by Theo Williams
First off, let me start off by saying a belated Happy New Year to everyone (even though I am damn near two weeks late), and I hope that everyone had a safe and happy balmy holiday (But seriously, if you don’t believe that Global Warming is a thing after this Christmas we just had, I don’t know what to tell you). January, however, has not been nearly as tropical as its holiday bookend had been. I was reminded of this fact the other night as I walked from my car to the gymnasium at Rivera Middle School in Trenton, as I felt the cold wind disrespect my leather jacket. It was Notre Dame at Trenton, and I was there to get some pictures and video for the New WBCB1490 Instagram.
As I walked in to the gymnasium, a familiar feeling flowed through my body. I remember it well, the feeling of emotional investment was in the air, parents and alum passionately cheering and jeering at nearly every play. The place blew up with a mixed chorus of cheers and boos, when one of the Notre Dame players hit a slam dunk at a pivotal part of the game. As I watched the outpour of emotion from the crowd, I felt something, something that I was missing for quite some time. It took me a moment to realize what exactly it was that I felt, before I realized that what I felt was omnipresent. It was the love of basketball, and I was completely surrounded by it. Now, I have been a basketball fan much of my entire life, to the point where I had my Fischer Price Basketball set, I was 5 with a baby fro, performing the only dunks my slight stature would ever allow me to do. Why had I come to this point? I’ve never stopped watching basketball. I’ve never stopped caring about it, either. Then it hit me; I had become numb. I’m sure some of my reasoning of becoming numb was a direct result of working in the “business” for the better part of a decade now, however, it was more than that.
When the Sixers made 2kHinkie the General Manager, I had purposefully sent my basketball emotions in to hibernation mode, because, even though I fully supported the process that we as Sixers fans, and franchise were getting ready to embark on, I knew full well that it would be a long and painful process to endure. I mean, what else is a fan to do, when in retrospect, you will have to live through two of the worst seasons in NBA history, the longest winning drought in Professional American Sports history, and two franchise draft pick center pieces, that could potentially never actually don a Sixers uniform (Embiid, Saric)? So, when the process had originally begun, I had set the hibernation timer for 3 seasons with the thought process that three seasons should be enough to destroy, rebuild and move the arrow up. Well, here we are at the near midway point of the third season and the ice is now beginning to thaw.
Ok, so a lot of things have changed since I last spoke with everyone reading this. Since Captain Colangelo came in to town, the Sixers decide to trade for a player that could have been resigned in the offseason for near the league minimum, Ish Smith. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown a certain affinity for Ish, even before he was jettisoned back to Philly for a couple of second round draft picks (mainly because he is a valued member of my Fantasy team, the 2K Hinkies). I saw how Ish was balling for the Pelicans in the wake of some generous playing time courtesy of oft injured players Tyreke Evans and former Sixer Jrue Holiday (I’m always tempted to say Dru Hill, “Sisqo, YEAAAAAAAAAA!!!”), however once they were healed, Ish was relegated back to the 3rd string. After Ish Smith’s return to the Well, the Sixers went on to win two out of the next three, and three of the next six games (which is a very small sample, but considering we’re talking about a team who had only won one game since March of 2015, I’ll take it), with Ish averaging 16.2 points and 7.8 assists over the last nine games, since being interjected in to the Philly starting lineup. Trust me; I am not going overboard with Ish Smith nor am I attempting to promote him as a future star of the team, like some were hell bent on doing with his predecessor Tony Wroten, however, the re-acquisition of Ish Smith was an immediate sign of change happening with Captain Colangelo now at the helm. Competency restored to the Point Guard position: Check.
The next order of glaring needs to be addressed was some veteran leadership. Listen, I’m all for the mindset of “Destroy and Rebuild”, and for getting rid of old useless talent eating up gabs of cap space for the sole reason that NBA contracts are guaranteed, however, one of the main fallacies with 2KHinkie’s plan was that he failed to take in to consideration that young people need guidance, on and off the court. Hinkie, as a numbers and analytics guy, failed to see the human impact that this process would have; how young players would react to losing on such a relentless scale and how a team full of millennials carry themselves as professionals when not on an NBA court. Enter, Elton Brand.
