The 76ers in 2013 – Neither Heaven nor Hell

[robbynab]

7-22 und zwei Leute im all-rookie 1st team? Respekt

[Steve-0]

7-22 und zwei Leute im all-rookie 1st team? Respekt

Die 7 Spiele habe ich selbst gewonnen, da waren die immer sehr gut

[Steve-0]

The Road ahead – The draft and the upcoming offseason

To complete the novel of the 2013/14 NBA season the Houston Rockets have won their first NBA title since Hakeem Olajuwon in the years w/o Jordan and once again a dominant Big Man helped them do it. Dwight Howard won the NBA Finals MVP title in a series against Miami that went down to the wire of Game 7.

First important thing for the not-so-successful teams was the draft lottery and that looked good for the 76ers. They came up with picks No 2 and 8 in a very strong draft class. Although Charlotte won the first pick Philadelphia was ecstatic for the soon-to-arrive youths.

After some weeks of intense training camps the night of the nights for the young players and the awaiting franchises had come. Philadelphia was reportedly narrowing in on Jabari Parker as 2^nd pick and Wayne Selden as the 8^th pick because designated superstar Andrew Wiggins was surely to go to Charlotte. After Adam Silver had opened the evening for the first time in his role as commissioner, Charlotte and that’s to be said, Michael Jordan surprised everyone by picking Marcus Smart – the projected third pick at Number 1. The Point Guard out of Oklahoma State seemed to be surprised himself and so were the 76ers executives. There was not much knowledge about Andrew Wiggins that exceeded his college career as no one had seen this change of events coming. And yet the 76ers had the chance to draft this tremendous talent and took it at once. The following picks were chosen as the mock draft had predicted and after pick Number 5 – Julius Randle to the Jazz – the Knicks’ executives who were to choose next, came to talk with Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie and asked to swap their 6^th pick for Philadelphia’s 8^th pick plus the 26^th first round pick that had come from the Pelicans as part of the Jrue Holiday-Nerlens Noel trade. Sam Hinkie took the opportunity to draft Glenn Robinson III who was predicted to go at 7 but had outshone many others at 76ers training camp.

With those two picks of Andrew Wiggins and Glenn Robinson III the whole city looked at the next season very differently as the free agency approached. Evan Turner was given a new contract draft for negotiation as was Spencer Hawes after both made a great leap the season before. But that was no surprise. The real bombshell was dropped by someone else. After losing the Finals, LeBron James quietly opted out of his contract to become a free agent.

Wollt ihr die Übersetzung haben? Sollte ja eigentlich kein Problem sein ohne, oder? Wenn ihr die haben wollt, mach ich aber noch eine

[Bulls'#23]

Sehr geil, du hast Wiggins bekommen. Über Glenn Robinson II kann ich nicht viel sagen, aber welche Wertung haben die beiden denn ?
Dürftest aufjeden Fall eine sehr gute und vorallem junge Truppe für die nächsten Jahre haben

[Steve-0]

Money Plus a Postive Outlook

With the approaching free agency, not all of the 76ers roster spots were already taken and with a lot of cap space at their hands the front office around GM Sam Hinkie did not think twice when it came to making an offer to the King. With Wiggins and Glenn Robinson III there were two promising rookies, with Noel and Carter-Williams two already established sophomores and with Turner, Hawes and Young their was plenty of talent that Philadelphia could offer LeBron James as an environment in which he could be the unquestioned leader and not be accompanied by two other max-deals superstars. The 76ers were confident that their maximum contract offer would stand a chance in the rally for James in which reportedly participated more than six teams just three days into the free agency.
But Sam Hinkie was not making a bet solely on James, he also approached restricted free agent Paul George from the Indiana Pacers and offered him a maximum contract. One week later something happened that showed Philly that their work had been appreciated, as both superstars were ready to sign their contracts. With only cap space for one of them, the 76ers quickly decided to go for LeBron. Not only because he was the better and more experienced player but also because there was some risk into the deal with George as the Pacers still held the right to match every offer.

All this had gone over with very quietly - seemingly James had learned from his prior mistakes ("The Decision") - and so the press was very apprehensive when the 76ers announced a special press conference in mid July. As the bomb dropped there was no holding back in the city of brotherly love. From a bottom of the league team to a contender with the best player in the game bound for 4 years the euphoria was unmatched.
But soon critical voices came up in the other parts of the country. Although the names looked great one could not argue that the team was not unbalanced in its line-up. Two power forwards and two centers, one true point guard, not one shooting guard but six (!) small forwards don't sound like a contending team to the experts. So it seems sure that we have not yet seen the final roster for the next season!

[Bulls'#23]

Geil, du hast Lebron bekommen. Auch wenn ich ihn nun wirklich nicht mag, ist er trotzdem ein toller Spieler. Damit solltest du aufjeden Fall Titenanwärter sein. Auch im Hinblick was noch kommt an Spielern. Bin gespannt wen du als SG holst und wen du dafür abgibst. Material genug hast du dafür ja.
Bin auch gespannt drauf, wie du das mit Wiggins macht. Spielt ja auf derselben Position wie Lebron.

[Wolverine]

Leider funktioniert der Small Ball meiner Meinung nach nciht so gut in 2k. Wenns auf Wiggins SF und Lebron PF hinausläuft.