How to Transform the 76ers Back to an Elite NBA Team
The last few years have been quite the struggle for the 76ers and they will need some major retooling to get back to being a serious contender in the NBA. For this article, I’m going to assume the 76ers will trade Allen Iverson this offseason for two reasons. First, the Sixers need to think about the future of this team as far as 2-3 years down the road and acquiring young talent for A.I. will be beneficial down the road. Second, the 76ers owe it to Iverson. Allen has given 110% for his entire tenure in Philly and it’s time the 76ers trade him to a team that has a legitimate chance to win a NBA title within the next 2 years. As bad as I want Iverson to remain in a Sixers uniform and entertain the Wachovia Center crowd, I want to see Allen win a title even more because he deserves it as badly as any other player in the NBA.
So the first move that the 76ers need to pull of this summer is trading Iverson to a team like Chicago (lots of young talent), Indiana (young talent too), Atlanta (plenty of cap space), or the Clippers (Iverson could put them over the top). Unfortunately, the Sixers will be unable to trade Webber due to his monstrous salary and his knee which could fall apart at any time. Not even the Knicks would listen to a trade offer for Webber.
NBA Draft
As for the upcoming NBA Draft, the 76ers hold the 13th pick and they need to draft an NBA ready player at this spot. The Sixers need to go after an Andre Iguodala type player rather than a potential player such as Dalembert or last year’s pick Louis Williams. At the 13 spot, I think they should go after a player such as UConn’s Marcus Williams, Bradley’s Patrick O’Bryant, UConn’s Hilton Armstrong, or Memphis’ Rodney Carney. Although I highly doubt the Sixers would move up from 13 into the top 6, they could do so in order to draft Washington’s Brandon Roy, Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison, or Villanova’s Randy Foye.
Other quick notes
Trade John Salmons, release Michael Bradley, keep Shavlik Randolph cause of his heart and determination, keep Kevin Ollie, release Matt Barnes.
Free Agency
After the Draft, the Sixers must take advantage of free agency in order to improve the ball club. Personally, I want Billy King to make moves to turn the team into a similar squad to the 1996 team where role players like George Lynch and Eric Snow carried the squad. Philadelphia doesn’t have much cap space unfortunately but they should be able to grab 2 solid players or possibly 3. The players that will be within the reach include Adrian Griffin from Dallas, Nazr Mohammed (former Sixer) from Spurs, Ronald Murray from Cleveland, Nene Hilario from Denver, Vladimir Radmanovic from Clippers. Here’s the squad I’d like to see take the floor next year:
C - Samuel Dalembert
PF - Chris Webber
SF - Nene Hilario or young SF acquired in Iverson trade (Corey Magette type player)
SG - Andre Iguodala
PG - Young PG from Iverson trade or free agent PGBench
SG - Willie Green
C or PF - Steven Hunter
SF - Vladimir Radmanovic or Adrian Griffin
SF - Kyle Korver
PG - Louis Williams
PF - Shavlik Randolph
PG - Kevin Ollie
SG - Draft pick, either Marcus Williams or Rodney Carney
About this Post
Posted on May 24, 2006 by Kyle Garis | Filed Under Sixers, Philadelphia
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Releasing Matt Barnes would be a big mistake in my mind. He seems like one of the few serious defenders on the team.
I agree with Josh. Matt Barnes is a solid defensive bench player. The Sixers need a few more of these to finish off all those games they were losing late.
I could definitely live with them keeping Barnes. He’s a good player but I don’t see him as a huge potential type player, I just want Billy King to basically revamp this team.
I agree with your philosophy. There is no way this team can win until they start over. They will need to hit rock bottom - trade Iverson for some young players, be careful in signing long term Samuel Dalembert type contracts, let Webbers contract run its course, hope you hit the jackpot with one of your high draft picks that you will have over the next couple of years and then work yourself back to being a contender. Personally I do not have confidence that Billy King can rebuild this team effectively so I would get rid of him as well.
I think Philly would be a better team if Iverson is consistent. He can score 56 points sometimes and miss 20 shots another. He takes too many shots and is unreliable with his performance.
I think trading Allen Iverson would be a huge mistake. Just look at what happened to the orlando magic, after they traded Mcgrady they were never the same. You can never get talent like Allen Iverson again, no matter how far down the road.
Totally disagree with blowing up the Sixers. If you look at the plus/minus oncourt/offcourt stats at 82games.com, you see that virtually all of the minus performance is attributable to the lack of a quality third guard — Ollie and Salmons’ numbers were terrible. If Carney takes their minutes and just plays to a break-even level (admittedly ambitious for even such a talented rookie), this is a playoff team without any other changes.
Blowing up a team puts you in a basement that you don’t automatically climb out of — don’t want to be there for ten years. Just reload.
Yeah I agree, it just doesn’t work to tear a working team apart like that. Great website btw Annie.