Lillard and Tyrese Maxie like lights the world on fire in these first
ten games, and again the Blazers get off to a slow start, maybe
they're more interested. You know, Tyrese Maxie is more like conceptual. We've
seen like flashes of him, but we haven't seen consistent play out of him
because he's barely got any run last year because he's a rookie under Doc Rivers.
So but you know, like if if the Sixers other guys could boost
their trade value as well, if they're going to be part of the package
with Ben, that could help as well. But you're right, I mean
there's always some too. Team is going to get off to a slow start
and think like maybe it's Sacramento. You know, it just totally ships the
bet in the first ten or fifteen games, and their stands of like we're
not trading Deer and Fox or Tyrese Haliburton. They're like, you know what,
we're going absolutely nowhere with this core, maybe we are willing to trade
one of these guys. Let's talk actual basketball, please please, How does
Ben Simmons, I know he's still related to this, How does his absence
or will it change the context of Eimbiad's roll at all, whether it's what
he's actually doing on the court, or is this you know, if let's
just say Ben Simmons isn't traded, he's not with the team. Are we
still or are they still being ultra cautious with embiid? Do we see him
set a career hymen's per game? Do we maybe see him miss fewer than
twenty games for basically the first time ever. I'm just there. There's just
so many trickled down implications of Ben Simmons being on your roster but not with
your team right right, because I mean again, Joel said it, we
are going to be worse without him. And we saw, you know,
the first preseason game when they didn't have Tobias and Joel and obviously Ben,
they just got their brains beaten. Then you know, Tobias and Joe came
back and they actually looked like a competent basketball team against Toronto. But yeah,
I mean I think even more of the offense is going to flow through
Joel. And I'm sure, you know, unlike Ben, Joe comes back
every year and actually does show signs of improvement. So I'm excited to see,
you know what he really worked on this summer. It sounds like he
worked a lot on threes. He was talking about taking a high volume of
threes himself and then will go off a dribble. Yeah, I hope.
So, yeah, yeah, maybe that's the solution. We just get point
Joe instead of point Ben. No, but I think we'll see improved spacing
where they're gonna be worst defensively without Ben. So I think how Doc juggles
his rotations, how much time he can get for thybal in particular the average
like twenty minutes per game last year. I think it's gonna be gott to
be close like twenty five to thirty this year, just because he gets going
to be that. You know, I love Danny Green, but Danny Green
is not a lockdown wing defender anymore. He's worm of it. You know.
The thing that bothered me is people saying Danny Green was washed because he
couldn't shut down Trey Young. Yeah, standard for whether you're a good defender
or not. Yeah, Like your coach made a really dumb decision to put
you into like that was never going to work, and he knew that,
but just decided to do it for some reason, Like it was he set
danny Green up to fail. And I will say, like, I think
if Danny Green doesn't get hurt in that series, the Sixers probably win that
series. Like it's it's a very underrated aspect of what happened, given Ben's
obvious shortcomings, but like Danny Green went down to Game three, and I
don't think it's a coincidence that the wheels fell off after that. He is
like a really quietly important part of this team. So how you balance minutes
between him and Matisse will be interesting. You know Matize, they reports out
of camp would be really positive for him. It sounds like the Olympics experience
was great for him. They're saying he just came in a lot more confident,
and I think he will be. You know, it's gonna be easier
to find minutes for him because you don't have to juggle like last year it
was like how do you play Ben and Matiz and Dwight on the floor at
the same time because the spacing is just so bad. Well, now,
if you don't have to have the ben question of like how do you play
one non shooter, you know, like Drummond is still going to be a
non shooter, but like, I think there are going to be more minutes
for Matisse because they aren't going to have as many non shooters on the floor,
so that would be interesting. And then it seems like they're just putting
a heavier emphasis on firing up threes, like they are telling Seth Curry,
you are too good of a shooter to only be taking five or six threes
per game, Like you've got to be like your brother, take eight to
ten per game. Tobias Harris, you're a forty percent three point shooter.
You can't take three threes a game like fire or sixth fire or seven.
So I think we see a higher volume of threes, which welcome to the
twenty first century, doc, I'm glad, glad you finally arrived. That's
also probably what the quality of looks matters, of course, but that's also
a way of off setting. Okay, we don't have Simmons is playmaking,
So if you increase the variance in your shot profile where those the three pointers
are worth more than two pointers. And then also now you have to plan
around the worst defense I would assume, and that's you kind of already touched
on the two things I was going to ask about is what does their defense
look like with It was bad during the minutes with drow will be last year.
