{"id":78282,"date":"2016-06-28T19:21:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T19:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78282"},"modified":"2023-03-01T21:53:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T21:53:36","slug":"sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop: “THE” 76ers Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

I try to maintain a \u201clevel head\u201d when forming my sports opinions.\u00a0 When fans rush from one extreme to the another (eg.,remember fans proclaiming the Eagles <\/a>were going to the Super Bowl last year?), I try to take a step back and examine things objectively from all sides.<\/p>\n

But\u2026<\/p>\n

I must admit, when the rumors were coming in hot and heavy for the 76ers <\/a>to be \u201cmajor dealers\u201d (per ESPN<\/a>) come the night of the NBA Draft<\/a>, I was getting exciting for some major shake-ups and perhaps, finally, some resolution as to what this team will do with all the \u201cbigs\u201d they have in their front court.<\/p>\n

So, when the team didn\u2019t do anything \u2013 which slightly overshadowed the fact that they got the best player available in the country in Ben Simmons<\/a> \u2013 I was initially disappointed with the organization.\u00a0 But, as some time passed, I felt good about the team\u2019s draft night and think we actually learned a few important facts about the Sixers and how the \u201cColangelo Era\u201d will proceed through this rebuilding process.<\/p>\n

BRYAN COLANGELO IS NOT <\/strong>HOWIE ROSEMAN<\/em>
\nNot that any of Roseman\u2019s <\/a>moves this off-season are currently viewed as a \u201cbad\u201d move, but Roseman clearly had Chip Kelly issues and expediently removed all traces of Kelly\u2019s influence with the Eagles following Chip\u2019s departure.\u00a0 Clearly, the Colangelos and Sam Hinkie could not co-exist, but I credit both Jerry and Bryan Colangelo<\/a> for not stubbornly trying to undo everything that Hinkie tried to establish\u2014just to prove themselves to the fan base.<\/p>\n

I did start to get nervous when the rumors indicated the 76ers might deal Jahlil Okafor<\/a> AND Nerlens Noel<\/a> AND the 24th<\/sup> AND the 26th<\/sup> picks in the draft.\u00a0 With a guard-heavy draft coming up, and the team owning three first-round picks over the next two years, there was no need to unload everything that Hinkie had built up just to make a deal for the third pick in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

NERLENS NOEL MIGHT HAVE MORE VALUE THAN WE EXPECTED<\/em>
\nIF<\/em><\/strong> the 76ers were going to make a move to get the third pick in last week\u2019s draft, I was perfectly OK giving up Noel for a potential starting guard (aka Kris Dunn<\/a>).\u00a0 But it seems that there was more interest in Noel than Okafor, which might be the reason the Sixers chose to hold on to both players.<\/p>\n

Think about this\u2026if you are the Sixers and Joel Embiid<\/a> is healthy (or, if you\u2019re any other team and already have an established starting center), which player would you rather have?<\/p>\n

Noel is a shot-blocking\/rim-protector guy who could back up Embiid and maybe play a little \u201cfour\u201d against certain lineups.\u00a0 And, IF Simmons turns out to be a major star, and IF Embiid is as good as some envision, wouldn\u2019t Noel be a better complement than Okafor, who\u2019s a major scorer, with not much defense, who can only play the five spot on the floor?<\/p>\n

Since the Sixers are not going to win a championship next year (and I still have major issues regarding Embiid\u2019s health), perhaps it was wise to hold onto Noel and see what shakes out, and wait until next year\u2019s draft (or free agency) before deciding on a back court pairing to build your team around.<\/p>\n

HOW MUCH VALUE DOES OKAFOR REALLY HAVE?<\/em>
\nBefore the draft, everyone, including me, seemed to think that trading Okafor would automatically get you the third best pick in the draft.\u00a0 After all, the Celtics <\/a>desperately needed a big man, and Okafor seemingly would have been a great fit.\u00a0 But at the end of the day, Dunn fell to the fifth spot, meaning, if the Sixers were as aggressive in their talks as reported, two other teams other than Boston would have had an opportunity to pick up Okafor as an unproved talent\u2026and passed.<\/p>\n

High-quality guards were also selected at the sixth and seventh spots\u2014which is interesting since CBS Sports reported before the draft that Philadelphia was very aggressively looking to move up and select a second \u201ctop eight\u201d pick, but elected not to do so at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

I still think he\u2019s a valuable piece to the 76ers moving forward\u2014mainly because I have very little confidence that Embiid will ever be the player most hope he\u2019ll be (too many bad Jeff Ruland nightmares, perhaps, still fresh in my memory). \u00a0\u00a0If you traded Okafor before knowing if Embiid can play, you might suddenly go from having too many scoring options at the center position to very little.<\/p>\n

The best thing that could happen is that Embiid shows he\u2019s healthy this year, but Okafor still gets enough minutes and takes a big step forward in developing his game during the 2016-17 campaign. If (there\u2019s that word again) he increases his value, \u00a0a playoff-bound\/post-player-starved team over pays to give you more than you would have acquired than by moving him this summer.<\/p>\n

WHO\u2019S DEFENDING WHO?<\/em>
\nIt was strongly hinted at after the draft that Simmons, who might be the team\u2019s \u201cpoint forward,\u201d might be guarding other teams\u2019 power forward, which brings us to another huge question regarding having all these post players in the first place\u2026<\/p>\n

