The dust has settled after the most entertaining Sixers draft in a long time (maybe ever). I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that losing Jrue is still bothering me. I’ve had a lot of people ask why in the world would Hinkie trade a 23-year old All-Star point guard for a guy that is coming with an ACL injury (Noel), then draft a point guard that can’t shoot (Carter-Williams). It’s a fair question. I have even thought about that myself and the only thing I can come up with is “Assets”.
When I say assets I mean value in players. I put myself in Hinkie’s shoes. He took over a franchise that had no direction (thanks to the Bynum fiasco), not much talent on the roster, and fan base that was hanging on by a thread. The Sixers needed a shake up in the worst way and Hinkie knew it from day one in office. Hinkie looked down this roster and saw one guy with any real value around the league. Unfortunately, that was Jrue Holiday. Spencer Hawes has some value (sorry to say it, but he does), Thad Young likely has a decent amount of value but not enough to garner the package the Sixers got for Jrue. Evan Turner’s value? Who knows. He looked to be traded a few times on draft night and nothing happen. Other then those three players nobody else would have any value.
So it came down to Jrue. Do I think that the Sixers could’ve built around Jrue? Yes, but it would have likely taken longer. Hinkie saw a team with one asset and he turned that one asset into two. Say what you want, if Noel hadn’t torn his ACL he would have likely gone number one overall. Some people have called him another Andrew Bynum. I totally disagree with that statement. Bynum has no cartilage and a degenerative knee condition. That is complete different than a torn ACL.
You have Al Harrington, David West, Jamal Crawford, Kendrick Perkins, and Al Jefferson just to name a few who have been just as good after tearing their ACL’s. Obviously, everyone’s body is different but Noel is just 19- years old and he should be fine. What could be even more important is Hinkie acquired a 1st round pick in next year’s draft. The 2014 draft class is considered to be the deepest draft since the 2003 draft (LeBron, Melo ,Wade, Bosh, and West).
I have said it before, sometimes you have to take a step back (maybe two or three) to move forward. Hinkie was looking for more assets for a team that barely had any and it looks like he accomplished that.
By the way, the Sixers have $23.4 million committed to 4 players (Thad, J-Rich, Carter-Williams, Noel) in 2014-15. They could be $37 million below cap for next off-season.
There is some-sort of risk with any player comign off a Knee Injury..
Noel’s probably won’t be ready until post NBA All-Start Break next Febuary
and should be eased in slowly as he needs to strengthen/bulk up to begin with..
No rush for him for the 2013 Season, but it would be nice to see him play in 25- 30 games next Spring to gain some Confidence & NBA Experience and then be 100% Ready for the 2014 Season.. Kis is 19 and has a good 10-12 Year Career ahead of him or longer if he stays healthy..
Big Players don’t seem to heal quite as well/quick as smaller players.. but I would much rather it be his “Knee” than a Foot/Ankle problem which for a big guy is the beginning of the of the end and difficult to overcome
The best you can hope for with Noel is Dwight Howard with less a lot less scoring ability until he shows some capacity to excel in that area. Worst case scenario, in my mind, he turns out to be like Brook Lopez or Serge Ibaka…if he fits in either of those two categories it’s a failed trade to me. They are decent, but you can’t build a team around Serge Ibaka or Brook Lopez. As far as next year…it’s next year and every NBA draft is pretty much a crap shoot after the first two picks if not just after the first pick some years.
No where near like a Dwight Howard..
Noels is like a Marcus Camby, Theo Ratliffe which is a Shot Blocker, Rebounder, alters shots but is Offensivley Challenged but has some years to Develop his game..
Remember how many analysts’s thought that Roy Hibbert was a complete Stiff out of College (Georgetown) a few Years ago and how he would only be klnown for his Defense, now fast forward 3-4 Years and Hibbert is one of the Top all-around Centers in the NBA>. It takes time, good coaching, enerfy and dedication and some patience.. at lease this Noels kid has a high motor and noe shy of working hard and is very Coachable from all sources unlike that bum-ass Bynum the 76ers traded for last year
I’ve read where Bynum is refusing to even give workouts to Teams that are showing an interest in him,, Is that guy a complete ass or is he still not in shape to even give a 30 minute workout– what a “Bum-Ass” he truly is and was spot on about his poor attitude and lack of work ethic last year when they traded for him… I get pissed just typing his Bum-Ass Name..
Butch, think Samuel Dalembert. This kid has ZERO offensive ability.
yea i think you are right Dcar sammy d or mutombo is about what he translates to. 8-12 rebs/game, 3+ blocks per game, around 10-12 pts a game
If you can block 3-4 Shots and alter another half-dozen shots (which translates into bad shots by the other team and misses) and add 10-12 Pts and 8-10 Rebounds a game, that,s pretty productive if you ask me.. Blocks, Rebounds, altered Shots will lead to Transition and Fast Break opportunites where Rookie Guard MCW can get out and run and utilize his best skills at his early stage of his Career
i agree with that also paul. its what sammy d and mutumbo did.. difference between sammy d and dikembe was dikembe could hold his own against other true bigs where sammy couldnt
Wella a good thing is that the NBA doesn’t really feature a lot of
“True Centers” anymore.. There’s just a few left and most Big Men in today’s NBA are the more long,athletic and play outside quite a bit as opposed to the Big Bangers who strictly hand around the paint of Years Past..
My understanding is that there is a guy in next years draft that is pegged to have the impact that L. James had coming into the league. If the sixers re in a better place to get that kind of talent it does not matter what happens with Noel. Noel is the bonus addition to having more ammo to get top talent next year.
This team has needed to get younger for a while. They got rid of players who are good enough to help them win too much to ever really get better. It’s a win and I like it. Phillies and Flyers need to Follow suit.
Besides any kid that can rock the Kid n Play haircut has got to be alright. 🙂
Let him take his sweet old time coming back. He should focus on getting stronger and a little heavier, not too much because you want it to be normal weight gain. he will and weight anyway as he gets his grown man strength he is only 19. If he can give me Camby in his prime numbers (12points 3blocks 11reb 1.5steals) and stay healthy doing it something Camby couldn’t do Im fine with that. With his activity level there should be plays that won’t show up on the stat sheet to go along with his #’s. Sixers need to lose games without obviously tanking it Noel not playing is a way to do it. 20 games is good for me. Celtics and a few others are set to just tank it like they have done in the past. Wiggins and Parker is like getting a Mini LeBron or Melo so its more than worth teams looking bad I just hope we can get one.