I do think opponents were pretty lucky. They shot like thirty eight plus
percent from three during those minutes, and so if you're playing table more like
that should be fine. But what do you make of their defense without Ben
Simmons? Is this just you you already mentioned Matis Is he someone who's you
know, you mentioned like twenty five minutes the game If you want to have
a I feel like he needs to play at least thirty and then two with
him specifically, do you see any other element of his game on offense or
is it just he needs to knock down threes. He's never going to be
someone who puts the ball on the floor or that they try and run different
type of things for yeah, I mean, I think the three point shooting
is going to be the biggest swing skill for him, Like if he can't
ever be a reliable catch and shoot guy. You're gonna leave him wide open
and he's gonna screw up the spacing elsewhere. Now, I don't think they're
gonna run too many like Matties create off the dribble, but he can't do
it. I mean, he has done it before. He's good in transition
in particular. So like, I don't think they're going to run a ton
of plays for him, but maybe they could use him as like a backdoor
cutter and get him looks close to the basket or something like that. Yeah,
I mean, I think the defense is going to be worse. And
I was talking with Ben Dawst, who's a Utah guy, the other day
about like DPO yatts. We were talking about this on our pot and like,
can anyone challenge Rudy Gobert And he was saying he would actually put money
on joelop right now, and I was thinking, like, whoa, I
actually go with a complete opposite route, Like I think their defense is going
to take such a hit without Ben that you know, it's just not gonna
be a top five defense. So I don't think Joe is going to get
that DPO y hype. But maybe by removing Ben if they do maintain a
top five defense or anything close to it, or like maybe Joel does feel
more responsibility on that, And because he doesn't have a safety net in Ben,
particularly, matis is off the floor like a Maxie Curry backcourt is going
to get roasted defensively. It's gonna make Joe have to cover a lot more
of mistakes that he did last year. So I do think they're gonna be
worse. I would not personally put money on Joella bed twit dpoy, but
God bless you if you do, he could sort of get the narrative nudge
because you lost Ben Simmons. If the defense is still I honestly don't know
if I expect them to have a top ten defense, but would be the
same thing that they have any Davis, you trade away your two best perimeter
defenders last year, basically, well, Lebron, two of your three best
perimeter defenders last year, get back one of the worst perimeter defenders that you
could possibly get at that price point in Russell Westbrook. And if you still
have a top ten defense, like that's gonna help pay him. So I
could see him Bead entering the conversation through that route. I'm just I know
we talked about how Biggs can impact defense more with the Sixers specifically. I
mean you can make the case for the Lakers too, because Davis is always
in down the lineup, but like knowing he might miss a quarter of the
season, knowing that he's never been someone that plays thirty six, thirty eight
minutes a game, that's just a lot of time where you're not gonna have
Joel Embiad or Ben Simmons on the court, and that's kind of terrifying.
Yeah, Like I think Andre drummond Ottoman deal is a good value for the
Sixers. Andre Drummond is not going to anchor a top five defense without Joe
or on the floor as well. You know, their bench in particular,
it seems like it could be a defensive liability. It's it's certainly it's one
of many concerns for this team and they're going to have to figure out again,
like this could help shape what they're looking for in return in a Ben
Simmons package. I will say point of attack defense has been an issue for
them for a long time. Like these quick, speedy guards. You know,
Ben is really versatile and great defensively can lock down all sorts of types
of players, like I haven't seen anyone do what he did to Luca Dan
Like he is one of the best defenders on guys like Luco or James Harden
like those heliocentric, no bigger guards who aren't going to necessarily beat you with
their quickness off the dribble, the Daron Fox types, the Colin Sexton types,
like the Sixers have just bled points. Trey Young bled points against those
types. So if Matisse could carve out a role in there, again,
it's just going to be like you're trading off certain things have been off the
floor, but if these other guys can paper over the some of the whole,
it'll be different. I don't know if it's better or worse, but
different. When you look at their offseason independent of Ben Simmons, they were
very limited in what they could spend. You wish that they would have been
more aggressive and trying to acquire some more ball handling because they have you know,
George Yang and Andre Drummond, Like, those aren't guys that help you
do that, right, Yeah, I mean it sounds like they're just that
confident in Maxie like, that's what Darryl is saying. I think it was
after the draft, even yeah, I think that was the last time he
spoke with reporters. He was like, it tries a bad way all Bet
Simmons questions, acting like he was going to speak with reporters later the summer.
It never did, but he was saying, you know, the development
of guys like Maxie can help shape what they're looking for in free agency.
So I agree with you, Like, it's obvious that ball handling, playmaking
is a huge weakness on their roster right now. Like for as much of
the focus in Boston is about that, Philly has the exact same concern but
it sounds like they're just that high Maxie and Milton. We'll see. I'm
skeptical that it's going to work out, but you know, this is the
type of year where everyone's best laid plans still sound good. What's the biggest
thing Maxie needs to improve upon for the Sixers to not be in dire need
then of that secondary guy because I don't you know, I don't necessarily view
him as like a like a lead point guard, but he was just a
rookie last year. What I do value, and I know the efficiency wasn't
there on threes, but like he's in every level score, which is a
stark change from right exactly. So I think that's going to be very different.
