Speaker 1: What is up Fellasiko's eye?
Speaker 2: Am Dana Valley coming at you with the one, the only,
the legendary, the certified, fantabulous. Mister Grant hughes the look
ahead train. It continues, Grant, We're on to the Philadelphia
seventy six ers. Do you have any confessions that you
feel the need to divulge before we belly flop into
it all? Uh?
Speaker 1: Darryl Morey's last offseason did not turn out as well
as we said that it would. So let's do I
dare not give them an A plus plus me neither.
Let's move move on, find a new slant.
Speaker 2: I think the primary question I want to start with
here could this be the most important offseason for them
in franchise history? And I'm just looking at it basically
from two it's the same perspective, but it's two things.
You have the number three pick as a team that
was billed as a contender leading into last year. But
you also have Joel Embiid four years, two hundred and
forty eight point one million dollars left on his deal
runs through his age three before season who Daryl Morey's
even been pretty open about, Well, we really don't know
how healthy or if this dude's ever gonna be healthy again.
How difficult does that make it to go about the
offseason and strike the right balance of we need to
cater to the now, but we can't pander to it
too much because if we do something even that's considered good,
it could wind up being reckless depending on Joel and
Bee's availability.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess it goes to like, what, let's pretend
that the Sixers magically do have like certainty on how
good Mbid will be this coming season and how much
he'll be able to play?
Speaker 1: Like, what do you think?
Speaker 3: So let's say in scenario one, he's gonna be really
close to MVP level and you're gonna get sixty five
games out of him. That's your best case, and your
worst case is like he actually just play, tries to
play to start the season, the knees no good, plays
fifteen games all year, and you're just looking down the
barrel that extension, Like, what of the decisions ahead of
the Sixers this summer change the most based on those
two like possibilities. Uh, First, the first thing you think
of is like what do you do with the number
three pick? Because you're not trading it in a million years.
I don't think if if you just if embid's not
going to be EMBIID anymore, and then you've got to start.
Speaker 1: Talking about, like what do we do with Paul George?
Can we trade him or not?
Speaker 3: Like these are such there's it's very much like a
just a two divergent possible off seasons.
Speaker 1: And I mean, I think I.
Speaker 3: Know what I think about embiids long term career outlook,
but that is just what I think, Like I have
no idea, really, I it's hard. We almost have to
talk about two off seasons, right like we want the
two two like team building plans have to be in place,
and you just or you just guess as to like
what the most realistic EMBID scenario is and you make
your decisions pursuant to that.
Speaker 1: But I don't know, do.
Speaker 3: You feel that way like it's almost like you have
to think about two different teams here or do you
just kind of like grit your teeth and kind of
go down the middle and just hope for the best.
Speaker 1: I don't know what.
Speaker 2: Does the middle even look like? Is it you're trading
number three, but you're moving down and still getting it
and maybe you're adding. I think the most popular scenario
I've seen thrown out there is like, can you figure
out a way to get Cam Johnson and number eight
from Brooklyn using number three? But then, like the salary
structure here gets super weird because you have these three
guys in Maxi, Embiid and George on mega contracts and
you could kind.
Speaker 1: Of step ladder your way to Cam Johnson.
Speaker 2: But like, is Quenton Grime's gonna need to be involved
in a sign and trade, so it's even if they
want to make a big move.
Speaker 1: I think when you're looking at I agree with you
that it feels like I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we have to look at as
two separate offseasons, but they have to commit to one
of two options, which is like cater to the future,
or is it we're gonna go all ish in on
now where it's like you said, I guess the third
option would be strike.
Speaker 1: The middle ground. I don't even know what that what
that looks like.
Speaker 2: And also the other question here too, and I like,
how hard I'm not this isn't necessarily me advocating for
them trading it. How hard is it to integrate a
number three pick into this team towards even in Dallas
with Cooper Flag, Kyrie's not there right out of the gate,
and then like Anthony Davis is the only other star,
and that's he's more of a play finisher. But you've
Jared McCain and Tyres Maxie and that version of Quentin
Grimes that you created four edition when beat and Paul George.