Defense!<\/p>\n

For argument\u2019s sake, say Embiid is healthy, Dario Saric<\/a> decides to play for the 76ers this year and no other forward\/centers are moved.\u00a0 Your potential \u201cfirst eight in the rotation\u201d could look something like this:
\nIsh Smith<\/a>
\nIsaiah Canaan<\/a>
\nNik Stauskas<\/a>
\nBen Simmons
\nDario Saric
\nNerlens Noel
\nJahlil Okafor
\nJoel Embiid<\/p>\n

Question\u2026who, among all these players, would guard the opposing team\u2019s small forward?\u00a0 Considering some of the league\u2019s most dominating players play that position, it\u2019s a question that probably won\u2019t be answered this season (barring a significant move).\u00a0 But developing some defensive stalwarts (in addition to another point guard, an outstanding long-range shooting guard, et al) have to be major priorities as you move forward with this rebuilding effort.<\/p>\n

All in all, I think the 76ers make all the right decisions with this year\u2019s draft.\u00a0 I\u2019m expecting some mid-level free agents to be added to the mix to help develop the younger players (both on and off the court) and the team should add more wins and have more interesting storylines to watch for this winter.<\/p>\n

Put the Kris Dunn talk (and guards of a similar ilk) behind you–for now–and try to concentrate on taking the next \u201cbaby steps\u201d as this process inches forward towards a better, brighter 2018 season.<\/p>\n

Or 2019 \u2026 or 2020.<\/p>\n

PROGRAMMING NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 NBA & 76ers Beat Writer Tom Moore (Caulkins Media) will be joining us on this Thursday\u2019s \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d (live at 7pm, RCN-TV) to give his insights on the this year\u2019s NBA draft.\u00a0 The show will also be available via our podcast (rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk<\/a>) on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I try to maintain a \u201clevel head\u201d when forming my sports opinions.\u00a0 When fans rush from one extreme to the another (eg.,remember fans proclaiming the Eagles were going to the Super Bowl last year?), I try to take a step back and examine things objectively from all sides. But\u2026 I must admit, when the rumors…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[693,363,494],"class_list":["post-78282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop","tag-draft","tag-nba","tag-sixers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe SportsTalk Shop: "THE" 76ers Pick - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The SportsTalk Shop: "THE" 76ers Pick - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I try to maintain a \u201clevel head\u201d when forming my sports opinions.\u00a0 When fans rush from one extreme to the another (eg.,remember fans proclaiming the Eagles were going to the Super Bowl last year?), I try to take a step back and examine things objectively from all sides. But\u2026 I must admit, when the rumors...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Michael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Michael\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Michael\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\"},\"headline\":\"The SportsTalk Shop: “THE” 76ers Pick\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1163,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"draft\",\"NBA\",\"Sixers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Sports\",\"The SportsTalk Shop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/\",\"name\":\"The SportsTalk Shop: \\\"THE\\\" 76ers Pick - ATVN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/\",\"name\":\"ATVN\",\"description\":\"Local Programming & Astound Digital Cable, Internet & Phone Services\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\",\"name\":\"Chris Michael\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"url\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Chris Michael\"},\"description\":\"Chris handles play-by-play for RCN sports events, including baseball, football & basketball games and produces\\\/hosts the station\u2019s 60-minute live call-in show. Among Chris\u2019s other responsibilities include reporting on local news & sports stories, conducting \u201cTake 5\u201d interviews with community and political leaders, producing commercials, voiceovers and promos; and generating blog entries and videos on the internet. Click here to listen to the weekly Sports Talk podcast.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/author\\\/rcntvchris\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The SportsTalk Shop: \"THE\" 76ers Pick - ATVN","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The SportsTalk Shop: \"THE\" 76ers Pick - ATVN","og_description":"I try to maintain a \u201clevel head\u201d when forming my sports opinions.\u00a0 When fans rush from one extreme to the another (eg.,remember fans proclaiming the Eagles were going to the Super Bowl last year?), I try to take a step back and examine things objectively from all sides. But\u2026 I must admit, when the rumors...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/","og_site_name":"ATVN","article_published_time":"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00","author":"Chris Michael","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Michael","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris Michael","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a"},"headline":"The SportsTalk Shop: “THE” 76ers Pick","datePublished":"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/"},"wordCount":1163,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["draft","NBA","Sixers"],"articleSection":["Featured","Sports","The SportsTalk Shop"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/","name":"The SportsTalk Shop: \"THE\" 76ers Pick - ATVN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-28T19:21:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T21:53:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-76ers-pick\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/","name":"ATVN","description":"Local Programming & Astound Digital Cable, Internet & Phone Services","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a","name":"Chris Michael","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","url":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","contentUrl":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","caption":"Chris Michael"},"description":"Chris handles play-by-play for RCN sports events, including baseball, football & basketball games and produces\/hosts the station\u2019s 60-minute live call-in show. Among Chris\u2019s other responsibilities include reporting on local news & sports stories, conducting \u201cTake 5\u201d interviews with community and political leaders, producing commercials, voiceovers and promos; and generating blog entries and videos on the internet. Click here to listen to the weekly Sports Talk podcast.","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/author\/rcntvchris\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78282"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82501,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78282\/revisions\/82501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}