Like their offense will look different because he is running it because he is
so much more of a scoring threat. You know, he picked up I
know, like early in the season he was really reliant on that floater,
which is it works, it's effective, but it drove Doc crazy. And
you know, as the season went on, he got more rest about driving,
drawing fouls. He's a better free throw shooter than Ben Simmons as well,
so that will help. But it sounds like, sounds like the balance
of scoring and playmaking is the thing that he needs to work on the most
because he is more wired to be that type of like if you can call
him a point guard, like a score force point guard. So how do
you balance those instincts with you know, you still have the MVP runner up
on the floor, You still have a guy in Tobias Harris who you know
played at a fringe all star level last year. You have great shooters in
Green and Curry flanking you on the wings. Like you have to figure out
ways to get those guys all involved while also hunting for your own shot.
So I think you know this, like Tiwe's Maxie is one. If Rich
Paul wants to play, it's unfair expectations were too early on it, Like
that's the guy. Oh, I can actually hear it because like he would
typically go on a bad team and get some time to figure it out.
But like now he's got a lead, you know, the team of finished
number one the East. He's got to be their starting point guard. That
there are gonna be a lot of expectations placed on him early in the season,
and I you know, I worry that he will struggle in that role.
I think the Sixers did a really good job of streamlining Tobias Harris' offensive
role last year. Do we see him just like maybe turn like that that
one Clipper season where I think it was him and before he got traded the
Sixers or maybe it was even the season before that, Like, do we
just see him maybe run like more, picking rolls now? Like is that
because like I just don't they don't have any other options. Is he someone
that needs to sort of broaden his offensive horizons at this point? Yeah,
I mean it sounds like they aren't going to have Maxie bring the ball up
the floyer. Every time they've said, like if Seth catches the ball,
if Tobias catches the ball, like you bring the ball up the floor.
So I think it is going to be a more egalitarian approach rather than just
you know, Ben Simmons is going to be our primary playmaker. It wouldn't
surprise me to see Tobias take on a large role. I will say one
of the big focuses with him last season under Doc was quick decisions. You
know. He said that the year before the Al Horford Josh Richardson debacle,
like Tobias was just dribbling the air out of the ball and that's what drove
Dock nuts. So he said, like, look, you just you catch
it and you either shoot or you pass or like you know what you're doing
before you even catch that ball. So I think that it's gonna be hard
for him to balance that with having to take on more playmaking role in themself.
But yeah, like I would frankly be surprised if anyone on the Sixers
this year averaged even like six assists per game. Wow, I mean who
MAXI doesn't would be the best bet. It has to be Maxie. I
feel, yeah, I guess Milton too, but I would have to be
Maxie and that's going to represent quite the leap for him. So I think,
you know, you look at last year as a rookie and twenty point
one is his percentage for cleaning the glass while he was on the for That's
like, that's fine for a rookie, but that's that's pretty low if you're
the boy guard, so right right that and how like what happens with his
turnovers if you're going to give him that type of usage too, Like he
was pretty low turnover, but his responsibility was just not through the roof.
I finally get to ask you about their main offseason editions. Who was more
impactful for this team? Georgie Yang or Andre Drummond. Yeah, I mean
I think it might be a different answer for the regular season of the playoffs,
Like I think Drummond just by virtue of and B you have the pencilman
to miss twenty games and you know, for all of Drummond's faults, like
having a guy like him as your main backup is like you can feel okay
with Andre Drummond filling in as a starter for twenty games this year, like
you're you're not going to just get blown off the floor, which has really
been the Sixers problem throughout the entire Joel embiad era. It's like they are
so good with him on the court, and whenever he leaves, they just
gonna annihilate it. I think they have to structure their offense differently, and
this is one area where you know, Doc's insistence on running like full bench
units actually kind of makes sense. Where it's like, you know, the
starters have their own Joel centric offense, but then you don't want to run
the same plays with Drummonds that you do Joel, Like you don't want Drummond
to be posting up as much as Joel, that they're facing up as much
as Joe. Not right. So I think, you know, having him
as the insurance policies the bigger asset during the regular season. But I think
the Eggs actually going to be I mean, what Doc called it, like
the silent pickup or something like that. Uh, it was talking specifically about
like if they want to play small ball, they can do like him and
Tobias on the floor at the same time. But like both of these guys
in theory are upgrades over you know, Niang from Mike Scott, who I
love Mike Scott as a as a person. Yeah, like we'll always have
I ain't no bitch, We're gonna we're gonna love that era of the Fixers.
But he couldn't hit a shot to save his life last year, like
Niang. It's gonna be And Niang's got a quick trigger too, so he'll
be a big upgrade there. And then Niang and not hit a shot to
save his life in the playoffs last year there, Yeah, that's true.
Well, Joe Harris couldn't either. I'm gonna gonna positive regression there, and
Drummond. You know, I think once the playoffs come around, it's fair
to wonder how effective he'll be. So I think if if they do get
in the playoffs, and if they go deeper into the playoffs, having you
know, just again more shooters around and Bed will be really like having Niang
to come in for Tobias Harris whenever he's off the floor. Like if you
put just Niang with Korean Green and Maxi or Milton, like that's a ton
of shooting on the floor. Quark mas. So that was part of my
question was, so we should expect them to get a little bit I'll call
it weird, but let's say more innovative with the backup five rotation, justin
even if they don't do it, games where and beat actually plays because you
just go and beat to drumming and that's it. Like you said, they're
gonna be games and beat missus. So like, should we expect them to
actually play like tangible minutes without a traditional big on the court, measurable minutes?