See, here’s the thing… My initial emotional reaction to hearing that #42 was on his way back to the Sixers induced a mild fit of rage, conjuring memories of 2008, when the Sixers had the option of offering a max contract to either restricted free agent Josh Smith, whom at the time was a human pogo stick, or unrestricted free agent Elton Brand who was just coming off a season where he missed 74 games to a ruptured Achilles tendon. I’ll just say this, if the NBA was the movie “Life”(starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and Bernie Mac), then GM Billy King was the equivalent of “Can’t Get Right” (played by Bokiem Woodbine) without the skills (also see Brooklyn). I hated the signing, I hated the contract, and to this day I still believe that it set the Sixers back several seasons, with some of the reverberations still being felt today. However, this time around, Brand is here, not to be the savior of the franchise with a bloated contract that Andrew Bynum would be proud of. This time he is here to be the Yoda, to Jahlil, Nerlins and Joel’s Luke Skywalker, or Anakin for that matter. Veteran Leadership: Check.
That brings us to the 800 lb Gorilla. With news that Joel Embiid is making huge strides towards an eventual NBA debut, the question is what to do with 3 young centers? In 2013, during 2KHinkie’s first draft, the Sixers traded Holiday for Nerlins Noel, whom at one time was the projected number one overall pick and their first round draft pick. Then the next season, with the third pick Kansas standout Joel Embiid drops to the Sixers. Embiid, who was clearly the best player of the draft (yes, even better than Wiggins), came with a high level of risk as he suffered a broken navicular bone during draft workouts (the same injury that retired fellow +7’ Yao Ming), immediately after missing most of his freshman season to a back injury. Then, in 2015 the Sixers take Jahlil Okafor. Duke standout, perennial winner, and offensively gifted, yet, another center…
Okafor and Noel have played nearly a half of a season together, with less than impressive results. Unable to find any real chemistry, the twin towers effect has yet to be a positive for the young team. Now word has come down that Embiid is showing great strides in his rehabilitation, reality is beginning to set in. It’s just not feasible for the Sixers to be able to keep all three players, particularly with so many other glaring holes on the roster. So now the question is who to get rid of? You can make a case for keeping, and/or getting rid of any of the trio. The most popular option I see that people would like to get rid of is Nerlins Noel. Look, I get it. He’s not a flashy offensive player with sick low post moves, and he possesses a free throw shooting percentage that only DeAndre Jordan can look up to, however, he contributes in several other areas of the game, specifically defensively and rebounding. In his young career, Noel averages 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and seals per game; pretty impressive when you add his athleticism to the mix.
Then we have Jahlil Okafor. Another very impressive center who presently leads all rookies in scoring (which isn’t particularly hard to do when you have his skillset and a dearth of offensive talent around you, as such is the case in Philadelphia), who’s drawn comparisons to a young Tim Duncan, because of his agile footwork and low post moves (too bad he doesn’t rebound like a young Duncan). Okafor tends to be the most popular choice for the “Most Untouchable Award” when speaking with fans, and some analysts about who the Sixers should and shouldn’t move. Personally, I’m not so sure about how untouchable he is exactly. Granted, given how he’s playing juxtaposed to D’Angelo Russell, whom the entire city was clamoring for last June, the Sixers lucked out, however, a sever lack of maturity and desire to play in Philadelphia has me leery as to whether or not the Sixers should invest long term in Big Jah. I have ZERO doubt that if Jah makes it to free agency; he will be on the first SEPTA train out of here. In addition to the attitude and emotional issues, on court he is NOT a hustler, and tends to be a little soft under the boards and on D.
Lastly, we have the previously mentioned Joel Embiid. Yes, the obvious questions are, will he ever actually be healthy enough to suit up and if he can, when will he finally makes his NBA debut? If so, will he have to play with minutes restrictions? Will he be able to endure an entire 82 game season with missing minimal games? It’s clear, as far as talent is concerned that Jo Jo possesses the best combination of skill and size. He has the offensive touch and footwork of Okafor, yet also the defensive prowess and rebounding of Nerlens Noel, with the size and power that Noel lacks. Oh yea, I forgot, he can also shoot three’s. So who do the Sixers trade of the three; the offensively limited defensive workhorse, the offensively gifted but emotionally challenged diva, or the prototypical center who could end up being as much Andrew Bynum as he is Hakeem Olajuwon?
My answer to that is simple… Whoever gets the best deal. All three have their own set of issues and concerns that makes them as much of a risk to the franchise as they are a benefit. With all the holes in this roster, the Sixers are in no position to play keep away with any of their players at the moment. Personally, I’m glad Captain Colangelo is overseeing this process, because, I’m not totally sure if I believe that 2KHinkie would have actually received any talent in return for one of the Sixers big men, opting instead to trade for more draft picks. The trade for draft picks without getting NBA player value era is now over in Philly. The only question remaining now is who will remain when the dust settles?
Theo Williams is WBCB’s Director of Web Content. You can follow him on twitter at @trufwilliams.
