Tank For Wiggins!
I’m not a diehard Sixers fan but if I had to pick a favorite team, it’d be them. The Sixers took a team that had no chance of winning a title with Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner as their best players, and traded them away to get Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter Williams and the 3rd and 10th picks in this year’s draft. They flushed an entire season down the toilet to get set up in this manner. I do agree something needed to be done differently, however, I don’t see the spot they are in now as an amazing place to play from.
The Sixers have 2 NBA players (MCW – solid PG, Thad – upper end 6th man), 1 inexperienced center (Noel), and the 3 and 10 picks who are big question marks. The rest of the team sucks. Tony Wroten and James Anderson are the next best players. I have to raise the question, how is this position leaps and bounds better?
As a fan, I get extremely disappointed when teams tank. It’s pathetic and a slap in the face to the game. It’s trying to work the system in a way that might not even work. Has Gregg Popivich had winning seasons for 17 straight years because they tanked? WELLLLLLL, in his first season the team was 17-47 which enabled them to get Duncan. 17 years though can’t be questioned and goes far beyond tanking for a season.
Sixers Draft
So here we sit in June anticipating the draft and wondering what the Sixers are going to do. Rumors are swirling that they want Wiggins and Thad’s name has gone along with trading up to the #1 spot to make sure it happens. I think this is a horrible idea considering you don’t even know if the Cavs want Wiggins. This makes negotiating imperative because why give up Thad if the Cavs are going to take Embiid. Information and talks in June are mind blowing because the top 3 teams have to be careful in what information to reveal. Here is how I see conversation going:
Sixers: So Cleveland, are you going to draft Embiid?
Cavs: We might, but we also like Wiggins.
Sixers: We might really want Wiggins….or maybe Parker. Would you be interested in the trading the pick?
Cavs: Hmmmm, Who are you going to take?
Sixers: Hmmmm. I guess that depends on what the Bucks do. Hey Bucks, who are you drafting?
Bucks: Hmmmm. I’ll tell you if you tell me.
Information at this point is powerful because teams don’t know what to do. If you watched the 1984 draft on NBAtv you’d understand how important one draft pick can be. Is Andrew Wiggins the next Jordan? Who knows but is he worth giving up Thad Young to make sure? The answer is yes if he’s the next Jordan. I get the feeling that the Sixers feel like he is the next Jordan and that Wiggins it the piece to this puzzle that Hinkie has to make sure he gets. After watching his NCAA performance, there are many question marks. Remember, Jordan hit the winning shot for UNC to give their team the NCAA championship in his third year of college ball.
I am in full support of the move the Sixers made even though I think tanking is a rat way to play the game and a disgrace to the fans. Their chances of winning with Jrue, Evan, Spence, and the rest of the crew were 0. At least this is a different way of looking at the game even if it falls flat on its face. One thing for certain is that the team will have young talent, but that doesn’t translate to championships.
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