Phily don't have the talent to contend.
Philly has lots of young talent and are on the way up. If they can keep Iguodola and add Brand they're going to be scary.
Lots of talent? How?
Forget Elton Brand he isn't on their team. Why would he sign with Phily? Seattle is going to have just as much cap space except they have Kevin Durant and likely 3 other high lottery picks (Green, 2008 pick, 2009 pick). You can't write Brand's name into Phily's roster. When was the last time a Free Agent of his caliber moved teams? I'm thinking not since Shaq which was 11 years ago. This FA stuff gets overblown so often. Phily are far more likely to end up with a Rashard Lewis or Ben Wallace.
Andre Igoudala is not good enough to be the best player on a contender. He's not good enough to be the best perimeter player on a contender. Heck he's not even the best perimeter player on an average Sixers team right now.
They have zero inside scoring. They have only player under 30 that scores more than 13 points, Iggy.
Most of their youth project to quality role players not stars .... guys like Jason Smith, Lou Williams, Willie Green, Carney.
Andre Miller is their best player. He creates and controls most of their action. He's 32 and has one year left on his contract. His replacement is a solid young player in Lou Williams but he has miles to go before becoming comparable to Miller. Will Miller stay beyond next season? I have no idea. He's a vet with no rings (if Phily can't make a move this will matter) but I doubt there's people lining up to pay him as much money as Phily so he could stay.
Then you have Thaddeus Young who's a bright prospect but he did next to nothing with the ball in his hands this season. You can't count on him being an all-star. You can't count on him becoming a top scorer. You can't count on him being a creative force for his teammates. Why not? Because he hasn't shown any capabilities of any of these things. Young hustles, he plays defense, he runs the floor well, he's smart, he rebounds. He's a solid player with upside. If he is to become an all-star he projects in the Shawn Marion type player. Not the great scorer they need, not the great inside presence they need.
Where's the talent? Minnesota has more young talent than this team. They won what 20 games last season?
Dumb national writers keep talking about Phily's great youngsters. That's not why they made the playoffs. They made the playoffs because they've got a team full of hard workers who play defense and scrapped their way to the playoffs (guys like Reggie Evans). They didn't make the playoffs because of their young talent. That's not nothing but it's also a long long way from having championship aspirations.