I should say, excuse me, I hope so. But someone asked
Doc about this during camp and he's like, you don't think we thought about
that, But sometimes your roster just doesn't allow for it, doesn't it demanded
at this point, Like I get you would think so, but like,
yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if they go you know, more like Paul
Reid or even Charles Bassie, Like, it wouldn't shock me if you know,
Doc does not strike me as like a super innovative XS and nose type.
I don't think that is the primary selling point for why you hire Doc
Rivers as a coach. You know, it's like more established the culture and
get guys to buy in, and you know, if you wanted the excess
nose guys, you would have gone for Tyron Lieu. So I would be
very pleasant at least surprised if we see some minutes with Yang at the five
or Tobias at the five. We saw very sparingly Ben at the five last
year, and those minutes have never really worked out. So I think they're
going to try to be as traditional as possible, but at least it won't
be like Cleveland where we've got no one marketing playing the three, like hopefully
we don't see Tobias Harris playing the three ever. If they're doing that,
doctors probably needs to get fired to be Yeah, yeah, what is just
I'm looking at looking at this roster? What is the overall? Let's set
the over under at for this. You don't even know the category that's coming,
but that's at the over under on this for three. For the number
of pick and rolls per game that Firk on cork Mos runs, oh man,
I can tell you how many he ran last year. Okay, that
helps one point six per game. Yeah, I'm double his volume essentially,
And I don't know if he saw his hype video. I love his hype
video. Yeah, he didn't expect that to go as viral as it did,
but he said he watched it a lot of times. I'll go slightly
under but I do think Quirk. You know, they resigned him this year
for a three year deal, like they actually want him around. It's talking
about his trajectory with this team. I know, it's so like two years
ago you think he's just gone and then he like resigns as an afterthought.
And it's really, honestly, I think he deserves a lot of credit for
his development, Like he's gotten significantly better defensively. You know, he's not
like Matisse, but he's he's clearly learned from Matisse. And he says he's
worked with Matisse a lot, Like he has some of those like weak side
blocks that you know that you just wouldn't expect a guy like him, where
you just think of him as a shooter or nothing else. But he's like
rounded out his game enough to the point where he's a playable rotation point an
important one too. Yeah, and he Lloyd knows he does not lack confidence
in terms of shooting threes or running things off the dribbles, So I'll go
under, but only slightly. So if I put it at two point five,
would you've gone over? That feels about right. That feels about right.
The Actually, so, what do you think about the Jaden Springer pick
any thought, any thoughts or early impressions on his game. I actually know
very little about him, And then I'm just curious because maybe I'm it is
Doc is in charge. I'm just envisioning the Sixers being pure anarchy until there's
a bend resolution. Is there a chance that he gets a crack at actual
playing time for this team as a rookie, I would be surprised. Never
say never, but I would be surprised. It sounds like they viewed him
more as a long term investment. You know, if Max You're built and
totally fall flat on their face. Maybe, but we haven't heard much about
Springer at camp, which makes me think his acclamation is a bit slow.
I think defensively is where he's going to make more of an impact early on.
I think the offensive game is a little more raw, but you know,
again, a point of attack. Defense becomes a major issue with this
team, especially with you know, if maxew Milton are both getting roasted and
like Matisa is in foul trouble. Maybe that's when you just as you said,
you just gotta throw stuff at the wall and see you all right,
Jayden, go out and like try to just shut down Trey Young for six
minutes and so we get these guys until the first half of the over we
can play our normal guys again. So what was Maxie that bad on defense
last year? I remember from the games that I watched, like I was
like, this dude will compete when he's on the balls. The other thing
where you just can't get around those ball screens, he's just gonna get killed
on them. Yeah, he competes, and his defense got better throughout the
year. Dire talk set earlier in the years the team's worst defender, and
then as the year went on, he improved on that end. So I
think he's made strides. But again it's just like I don't think he's stopping
Darren Fox or yeah, like anyone of that caliber. I think he's going
to struggle with who is so looking at this roster, who is the player
maybe people aren't talking about enough or just a player that you identified. They
are going to play a bigger, more important role on this sixer squad this
season than expected. Yeah, it's a really good question. I mean,
I don't know how much buzz Maxi is getting nationally. It doesn't seem like
a lot, but he does seem Mike. He's in line to be the
starting point guard, so I can't choose him, but he is kind of
their main X factor this year. I'd say, like, if we're going
deep cuts here, Isaiah Joe has really stood out in the preseason. That
guy could just shoot the hell out of the ball. So if you're looking
for again, just like things aren't falling one night for Danny or for Seth
Curry or for Quirk Moths off the bench, it wouldn't shock me to see
Isaiah Joe work his way into the rotation a little bit, and then Paul
reads the other guy who he's just I still don't know what he is,
like they they are leading towards using him as a five. So you know,
it's probably like, as you mentioned, the Knights where I'm beating and
Drummond are healthy, He's probably not getting much run. But on the Knights
where I'm beating, miss is a game or drum and miss is a game.