Speaker 1: It's so weird. Mm hmm, yeah it'd be.
Speaker 3: So it's still hard to know who's gonna be there
at three. It's I think it's just Flag won't and
Dylan Harper won't. And so then it's like, is Edgecomb
the guy you take? And if so, it's like you
just mentioned the glut of like Hybrid one two's that
the Sixers really over index on already. Is Edgecomb somebody
that like you want to throw into that mix?
Speaker 1: Does that?
Speaker 3: Like? And is he someone that's gonna be ready at all?
Like can you justify playing him over any of those
other three guys? You know, so he's a fourth guard,
Like do you take a different position that's not the
best player available because you're this ready made team that's
trying to contend. I don't know, that's the thing, even
this pick is hard to decide what the right thing
to do is. I think we could trust Deryl Moore
to take the best player available if they choose to
keep the pick, But like sometimes just the idea of
taking in this circumstance, taking the best player available still
doesn't mean you're gonna get like almost any value from
that guy right now, and presumably you care about right now.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what to do about the pick.
Paul George, how much has he owed to rant any?
Too much?
Speaker 3: Three years one hundred and sixty two point four left,
which will take him through his age thirty seven season.
There's not a positive value trade out there for him,
is there? You're giving up something to move him right now?
Speaker 2: I saw someone propose and that again, other things need
to be figured out because of the financial constraints, which
we'll get to for the Sixers in a minute, number
three and Paul George for Kevin Durant and number twenty nine,
And I was just like, that feels like such a
wild thing for the Sixers to do, but it might
just be a reflection of, well, what is the value
of this Paul George? I mean, if I'm the Suns,
I just jump on that, like, let me bring the
number three prospects and Paul George I actually still think
he's gonna I think people have become too low on
Paul Dredge. The number is the number, like the signing,
like we were wrong about that.
Speaker 1: But like if you're.
Speaker 2: Phoenix, I think you would have to pack that just
feels so indexed to right now. If you're the Sixers
and it's you're not you're getting you're not getting a
mediate financial relief. You'd be getting like near like medium
term find out because Kevin Durrant Tetley comes off the books.
But if you're getting Kevin Durant, you want Kevin Durant
to come.
Speaker 1: Back, and like what does that number look like?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I don't know who that that's an
interesting one. Well then but then so you're trading the
number three pick in that hypothetical, So you're we've already
picked a path, We've already picked like we're trying right now,
and that's super risky because you've got embiid and who
knows what you're gonna get out of him? What do
you think are there any other like what are the
other like major decisions to make because we have a
lot of mind like Yabu Sale and Grimes. Maybe Grimes
a sugar free agency is the next thing to talk about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so let's go to the Sixers cap situation first.
Here they are almost one million dollars into the tax
after getting the number three pick. This assumes that Ubra, Kelly, Ubray,
Eric Gordon, Andre Drummond all pick up their player options.
This would leave them like seven million in change away
from the first apron with thirteen players. If you want
them to access the non tax payermid level, which is
fourteen point one million, you need to You'll be hard
capped at that first apron, so you need to stay
under that number. However, now this gets to your Quentin
Grimes point. None of this includes Quentin Grimes, who will
be a twelve point nine million dollar cap hold. So
he just ate up all your space and more underneath
the first apron. And I guess you start with how
much does he get? Because he was on a heater
towards the end of the like he was doing. It
wasn't just that he was making shots. The types of
shots he was making just absurd.
Speaker 3: He's a different player than he ever was before.
Speaker 2: At the same time, I think if you're the Sixers,
you could look at it and say that's a relatively
small sample, go out and get an offer, and basically
nobody is going to be working with more than a
non taxpayerment level except for Brooklyn. I think Detroit is
even going to decide to operate as an over the
cap team. Personally, that'll change. I guess a Elie Beasley
decides to go somewhere else, so it's just like, I
don't know what you pay him. Twenty million dollars might
team fair, but then it's the hell of their books
look like after that.
