Embiid

[raptors999]

It's a great shame. I think he would've been great if he stayed healthy. Maybe he still turns it around, Ilgauskas also had a bunch of feet surgeries and then went on to have a nice career. But it will probably affect his mobility, and missing so much development time is bad too.

Oden you could see why he was taken #1 but Embid hasn't played a full college season or even an NBA training camp. He is pure speculation.

[Mr.Z]

Good thing they drafted Okafor. I almost hope Philly can turn it around. Their luck with bigmen lately just sucks. But there is a part of me that hopes they stay in the lottery forever...farm team for the rest and let them filter out the top end draft busts.

Embiid was injured when he was drafted, but the Sixer's took him anyways because they didn't want to start winning games yet.

[BobLoblaw]

Embiid was injured when he was drafted, but the Sixer's took him anyways because they didn't want to start winning games yet.

It's not like Wiggins or Jabari would've won a lot of games for them... They picked Embiid because he was one of the 3 highest valued players in the draft, and Wiggins / Jabari were gone.

I don't think anyone would've picked Dante Exum, Marcus Smart or Aaron Gordon above Embiid.

[Mr.Z]

It's not like Wiggins or Jabari would've won a lot of games for them... They picked Embiid because he was one of the 3 highest valued players in the draft, and Wiggins / Jabari were gone.

I don't think anyone would've picked Dante Exum, Marcus Smart or Aaron Gordon above Embiid.

True dat

[stretch]

The 76ers have done well with drafting that other big Noel, waiting for him to heal.

[KeonClark]

Okafor should turn out good. If they can draft a good guard top 3 this year, they could be good..in 5 years

[Apollo]

If there ever was a buy low point on a player this is it. He may never play again but medical technology is ever advancing and you never know. If the Raptors could get him for near nothing it might be worth it to stash him.

... But the again if this guy was on the block you know the Kings would be liable to do anything. Just saying.

Sent from my Note 3 using Tapatalk

[slaw]

The 76ers have done well with drafting that other big Noel, waiting for him to heal.

This is different, though. This is a guy who, despite playing almost no competitive basketball in his life, couldn't finish a 30-game season at Kansas and has already suffered severe injuries to both his back and foot, which are killers for big men. It's also concerning that the first surgery and recovery apparently didn't work.

Of course, Hinkie is probably somewhat relieved cause now he can continue with his "plan" to put a horrific product on the floor for as long as possible and pray for a miracle to save the franchise from itself. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they traded Noel cause he might be too good a player and he'll start hurting their tanking soon.

[BobLoblaw]

I think 76ers have overall done very well. One can't expect every high pick to be a hit, some of them inevitably miss. As long as Okafor and Noel and / or whoever they draft high next summer become stars, their drafting would be fine. Embiid could also overcome these issues, who knows.

Next year they have their own high pick, plus probably a Lakers mid-lottery pick, plus likely a mid-round pick from the Heat. I think they might be ready to stop the tank next summer. They'll have a bunch of cap space, 5-6 solid prospects, many of them with star potential. And they'll have the Kings pick in a few years. And there's Saric who may or may not be good.

If I were them, I'd throw a max at some young guys next year, guys who maybe are not worth the max but who are pretty good. They can afford to overpay some guys now, until their rookies need to get paid. Then they are back into the playoffs.

Considering that they've been tanking for just 2 years so far and that they weren't lucky with lottery balls, I think they've done very well.

Still, I hate that the NBA has built their lottery in a way that encourages tanking.

[MixxAOR]

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/795387

"When they (Josh Harris and David Blitzer) acquired the team in 2012 maybe, I think the talk was about seven years," said Erving. "Seven years. So, I think it's still on that same timeline."

[BobLoblaw]

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/795387

They acquired the team in 2011. I guess that 7 year plan was changed a few times, because since 2011 they traded for Bynum, then they restarted again.

[3inthekeon]

Still, I hate that the NBA has built their lottery in a way that encourages tanking.

Disagree with this. NBA has built their lottery in a way that discourages tanking, just not enough. A team could lose every game and still end up picking 4th, The most any NHL team can drop is one spot and NFL/MLB's best tankers automatically get the 1st pick. The "problem" with the NBA is that one elite player at his peak has more impact than any other sport.

[stretch]

Disagree with this. NBA has built their lottery in a way that discourages tanking, just not enough. A team could lose every game and still end up picking 4th, The most any NHL team can drop is one spot and NFL/MLB's best tankers automatically get the 1st pick. The "problem" with the NBA is that one elite player at his peak has more impact than any other sport.

Tanking is not a problem for the NFL or MLB.

[BobLoblaw]

Disagree with this. NBA has built their lottery in a way that discourages tanking, just not enough. A team could lose every game and still end up picking 4th, The most any NHL team can drop is one spot and NFL/MLB's best tankers automatically get the 1st pick. The "problem" with the NBA is that one elite player at his peak has more impact than any other sport.

Sounds like semantics.

[3inthekeon]

Tanking is not a problem for the NFL or MLB.

Agree on NFL. Disagree on MLB.

Luhnow's Astros tanked and finished bottom 5 4 years in a row, including dead last 3 years in a row. Philly has only tanked 2 years.

The only reason it's an NBA "problem" is because some people have labelled it a problem. They just haven't labelled it yet in MLB, but they will.