My apologies

Hi All...

This has been the slowest week of posting in our short history, and I assure you we'll be back at it next week...Mrs. 76BigShot is under the weather and we have our priorities straight over here.

I apologize as I know we all need our Sixer Fix.

Few thoughts before I go though...
- I hope we keep this roster this year regardless of record. If they can get a low post scorer on the cheap that's fine, but please don't touch OUR (Sixers Fans) Salary Cap.
- Heard Dick Jerardi a few days ago regarding the Tim Donaghy mess, and he had a few comments about the Sixers. The one that caught my ear was that the Sixers don't have a "#1" on the roster and until they do, they're kinda not going anywhere. Can't really argue with that. #1's do come on the market from time to time though; the Rasheed Wallace auction in 2004 comes to mind. That was a team that had all the support pieces in place and 'Sheed just gave them a player other teams had to double in the low post. Those guys do come on the market.
- I'll be buying beers for our loyal readers at the Portland game this year...looking forward to meeting all of you. More details to come.
- We have a few guest columns coming in over the next few weeks which I'm excited about - angry Cecil just wants to get going in the right direction.

Thanks to all again for your patience and look forward to posting next week.

Phil Jasner

I was re-reading some news and ran across this article that Phil Jasner wrote. Billy King's quotes are very telling.



(I love that "look")

More Musings..

First, a big thanks to all the new readers...I really hope everyone comes here for their 76ers information and opinion. My goal is to make this your "Sixers Homepage"...to that, please take advantage of the links on the right --->...if there is a link that you use that isn't there, let me know!

76bigshot@gmail.com

Onto the real stuff...

I was looking at the Sixers Salary Cap ... we all know what it looks like, but to look at it this summer with the salaries lined up it takes on a different form than it might have recently.

There's been a lot of conjecture about what Andre Iguodala is going to cost the team against the cap when his first contract is up - after this season - after what has happened w/ Rashard Lewis and his insane contract.

If you figure the cap remains at 54 million-ish for the next few years, being conservative, the sixers will be at $35 million with AI's existing 3.8 million. That should give them plenty of room to overpay slightly but not blow their cap room up. They would still have over 10 million dollars under the cap, a midlevel exception, and Andre Millers expiring 10 million dollar contract to move.

The other good aspect, to me at least, is that most of the young talent, with the exception being Louis Williams, is locked into low salaries for the next three years. The only albatross is Dalembert, but he's 7 feet tall, blocks shots and is very very very slowly improving.

After the cap situation is flexible, the team will have a good read on all the talent (as it will have played quality minutes in 2007-8) and can make a decision about which direction to go. They will also not win more than 35 games this season, which should yield another high pick in a relatively strong draft.

What if Thad Young is better than we think? What is Louis Williams has to play big minutes because Andre Miller pulls a hamstring and is just good? They could both stink too....point being that Billy King & Co. can make those decisions with more data and their backs not up against the wall with the cap.

Assets...We're Talking Assets

Chad Ford put in a great piece today on free agency and the idiocy that goes into it.

Phil Sheridan at the Inquirer also did a piece today on the Sixers rebuilding pace.

Looking at both, seems the Sixers have a tough call to make on Andre Iguodala and whether he merits a "max" contract. Right now? No. And I hate that because I want him to be a part of the solution here.

We're talkin...summer league

Ugh.

So I'm going to free-flow some thought of the past week and hopefully it will make sense.

The draft overall...Man was I and the rest of you upset with the draft. Fuming. I was sure that Julian Wright was going to play for the sixers...check the record. This is not Thad Young's fault. I'll say it again - while he wasn't the top player on the board according to Jay Bilas, it was obvious this is the guy they were going to take if they couldn't move up to get Yi.

Yi! Jeez...he still might be a Sixer, but at what cost? He was the guy they were chasing? He can rebound? Can Yi adjust to the NBA like Yao did from a mental standpoint? Yao struggles his first few seasons...which Thad Young is going to do.

On to Mr. Young...I'm not sure that you can equate a year in college at Georgia Tech comparable to Ohio State, Florida, or Texas...they actually make you study at Georgia Tech. A few more things I like about Young - the fact that he's still growing, maybe not so much from a height perspective (although he thinks he can grow another 2 inches) but from a weight perspective. He has a body like Scottie Pippen. Pippen was a QTip when he came into the league and developed about 25 lbs of muscle and was a huge physical mismatch on the wing. Young was the #3 player coming out of high school behind Oden and Durant....remember that 3 Florida players stayed in school, Jeff Green kinda came out of no where, and there was a backlog of good top end players. I'm trying to tell myself that they saw a higher end Andre Igoudala who could be a leader in 5 years.

I like Jason Smith pick, but why did they have to move up? For those of you who would have rather had Dequan Cook...he won't be productive for a few years. Maybe 5.

I understand why they traded down per se; you don't want three guaranteed contracts when you can get a player one pick down who isn't committed We at 76bigshot feel that the salary cap comes before almost anything unless it concerns a high end young superstar. I like Byers but I really don't know about Herbert Hill...I hope McRoberts doesn't turn into something. Honestly though I've never gotten a 2nd round pick right so why should I have this year.

I'm not expecting much before or during the season...maybe a swap here or there to fiddle with the roster. but unless a fight breaks out with a team and player

So what do we have? Not what I expected.

A first round pick next year and the opening of the cap...It's tough to put all your eggs in those baskets.