Speaker 3: I think you I think it's a bad offseason for
I mean, it's a good one because he had this
huge like surge at the end of the year, but
it's also just bad timing for all the reasons you said, Like,
I think normally Grimes would be someone that if you
had multi if you had like five or six teams
with enough space to give him a deal that start
like a four year, hundred million dollar type of thing,
or four for one to twenty, I think you would
get that in a normal off season with actual competition.
I think the mid level is like maybe where it's
gonna top out at unless you think Brooklyn is gonna
go for it, or you think Memphis is gonna clear
a bunch of space somehow and add to its tiny
piles like what's Detroit is the other one that like,
So it's not going back that that didn't work.
Speaker 2: Their cap space has even been overstated because Caid cunning
Camp is probably gonna make as words right, He's going
to be all NBA. So you go from hey, we
can get like twenty five million in cap space, So
that number just dropped to let's say seventeen and the
mid levels fourteen point one. So is at that point
would you rather have seventeen plus the room exception at
seven or just keep bring back Beasley, bring back Shrewder
and I just yeah, so I yeah, there's no threats,
is the point? No real threats.
Speaker 1: It would have to be a sign in trade.
Speaker 2: But as we talk about a lot, now that gets
into base your compensation and so hopefully without overcomplicating it
with how that works, Let's say you give Quentin Grimes
sixteen million dollars in next season, he only counts his
eight million dollars in outgoing money to the sixers, but
he will count a sixteen million in money to his
new team. That becomes challenging short of traded him to Brooklyn.
There's a lot of flexibility when teams are under the tax,
but you then need to identify a team that values
Quentin Grimes like that is under the tax and then
has stuff that they want to send you back that
isn't Brooklyn. So it's just like there's constructions where you
could end up with if you're including the number three.
Speaker 1: Pick, I don't like.
Speaker 2: If I'm Brooklyn, I'm not like Quentin Grimes and stuff
plus number three for number eight and Cam Johnson. If
that's the framework, are you doing that?
Speaker 1: Even I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't Maybe what if Grimes just takes the qualifying
offer is like, screw it, I'll be unrestricted in twenty
six How about we go that route?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Daryl Moori, because we keep talking about the way
restricted free agency set up is, why don't teams play hardball?
Speaker 3: More?
Speaker 2: Darl Moriy will play hardball and it ends up like
a Minnie James Harden situation where he goes Daryl Morey's
a liar?
Speaker 1: Yeah, can you trust it?
Speaker 3: Ol Moury I would bet. So let's put a number
on it. If let's assume Grimes is back with the Sixers,
what do you think he will be making in year
one of his new deal?
Speaker 1: Can we set an over under sure over unders four?
What's the mid level? Fourteen? Fourteen point one. I'm gonna
take the I'm gonna take the over.
Speaker 2: Because as much as we say you could do this
in restricted free agency as teams, they almost never do it.
We've been through this, like the Cavs kind of did
it with Isaacacorro. Like what is like the example to
where of a of a of an actual semi significant
player that a team like you know, PJ.
Speaker 1: Washington? Was he one? Then didn't he gets.
Speaker 2: They did wait that out and he ended up Yet
that was such an awkward member they introductory press conference
in Charlotte when they did that, or like the announcement,
that was great.
Speaker 1: I love that awkwardness doesn't happen often? Is the point?
Speaker 2: Like Greg Monroe was like who was the last one
sign there? Miles Bridges was the last one to sign
his qualifying offer, but Greg Munroe I think was was
he the last one before that? Like of notable status
to just sign his qualifying offer.
Speaker 3: He might think this is an unusual situation, so I
think we should like sort of up the possibility of
something strange.