Wouldn't shock me to see Paul Read as the main backup five and the
kids just like all energy at this point, like he needs to put it
together in terms of being like a reliable No, does he know defensive rotations
in particular, but I know they're super high on him. He was the
G League MVP last year, so we've always got that going for us.
So I think Joe and Reid are probably the two, you know, deep
deep cuts, but I think their top ten is pretty clear. Like it
you know, they got Maxie in the starting five and then giving Milton Quirk,
mas Batis and Yang and Drummond off the bench, and then after that,
you know, injuries might open the door for a Joe or Read or
something like that, but I think they have a very clear rotation going into
the year even without Bet. I'm wondering if I don't think he fits the
bill playing a bigger role, but as someone who could explode that maybe people
aren't talking about because they feel like he's peaked. Would be a Seth Curry
where it's just like he was averaging between like four and five off the dribble
jumpers per game last season in the regular season and the playoffs. Does that
number just shoot up? Are they having him run a ton of picking rolls?
Is that even what they're doing with their offense at this point without Ben
Simmons? And is he someone just like if you who would be the most
random, not the most random, the most unlikely player that could average like
twenty points a game this season to actually average twenty points a game. I
might pick him and so him just again, I think people expect him to
play a pretty important role. I'm just wondering if it becomes like more of
a holy crap, Like this team is pretty seth Curry centric at this point.
I mean that's what they were in the like in that Atlanta series,
like he was arguably their second or third best player, Like he averaged nineteen
points per game while I was the playoffs shot almost fifty one from three fifty
eight from the field. Last year was weird for him because he got COVID
and said it like did kind of knock him on his ass a little bit,
so like COVID is real, Yeah, get vaccinated supposedly, I don't
know. I'll talk to Jonathan Isaac Wilson and we'll do our own research and
get back to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
So you know, I think the regular season, he got off to a
really hot start and then got covid. I thinking, like early January just
wasn't really himself even after he came back, and then finally like really got
back into the swing of things by the end of the year, as his
three point volumes started going up from you know, toward the end of the
season in particular. But yeah, like I really do think they're just telling
Seth Curry like you cannot you cannot end the night with fewer than like six
to eight threes, Like we just can't have you. Need you were back,
go to the shooter. We need you to play that role, especially
with Ben out, So you know, averaging twenty points a game, I'd
love to see it. I don't know if he gets that high, but
like what he averaged twelve point five last year, his career highs twelve point
eight, I'm pretty sure he's selling in your career right this year. I
don't know. I'm gonna say, like what even he hit eight team this
year, like is it as? Is it just ass and I to think
that he can get that high when you're just looking at and you're not really
trying to replace Ben Simmons scoring, soybe, that's just a stupid thing,
Okay, but I'm just envisioning him having the ball in his hands more,
right, So I have no idea, but fascinating player to watch. What
is aside from getting one hundred percent of their players to report, what's this
team's biggest week weakness? Right now? It's got to be playmaking point guard
whatever. It's Ben sim it's a point guard, I know. Yeah,
but yeah, I think you know that is for sure the biggest concern you.
Just as much as we like the idea of this egalitarian offense or of
like, oh maybe Tyrese Maxie really will be the answer here, you know,
going into the season, we just don't know. So that's clearly like,
that's clearly what you would identify right now. I mean again, maybe
there's a pleasant surprise and these guys actually do pretty well, Like Shake has
gotten off to a rough start in the preseason and really struggled in that role
last year off the bench, and that's kind of what led them to acquire
George Hill at the trade deadline. So even if Maxie does well, maybe
Shake struggled off the bench, they still have the problem like who is who
are our playmakers? Right now? We don't really have a much the typical
questions. We've reached the cookie cutter portion of the podcast where I ask these
questions that we look at. I would normally ask, who is the player
as of now you think it's most likely to be traded on this team.
We've already tackled that. If there's a scenario where Ben Simmons isn't moved,
or if they try to do something before they move him, is there another
player you see as most likely to be traded or maybe a small are Is
this team even built to make a smaller scale trade when you look at the
personnel that they have, Because every Ben Simmons deal, whether you're winning or
losing, it's a it's a mega blockbuster, right just inherently. But you
look at this team's sort of payroll and it's like, you're not trading him,
bid, you're not trading Tobias Harris. You really can't trade Seth Curry
at this point. I guess they do have like some mid end salaries,
but I think you would argue their best some of their best trade chips aside
from picks and Ben Simmons are like, you know, Thiable and Tires,
Maxie and Shake Milton. We're all making passing peanuts at this point, right,
Yeah, So that leads us to date, Annie Green would be I
guess the most likely candidate. Like if this if the only scenario where I
could see it happening is if the season just goes totally off the rails,
they you know, thank you, Yeah, right, Dave Defour running the
team that's gonna offer that. No, but I could see you know,
he's on a reasonable contract to two year, twenty million dollars deal. I
like, that's a value that any contender would want. So if they're just
like, no, we are this, this Simmons think totally ruined us.
