Philly is just gross!

[gpap]

Don't know what you guys are talking about, but my money is on a Philly/Utah match-up in the finals this year.

[BballTim]

  I wasn't sure this thread was going to be about the team or the city.

[The One]

  I wasn't sure this thread was going to be about the team or the city.

LOL...that was a good one!!

[Smokeeye123]

They should make a rule that if you lose 20 games in a row you can't get the top pick in the lottery.

[Vox_Populi]

Philly look bad at the moment but they are going to have a really good nucleus to build around next season with M.Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, a top five and a top ten draft pick to build around long term. Plus Thaddeus Young.

They have done a really good job of positioning their team for a quick turnaround with their work over the last 12 months. The Jrue Holiday trade was fantastic. Noel and a top ten pick. Hit a home run on MCW. Excellent. And now Philly are set to get a top five pick to add to that. Real genuine talent. Prospects with lots of potential. 4 of 'em. In 12 months work. Great job.

Well, that's one way to look at it.

[Mr October]

4 years from now maybe they will win 35 games.

They better get lucky in the draft. And again next year. And the year after that.

Must be awesome to be a Sixers fan night after night, year after year.

[Mr October]

Even though they are a joke, it will be educational to see if another team can pull an OKC and rebuild through the draft. It's not going to be easy to replicate 4 big time picks in 3 years.

Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, Harden

Plus they grabbed Jeff Green during those 3 years.

[get_banners]

What they're doing is shameful. It'd be hilarious and just if they don't win the lottery and/or this draft class ends up being not nearly as good as it was supposed to be (which many of us think on CB). I'm not so sure their future is so bright, anyway. MCW has picked up some atrocious habits (bad decision-making, horribly inefficient player) and is not nearly as good as his numbers suggest. Noel might be another Hasheem Thabeet. There may not be a superstar in this draft.

[obnoxiousmime]

I don't think there's anything wrong with what they are doing. It's not like the guys they have lost are great players, in fact some of them may be overrated (Turner) and not worth the contracts they signed/will sign as FAs.

Saying all the losing is wasted if they don't hit in the draft doesn't mean much to me. All teams that aren't contending have to draft well. Besides the draft there really aren't many options for bad teams to suddenly get great players. You have to overpay for bad free agents and good free agents (who can get the max from any team they want) won't join your team. This is why the draft system in the NBA needs a massive overhaul, along with the max contract limitations on paying star players.

[nickagneta]

Question to everyone. As shameful a purposeful tank job as Phiily has done this year, how many on this blog would gladly switch everything about Boston and Philly and rather have Philly's draft picks, roster, and salary structure over Boston's draft picks, roster and salary structure?

[slamtheking]

Question to everyone. As shameful a purposeful tank job as Phiily has done this year, how many on this blog would gladly switch everything about Boston and Philly and rather have Philly's draft picks, roster, and salary structure over Boston's draft picks, roster and salary structure?

Not me.  I'll take the C's situation -- players, cap and management. 

[nickagneta]

Question to everyone. As shameful a purposeful tank job as Phiily has done this year, how many on this blog would gladly switch everything about Boston and Philly and rather have Philly's draft picks, roster, and salary structure over Boston's draft picks, roster and salary structure?

Not me.  I'll take the C's situation -- players, cap and management.

Me 2

[The One]

I don't think there's anything wrong with what they are doing. It's not like the guys they have lost are great players, in fact some of them may be overrated (Turner) and not worth the contracts they signed/will sign as FAs.

Saying all the losing is wasted if they don't hit in the draft doesn't mean much to me. All teams that aren't contending have to draft well. Besides the draft there really aren't many options for bad teams to suddenly get great players. You have to overpay for bad free agents and good free agents (who can get the max from any team they want) won't join your team. This is why the draft system in the NBA needs a massive overhaul, along with the max contract limitations on paying star players.

But if you're invested in this team, fiscally or emotionally, it kind of stinks being the butt of all the jokes and the Association.

[Endless Paradise]

But if you're invested in this team, fiscally or emotionally, it kind of stinks being the butt of all the jokes and the Association.

Are you saying that from personally having witnessed Sixers fans this year or because you're assuming they feel bad? Because I can tell you if you take a glance at Liberty Ballers, they couldn't be more ecstatic. They were tired of a decade-plus of mediocrity and are fully on board with being terrible for a few years for a chance of being a true contender for years.

In general, I don't get why anyone who isn't a Sixers fan should be upset about this. Do you guys realize they traded away Iguodala, Vucevic, Harkless, and two first rounders for Bynum to never play, Moultrie to be a bust, and Richardson to sit on the sidelines? They had no future with Holiday, Turner, and Hawes. They were just going to be a mediocre team without cap space and draft picks. How dare they not do everything in their power to be a team with a ceiling of ~30-35 wins?

[MBunge]

How dare they not do everything in their power to be a team with a ceiling of ~30-35 wins?

But they've just guaranteed they'll be truly horrible for several years and still might not end up any better than a 30-35 win team.  Philly has one and only one path forward.  Get lucky in the draft.  That's it.  They have no real assets to trade and no franchise player is going there, no matter the cap space, while they're this awful.  If Philly doesn't get lucky, they'll be right back where they were.  If they get unlucky, they'll be a joke of a team for the better part of a decade.

On the other hand, Boston has several paths forward.  They can rebuild through the draft.  They can try and attract big FAs or trade for players to rebuild around Rondo.  They have some assets to trade in addition to Rondo if they want to just blow it up.  If something goes wrong with one of those options, Ainge can turn to another.

Mike