Speaker 1: Like that happen. But I think I'm with you.
Speaker 3: I would go over. But I like, how many years
might it be? Can you do like a one plus one?
Speaker 1: It probably not.
Speaker 3: I think you've got there a certain minimum number of
years on a.
Speaker 2: Well, they could do whatever they want with the deal itself,
but like, yeah, I don't know what the I think
you would have to go sort of what the Rockets
did with Jalen Green, not the money, but okay, two
plus one yeah, right, one plus one would be dicey.
Speaker 3: And then we'll all talk about how Grimes was brought
back to be traded and then they just won't trade him.
But I do think like it he is deplicative with
MAXI and McCain. If you think McCain is anything close
to what.
Speaker 1: He was, or if they're gonna draft edge Combe, or.
Speaker 3: If they're gonna and or if they're gonna draft another
right exactly, Like it's weird.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it is bad timing for Grimes.
Speaker 3: It really is like there's just the team he's on
that can actually pay him a little bit, like doesn't
really need him even and that's got nothing to do
with him. It's just got to do with the other guys.
And they happen to have and we'll get if they
keep that pick.
Speaker 2: This does step on toes of your two off seasons
point at the top of all this, But I want
to ask you about their biggest needs or maybe we
get in some targets, but like, how much are you
actually this dovetails exactly what the Grimes contract?
Speaker 1: How much you will to pay for this team?
Speaker 2: Because if you're like Sixers ownership is Sixers ownership. But
this could very easily be a second Apron team. My
guess would be that they're not going to be a
second Apron team. And if they're not, I start asking
questions of like, well, what like who left because you're not,
like how are you getting cheaper and better that Like
that's what I find myself asking. The way to get
better and cheaper is Joel Embiid and Paul George are
healthier and we cut salary and so it worked out.
But like it's not gonna cost you, Like if if
Andre Drummond opts in, I don't think you could just
trade him somewhere without compensating. So I mean, I guess,
I guess maybe if a team is desperate for a
big man and he fits into the mini mle, but
I don't know it's I I guess My question to
you is, knowing that with Quentin Grimes on the books,
they profiles like a second apron ish team, how low
do you think they're going to try and get Is
it just get beneath the second Apron?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: No, They're really gonna try and stay beneath the first
Apron to maximize their possibilities that the trade deadline, or
could you see them try to just like duck the
luxury tax altogether?
Speaker 3: I just don't think it's I don't think getting out
of the tax is super realistic. So to use the
numbers here you have, you're seven and a half million
from the first apron when you've got thirteen guys that
doesn't include Grimes, so you're over that, and then what's
the second apron is another twelve million over the first,
give or take. I just don't know how you're onboarding
a number three pick and keeping Grimes at something in
the range of the numbers we've talked about and like
be comfortably under the second apron. But I think you've
got to do everything possible to try to to try
to stay under the second. I don't I don't think
you can be under the first, right, Like even with Grimes,
they go over the first just right there, right, So,
like I think normally you'd say, if it's me, I'm like,
i want to get as cheap as possible, and I'm
going to try to trade em bead and or George
and whatever if I can.
Speaker 1: But like, I don't think you can do that.
Speaker 3: I also don't think you can be a good enough
team to make any of these veterans still being here
make sense without being like right up against the second apron.
Just so, I guess long story short, you can get
out of the second apron, do that. And if that
means you like buy out Andre Drummonds somehow, or like
just dump guys with seconds on the fringes, that's the route.
But I don't know. It's it's hard. It's hard to
get much lower than that.
Speaker 2: I mean, even I was reading Bobby Marsh's offseason God
and he says they should have full access to the
non tax para Emily because that lets them keep Yabuselli.
So maybe my calculations are off there, but that's like,
are you just I'm assuming that's if you let Quentin
Grimes walk right, are we factoring him?