We are just going to take a step back, Like what's let's trade Danny
for someone who we think has a higher upside long term and you know,
maybe like it could also be a vote of confidence in Matis, Like if
if Matis really takes a huge step forward and they need him in the starting
lineup because they can't cover, like Danny isn't going to be that option defensively,
you know, is Danny Green happy coming off the bench for a team
that doesn't have real championship aspirations. Is there actually a scenario where they would
punt on this season because of all this? Is it just Joel Bean gets
injured? Is like that only scenario where that happens? Yeah, I think
so, I don't think. I think if he's healthy, you just can't
because you know, you don't know how long he's gonna stay healthy. You
can't risk punting on, especially with him coming off of the season that he
just had, Like, I think you have to at least give it your
all as much as you possibly can. But again, like this it always
comes back to the simn situation. But like this thing is going to be
a circus until it's resolved. And how much of a distraction is it beyond
just the on court factors of like can their playmaking survived? Can their defense
survive? It's like, you know and be just like mentally check out like
he kind of did throughout parts of the twenty nineteen twenty season that he like
he just looked miserable out there. And if that's the case, like does
he take a step back in his play as well? So I think as
long as he stays healthy, they don't fully punt, But it wouldn't surprise
me if they take, you know, like a realistic look at themselves before
the trade deadline and say, if we have zero hope of contending for a
championship this year, now, maybe we do try to flip Danny into something,
into a guy who's under a long tream contract or like a young player
who we believe could have a breakout in our system. Whatever the case may
be. This is matchup dependent. But what do you think should be their
most used to crunch time lineup this season? Yeah? I mean I think
well, Seth, Danny, Tobias, and Joel are most likely going to
be in there. The one caveat would be if they will does become a
more dependable three point shooter, or if Danny's limitations defensively, like if they
just absolutely need someone to be able to lock someone down. And again,
Danny just isn't that guy anymore. I could see Thible replacing him. And
then I think between Maxie and Milton, it's just which of these two guys
is a more competent playmaker and more reliable shooter. What is a quirky,
offbeat, unconventional lineup you would just to see what happens, you would run
out if you were the head coach or if you had the power over Doc
Rivers to force him to experiment with. Yeah, it would be a small
ball lineup because I think we're not going to see it very often. So
I would want to Bias and the Yang out there. I would say Curry,
Quirk, Maze and then again one of Max. You're Milton, and
they're going to get just boat race defensively, but can that can that line
up offensively? Makeup and just pray that, like you know, it's not
just a layup line of the rim. Maybe you just get into a three
point shooting contest with the other team. I would bet on the three point
shooting out out gunning another team. It's just like, yeah, can you
can you stop them at all from penetrating the paint? I would guess probably
not. Mine was similar. I just want to see five people who can
are like kind of ball hand, can put the ball on the floor.
Small lineup, So I'm taking the Yang off and I want Cork Moas to
buy as shake Milton, Seth, Curry and Tyres Maxie. That's going to
be a special nightmare, Dith. But if it's not on the court.
I don't know what chance you could throw a time with these tibel in there
if you like, don't care about yeah, obviously for some defense, but
I would I'm leaning into this kid until the Ben Simmons situation, So I
would absolutely try a lineup like that. That's fair, Yeah, that would
be It would be fun if nothing else, And like, that's all we've
got right now, because otherwise the season is projecting to be pretty miserable ultimately,
and it's it's anything every question I ask you about this a little because
of the situation. How high are you on this team without Ben Simmons being
there until he is true? Like, if they don't move Ben Simmons,
how high are you on this team? Pretty low, honestly. Like I
mean, Brooklyn and Milwaukee, regardless of whether and Simmons reports or not,
are clearly ahead of the Sixers. I think I would put Atlanta at least
on the same tier, if not ahead, even with Ben Simmons without their
far ahead, and put Miami far ahead. You know, I think the
Knicks and Boston I would put both of them ahead as well, probably,
So we're talking like the ceiling, you know, I think there'd be a
playing team. Honestly, it'd be very surprised if they made it. If
they somehow finished with the top six record, and maybe maybe Miami, especially
with their depth issues like if Jimmy or bad where Kyle goes down or like
two of them goes down, maybe that sends them sinking. So I guess
if other teams get ravaged by injuries, maybe they could be a top six
seed. But I mean, I think for all of the focus on simmons
weaknesses, especially in the playoffs, he is a very impactful regular season player.
I think, you know, he is the definition of when Draymond talks
about like eighty two game players versus sixteen game players. Ben Simmons is ninety
two game player. He's really effective in the regular season despite the shooting limitation.
There's annihilated people with him and Joela met on the Corps last year during
the regular Yeah, they straight up mutilated them. Yeah, Like, I
think a large part of it is because defenses aren't as locked in during the
regular season, so you're going to get out into transition more where Ben can
be more effective and you can kick out for threes like they were just killer
in that regard, like Danny and Curry both just love the transition threes,
you know, like in theory, we've seen the workout videos. Maybe one
year Ben Sivins does come back, it actually starts to tep thick jumpers,
so that would be interesting as well. So yeah, like I think that
with Ben, i'd put them in that Atlanta Miami like competing for the number
three seed without and less. Maxie Curry, Tobias Matisse, and Bid all
have career years like five six seeds, seems like they're ceiling. I think
realistically they're probably in the play in tournament. This is a similarly loaded question.