Speaker 3: I think that has to be factored in. And then
if you use that exception, your cat, you're hard capped
at I think I think the way he explains it is
that the first apron correct, so like that can't include Grimes,
and I don't think. I don't know what that does
with the salary for your number three pick. Maybe if
that maybe that assumes you're trading that pick.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're you're under the first apron, like you
could get there if you're maybe maybe Kellyubridg Junior declines
his player option. I think the Sixers are expecting that
he will opt in, but like you could you mentioned
you could get rid of Drummonds. So if you're not
going to keep Grimes, there's a pathway to having a
number three pick. And okay, we could use the non
tax payermid level exception.
Speaker 1: I mean, but like.
Speaker 2: That that's another element else the yabusel he was really
good for them, but because he's a non bird free
agent if you're not going to have this exception to
keep him, but you're gonna trim money and give up
it's like to keep Gershon Like that's just weird.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it would be strange to cut like to cut
loose other guys that might play in the rotation to
preserve like A, Yeah, I don't, I don't know if
that's the way I would go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't know where to go
with this team now.
Speaker 3: Like that, I think we've hit what are the other Okay, yeah,
go ahead, Okay.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you before we get to if
we just assume that they're gonna stay relatively as currently constructed,
we could talk about what they need. But do you
think getting the number three pick and having MAXI and
then knowing like what happened last season, is there any
path to them going to nuclear direction of can we
trade Paul George and Joel Embiid without having to include
our number three.
Speaker 1: Pick to do so?
Speaker 3: Well, we just established I don't think George has positive
trade value, and there's I Embiid's got to be worse, right,
like just because of the money and the uncertainty with
his health.
Speaker 2: So I obligated them to just continue cut along this path, so.
Speaker 3: By like trading number three for president, trade.
Speaker 2: Number three necessarily, like you need to like trade down
to get it, because I just don't know. This team
is so difficult to figure out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, like, I think you can't get off
those guys without sacrificing the limited assets you have. What
they can trade two of their own first, and they
have a Clippers twenty eight that's unprotected in a twenty
nine swap.
Speaker 1: I think, so.
Speaker 3: I'm just not going to use any of that to
move Embed or George right now. So yeah, I think
I think of the two paths, I think you probably
got to lean closer to just there's no stripping down.
There's no stripping down that can happen to this team.
I think you're stuck basically running it back and then whatever,
whether you trade down with three or you use three,
you're gonna have a young player that was like, I
don't know, I.
Speaker 1: Assume he'll play a little bit.
Speaker 3: Maybe the real takeaway here is I don't think if
if you want to maximize the flexibility and the value
of this pick, I think you probably don't want to
use it on a guard which is insane because normally
we're like, I don't care about the position of the player,
you take the best prospect. But like this dovetails with
like what do they need? I don't know, you need
somebody who's like Kelly Ubray but better at the thing's
Kellor does somebody in between these guards, these small guards
and your George embiid front court.
Speaker 1: Like defense too like that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, I think you're looking at wings and
maybe those are Maybe there's better value in the draft
if you do move down and get Brooklyn's pick instead
or something like that. Maybe that's maybe that's the like
as close to a middle path as you can find.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's right. I guess the other need
they would have a lot of this depends on what
happens with yabou Celli. You need a big on this
I like a dem Bona, but you like, you need
a big on this team because how much is m
be gonna play? And Drummond's not the answer, And so
if Yabuselli's not there, you need to go out and
get I'm not like expand a primetime asset to do it,
but I think after wings and maybe just some I
mean this team should have enough shooting now in theory,
but wings and like point of attack defense. But then
that gets weird because so many of the other guys
are small. It's like, well, where are we hiding them?
Speaker 1: Like what?
Speaker 2: So you're getting point of attack defense, which a lot
of times comes at the smaller end. Dude, Like not
everyone like Jade McDaniels, doesn't just grow on trees.
Speaker 1: Right, so that complicates it.
Speaker 2: Still, either I'm do you I'm wondering if would they
just sign and trade Quentin Grimes into someone's mid level
exception just so it's all right?
Speaker 1: Well, because would.
Speaker 2: You rather have Quenton Grimes or the non tax payer
mid level exception? That's kind of the choice that comes
down to.
Speaker 3: Oh, man, I wish I had the free agent wings
available so I could look at who I could get there.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just don't know what is a player option?
Speaker 3: If you'd like a reunion, Oh my god, I would
take too many Kamara if we're talking about Blazers, Uh.
Speaker 1: He's not available.
Speaker 3: All defense?
Speaker 1: Did you see that Kamara made all defense? That you
deserved it too. Shout out to Mike.
Speaker 2: H and our Discord for messaging me this apparently Johan
Buja of the Athletics said the Blazers would trade him Kamara,
but it would take two first round picks to do so.
And I'm like, that feels like the Lakers trying to
sell the Blazers on adult and connect plus twenty twenty
seven first round pick package.
Speaker 3: That's how on the Mark Williams package for Monicamara? Can
we interest you in the Mark Williams plan?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know what the Sixers do. Would I
rather have Grimes or the Emily?
Speaker 1: I think?
Speaker 3: I think I probably, I think Grimes is more valuable,
But for the Sixers specifically and that roster, you might
rather have the option of like signing someone at a
difference with more positional size, or to go get a
backup big and something else with that money. Maybe that's
the way to look at it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I I probably would disagree in the sense
of because when I when you go through the list
of free agents that you could get, I think that
Grimes is just going to be more valuable, even if
he's not the cleanest fit.
Speaker 1: So like you think you could trade him for some
of the stuff you need. Is that the idea in
my head?
Speaker 2: So, like if you waited until the trade deadline, I
would think that you have a better chance because if
you go through the of free agent wings. I mean,
Dorrin Phinney Smith has a player option, but the Lakers
aren't gonna let him leave, Like he'll probably opt in
and extend if you even or just opt out and
they'll resign him. Do you want Jayshawn Tate Zaier Williams
like this is like that is the pickings on Jake
la Ravia. That'd be an interesting flyer depending on how
much he costs. But yeah, there's no like, yeah, I
think you're better off with Quentin Grimes, so you could
definitely get like an interesting big you want to run
it back with Al Horford or tryout Broke Lopez. But
the theory of this team is you're cooked without Joel
Embiid and if you burned, if you in theory, you'd
be burning the mid level exception and Quentin Grimes on
Joel Embiid's backup, which just feels like a misallocation of resources.
Speaker 3: Right, I mean, there's a little bit of history here,
but could you just sign and trade Grimes back to
Dallas for uh for Daniel Gafford?
Speaker 1: Can we do that.
Speaker 3: Do you want Caleb Martin to like, yeah, let's yeah,
I get Martin might help here man just.
Speaker 1: Get to Red. He's cheap, Like, let's just get him
on this, like the the good version of Grimes.
Speaker 3: Weirdly would be very helpful on the last two teams
that got rid of him like that.
Speaker 1: That's a strange that's a strange spot to be in.
But that's where that's that's where we are. He's weird.
He's weird.
Speaker 3: He was his best self on the Sixers and they
kind of need that guy the least.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what to do with that.
Speaker 2: There's I'm trying to think of just cheaper backup, big options.
I don't like, what is Steven Adams gonna go for?
Speaker 1: He'd be interesting so much, I hope.
Speaker 2: But if I get that, yeah, that's the thing is
like he's gonna because I'm thinking, could you split your
You're not gonna get We've established like a high end
wing type or a very impactful wing using the middle
of exceptions, Like, is there any scenario you could map
out where it's right we kind of split the mid
level between two players and it's I don't even know
who is it Steven Adams and who? And I don't
even know, Like, maybe that doesn't do it, but.
Speaker 3: It's probably not enough for like Lopez or Capella or something.
If you're trying to get those guys are both.