But if you're going to assume, like you are, that they're gonna
move Ben Simmons and get something for him, they're over under as we record
this is fifty one point five, actually higher than the Phoenix Suns by the
way, fifty point five, which is I know the West is the West,
but that was shocking to me. Are you taking me over or under?
And let's and maybe your answer doesn't change from this, but their placed
in the Eastern Conference, where do you see it falling? Just assuming they
trade Ben Simmons for at least one player, that's gonna actually have an impact
on their rotation? Is it higher than that five or succeed or if you're
going from Ben Simmons to maybe it's a better fitting player but it's a non
star. It's such a little question because if that non stars Jonathan Murray,
because of what he gives you from the point of attack defensively, you actually
probably could end up being like real not better, but like you could end
up just being better than you're expecting in the five or six range. So
I don't really know how to tackle that, So we could just leave it
at the over under it's fifty one point five? Are you taking the over
or the under on that? I think because of the uncertainty with the timeline
of when they trade Ben or like if he even reports, or what they
get back in return for him, Like if if someone like put a gun
to my set and to my head and said you have to bet this,
I'm betting the under just because of all of the potential issues that could stack
up, Like I think a lot needs to go right for them to hit
the over, whereas you can see the disaster playing out a lot more easily.
So for that reason, I would go under, But I would also
advise no one to better just pick pick, like go over on Phoenix.
That's much easier money. Don't waste your money betting on the Sixers this year
because there's not like there. We did these like Forbes preseason profiles for every
team, like best bet was one of the section. I was like,
there isn't really a good Sixers bet, Like I guess tires Maxie for most
approved player is what I hit landed on because otherwise, like I have no
confidence in any of the other Sixers bet, I guess yeah the under.
Betting the under would be the best bet on it. I think smashing the
under makes sense. I'm just Joel Embiid is so good. Yeah, it's
like I could see him being if you left this roster alone, I could
see the Sixers winning fifty two games. But I think you also have to
tell me that Joel Embiid then plays in seventy, which he has never done
before. So I would smash the over up, smash the under. Yeah.
Is there anything or anyone about this team that I have not asked you
about that you think needs to be discussed? Can we talk about Ben Simmons
part we have we covered him enough, do you think, yeah? I
mean, we have another three hours to go to the Tory Ben Simmons talk.
It's I do find I feel like a lot of the coverage on the
NBA now is anti transaction, and I still really do enjoy the trade portion.
I think it's also important to acknowledge that there is a human element to
this. I have zero, just like interest in this Ben Simmons shit anymore.
I don't know if you saw my tweet the other day, these breaking
news the same. It's the same fucking thing, just recycled. It's not
breaking or like you're just rehashing what we already know. I don't need the
recap. I also don't even need like the latest leak coming out of Ben
Simmons's camp of the Sixers, we've reached. The Sixers were so good it
ruined it's I need this to end. I want it as as well as
it can end for all parties involved. I don't even know what that looks
like. I think the Spurs are my favorite for both sides. I think
putting Ben Simmons in San Antonio, i'd be curious about the fit with some
of the players on the roster, but if he gets to play for Pop,
I'd like Ben Simmons there. I think they can give the Sixers an
adequate return. If I care just about Ben Simmons in this, I really
want to see him. I'm a soda. I have no desire to see
D'Angelo Russell in Philly. I also I'm not I know people think the CJ
McCollum trade is a no brainer. I actually think that you need to get
a lot more stuff because of CJ's age and really just how crippling it will
be for you defensively. And the other thing I will argue on that front
is if I'm the Sixers and mid season in December, Ben Simmons is on
the roster and Portland throws you the kitchen sink outside of game, and CJ
McCullum where it's norm, where it's you have Larry nance Jr. You have
Roco and then just picks galore. That might intrigue me more than a close
to straight up CJ for Ben Simmons trade is something that I've thought about because
Norman Powell is a better defender than CJ. Not the same level of shock
creator, but still gives you you don't want to be in your point guard,
even if you can do some secondary pick and roll stuff gives you some
North South juice there. That was something that I started rubinating over. I
don't think it's the package the Sixers want, but I am curious if we're
going to get to a point that it's uncharacteristic for the Spurs to trade for
Ben Simmons when you really think about it, when you think about what they
would need to give up, do they eventually try and straddle a line?
And I think the two teams that stand out are Portland when Norman Powell's eligible
to be traded because they have nance, they have Roco, and then just
a bunch of future picks, and then I think this is a terrible fit.