Speaker 1: That might be gettable for less than the But.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was thinking in like, if you use it
for a capella and somebody else, I don't think you
can you can get enough out of that.
Speaker 1: For both guys.
Speaker 2: Could you do some sort of a trade with Washington?
Can you compensate them to take Paul George and you
get back Chris Middleton if he opts in, So it's
an expiring contract, who makes a lot less?
Speaker 1: That'd be interesting.
Speaker 3: You'd have to give your sending at least two firsts, right,
I think maybe three.
Speaker 1: That's wild to get off of it.
Speaker 2: This was the by the way, this was the wild
trade I thought of number three. There might need to
be some other things fleshed out. Number three and Paul
George for brand and Ingram and number nine.
Speaker 3: Whoa oh for Ingram?
Speaker 1: Nine for three and George.
Speaker 3: I mean Ingram's gonna outproduce George over his new contract?
Right Like that seems like a pretty safe bet at
least in terms well, I wasn't gonna say at least
in terms of volume, but Ingram just quit just stopped
playing basketball last year for a very long time.
Speaker 1: I would I would do that. I would do what
are the Raptors doing? For who I was asking? I
would like I do that for the the Sixers. I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't know if the Raptors go for that.
Speaker 2: I think I need to be I feel like I've
become too much of a Paul George optimist because the
pendulum has swung so far towards this dude is a
podcaster first and basketball players I get.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a good place to be if you
turn out to be right, because, like odds are, Paul
George will have better moments, better extended moments than he
did last year, just because like that was as bad
as it's ever looked really for him. So that's not
you're not It's a good corner to stake out.
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't, I don't. I don't begrudge you
that corner.
Speaker 2: I would be willing to do number three in Paul
George for Karl Anthony Towns.
Speaker 3: You take that on as a Knicks I would I
think that's I think you probably do that. What do
we think of the town's embiid uh, you got you
got Towns back next to a second big just just
like he needs.
Speaker 2: And then when you don't, Towns can start at center.
I would look, that's one hundred and like twenty million
dollars a year.
Speaker 1: Well spent in my opinion. Yeah, oh boy.
Speaker 2: I will say as sort of a final thing on this,
and if you want, if you have targets or suggestions,
you want to see what the Sixers go after, what
you think they should do. I go into this offseason
if I'm the Sixers with the open mind of anything
needs to be on the table. If you get a
different type of prognosis on Joelle and Bed's knee, you
could be a little bit more aggressive with your trades.
If you find out it's cooked, all right, you might
be saddled with some of this money, but then you
need to just build your team and your future in
the image of he's not gonna play and we need
to figure that out moving forward. I do worry though,
that what is gonna make this even more convoluted is
you now have a few young guys in the number
three pick Jared McCain, and let's say Quentin Grimes comes back,
someone's gonna get lost in that shuffle of development. And like,
when you look at Quentin Grimes played like a most
improved Player candidate t END this season. Jared McCain was
going to win Rookie of the Year when he got injured.
And now you're at the top three pro I just
worry about how you juggle that with forget the window,
just with the personnel that you haven't put.
Speaker 1: Do you have the stomach to say at some point.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, well we're gonna play these dudes over Paul
George and like not gonna try to win games with
his money still sitting on our books. And no, because,
by the way, the Oklahoma City Thunder I own your
twenty twenty six pick. So that's the other reason going
nuclear doesn't necessarily make sense, unless if they're not gonna play,
then yeah, sure, you try to just get off that money.
They're in a tough spot. I don't know how they
game it. If I had to guess, though, since we're
in the business of predictions, Grant, I think they skew
more towards operating within this Joel Embiid, Paul George window
than straddling a middle ground or just completely pivoting away
from it.
Speaker 1: I think I agree with you and they just sort
of have to.
Speaker 3: And I guess the glass the only glass half full
thing you could you could say, other than the really
glass half fulls like Embid's gonna be fine. And Paul
George isn't.
Speaker 1: That guy that we saw last year? Is that?
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, they're they're gonna be a little overstuffed in
the back court. But all those guys are positive value players.
I feel like I'm saying positive value a lot. But
like if you you're not gonna trade Maxie, but if
you're gonna trade MAXI you'd get a ton for him.
I think you get you could get quite a bit
for McCain from the right team. I think if you
do have Grimes back, that's gonna be someone eventually that
will be value. Like you, they have some like some flexibility,
which sounds crazy to say about the Sixers team and
how expensive it is at the top, but like I
think you can you can mess around with some one
or two of those guards and turn it into something else.
I just don't know, Like I don't know when that
will be, and I do agree finally that like their
off season planning could change like day to day or
week to week depending on what the progress is for EMBIID,
Like you really they could you do one to eighty
on this, like on a certain day because you get
good or bad news on EMBIID.
Speaker 2: If we revisit, if we're recording this three or five
days later than we are right now, like there's a
chance our opinions would totally have shifted.
Speaker 1: That, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But by the time we get to October and
we're like doing the season previews, god knows where we'll be.
Speaker 2: And really, as a final thing, you talking about Edgecombe
and Ace Bailey and would you take someone else? Does
that hurt your ability to even move the number three pin?
Like you're talking about trading down or trading the number
three pick for some someone substantial? How excited are people
about everyone who's not Dylan Harper or Cooper Flag. It's
I've heard this framed as well, Trey Johnson could maybe
be that dude, But it feels like there's this huge
tapering off after Dylan Harper and Cooper Flag and so
that it doesn't make it hard to move the number
three pick, but are you willing to adjust your expectations
on what you're getting back or does it become a
like the primary vehicle through which you're cutting costs And
that's like moving the number three pick to dude, like
moving back to what in the middle of the first
rounds you can get off Paul George's contract just feels counterintuitive.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Sixers really needed somebody like at the combine
to just, oh my god, you really like take over
the narrative and be like, well, this guy's in contention
for two you know, which just has not has not happened,
and that does that does probably hurt them because who's
like out there clamp who views this as a three
player draft? Like, I don't think anybody does. Probably it's
it's two. It's like one, and then Okay, Harper looks
like he's going to be something, and after that it's like,
I don't know. For a long time, Bailey was the guy,
and now like, I'm very not sold on Bailey, And
I think that's the consensus is that you can't be
sold on him as a clear number three.
Speaker 1: So I think that's a good observation.
Speaker 3: Like they may even that is kind of working against
their ability to like have some kind of certainty about anything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like, I don't.
Speaker 2: Even think you couldn't just move Joel Embiid or Paul
George into too Brooklyn's cap space if you gave them
number three for number eight, right, Like, even that cost
is too high to move up there.
Speaker 3: There's too many years left if it were like an
expiring or even two years left. Like, it's just they
go for too long and the dollar figures are too high,
especially for Embiid that you might get nothing from Embiid
for the balance of this contract.
Speaker 1: That is like on the table. You can't take that
guy on. I just don't. I don't see it. Do
you have anything else to add to this?
Speaker 2: This is the I think this is the first season
preview that we did not provide any answers.
Speaker 1: So what should happen? And that's fitting in my opinion. Yeah,
let's see.
Speaker 3: Let's let's do one before we go out. I'll ask
you a question, Dan, is the Sixers offseason difficult to forecast? Yes?
Speaker 1: Definitive, arguably.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's perfect time to end it. Thanks everybody for listening,
for watching. Member to rate, review, and subscribe, Leave us
some comments on YouTube. Make sure you're telling your friends
about us, tell your enemies about us as punishment, And yeah,
I think that's going to cover. Sixers preview done, definitive,
no questions left there.
Speaker 2: Look at heads, we don't do those.
Speaker 3: Sorry, we've looked ahead with one clarity and there are
no ambiguities, shouts Franknailo Keen, Apologies, Jared Allen