But just the Pacers have been mentioned. Yeah, Harris Lavert is healthy,
if TJ. Warren is healthy, those are apparently big fat, freaking
ifs. And then you have Malcolm Brockton just sitting there. So I wouldn't
be crazy about that from the Pacers, but those seem like the two teams
that might be willing to shake things up and then can provide the Sixers with
that middle ground. And I get that CJ's the better player, especially you
know, what he does in the playoffs is just for most of his career,
He's just been awesome there. If I'm the Sixers, though, I
probably prefer the the Hodgepodge deal that I just laid out. I don't know
if Portland will be interested in that either. But if you figured out a
way to keep CJ and still get Ben Samonza and then you have Dame,
yes, I'm absolutely doing that. Yeah. And then I mean if Philly
didn't want all of the Nance and Comington and they were saying, Okay,
we need a point guard somehow, like you can flip one of those guys
even for a backup at that point like that, that would give you some
flexibility. You can put Nance to Phoenix for probably campaign Jalen Smith in a
pick or something. Yeah, yeah, that'd be interesting or even I mean,
how we'll see what happens. Well, I guess the Clippers wouldn't do
that to Reggie Jackson. Yeah, I mean put him on a better team.
But like he you know, he's tight with Paul George and like with
he seems to love it there. I mean, I'm shocked he only had
the two year deal that it just sounds like he I think Ramona Shelburn had
the story during the playoffs just about like how he was like ready to give
up on basketball and then Paul George like talking him. So I think he's
saying. He said it afterwards too, that this team saved him. So
yeah, but that's just I think people will hear this and think that I'm
fucking stupid, and maybe I am. And I think some people don't like
the Norman Powell contract, but it's like, as someone who's sort of plug
and play and I know he's been all over the place for his career,
if there's all that other stuff involved, I'm at the point where I might
consider it. I think you would ideally want more of it. You want
a star for Ben Simmons, I think personally, and we didn't really get
into this. Their best chance of flipping Ben Simmons for a star this season,
I think it's Bradley Beal that's the And I don't even know, like,
does Bradley Bell want to stay there if he's traded to Philly because he's
scheduled for free agency after this season, But I just can't I would be
floored if Dame requests out in the middle of the year importantly, and that
doesn't feel like how that situation is gonna end. No, I really think
best case scenario happens next off season. I'm with you on the Pacers actually,
Like, dating back to the very beginning of this, we were trying
to figure out a three team deal more my co hosts. I forget what
we settled on, but we had. We came up with something where it
was like Portland, Indiana, Philly three team deal, and I think it
was Ben to Portland's CJ to Indiana and then uh brogged in. It was
brogged in Lamb and the thirteen pick to Philly, which is obviously off the
table now. But like the the thirteenth pick right right right, I mean,
like the Indiana thing, it doesn't make as of right now unless there's
a third team involved. I don't understand it at all from Indiana's perspective because
I need to be getting off some bonus or Turner, yes, And That's
what I'm wondering it like, because it seems like Turner just doesn't have a
ton of trade value around the league. That's wild to me, by the
way, me too, Yeah, I don't get it at all. But
like conceptually, if I'm talking, you know, which of the two bigs
fits better with Simmons, I would it's Turner for sure. Maybe there's a
three team deal where Philly sends Simmons to Indiana, Indiana sends a bonus somewhere
else. I've thought a lot about where which team. I'm there are teams
that would want some bonus, but he's so much more of you know,
a unique player, the Miles Turner. I would say that you need to
be prepared to give him some semi substantive license over your offense if you're going
to trade for him. Right, Yeah, Portland was my idea for them
as well, But I don't know if they would have interest in him,
Like that's where would be weird. Yeah, it would be weird. I
know. That's the problem A lot of these teams like have and they would
be like collecting Caucasian bigs at that point there. Yeah, so I don't
know if Indiana is involved. That's that's the kind of framework I think makes
the most sense for them to not. You know, they sent Brogden back
to Philly and sends a bonus elsewhere and then get something back for supponent or
like whichever team gets a bonus and stuff to Indiana stuff, the Philly Splits,
The Difference book ended this podcast with some ben Zimmon's talk. Started it
with some ben Zimmon's talk. How's that for Sixers discussions? Right now?
Brian, are you able to tell our listeners where they can find you on
social media and all the great work that you do. Yes, you can
find me on Twitter at b to pork t O p O r e K.
You can find I write about the Sixers and just salary cap stuff for
that. Thank Yeah, it's been a great summer at Forbes Sports and do
some stuff for the step Back at Fansided as well. And then you can
find my podcast the NBA Podcasts wherever podcasts are fould and I hear we have
some special guests coming up to walk through some lead Pass rankings soon, so
keep an eye out check out that podcast. There might be they went slumming
over at the PO and Adam and I were on there for Lead Pass rankings.
This episode is going up first, so regardless of when you're listening to
this episode, go head over to the NBA pod if you're listening this on
Sunday or Monday. Don't do that because it won't be up yet, right,
but any days go check out the last Brian. As always, thank
you for your time. I think you know by now I'll be pestering you
again in the future, but thank you so much for this. It was
I think, as you know, it was as fun as it could be
to talk about the Sixers, right right, That's That's about the best way
to sum that up. But I am happy to do it, and for
all of our sis, I pray he gets traded soon and I will happily
rejoin you went with us.