By the time we all wake up tomorrow, your Philadelphia 76ers may very well have traded Allen Iverson, the rest of the team, moved back to Syracuse, and fired that old guy that takes the tickets. Billy King appears to be trying to work his ‘magic’ in making a trade that is as complicated as possible in order to not appear like he got swindled in dealing Allen Iverson. Here is what Billy has said about the matter:
“I doubt if we will move up,” King said. “There’s been a lot of conversation, talking to people, but right now it doesn’t look as good. That could change within the hour. You get some crazy phone calls at this time.”
Essentially, he doubts they will move up unless they do. Ignoring whether we should be dealing one of the premiere guards in the league, essentially pointing at him and saying “THAT’S the problem!”, the Sixers are in a bit of a rock and a hard place. If they don’t move up in the draft and/or deal Allen, they will be accused of standing pat and accepting losing, and will probably fight for that 8th playoff spot again next year. If they do make a move and trade away The Answer, they will most assuredly lose a lot of games next season because Billy King has never been known as a man to get the most out of ANY deal. They’re stuck, but they only have themselves to blame, because Billy King has had an amazing history in signing any player with a pulse to long-term deals. This beefs up the cap with borderline talent, and thus they have finally reached the end game: destruction of the Sixers as we know them.
Hearing names such as Eddie Jones, Troy Murphy, and Carlos Boozer as ‘tradable’ pieces does not exactly scream PLAYOFFS. We shall see though…the Sixers could surprise us all and wheel and deal themselves into the top 8 or even top 5 of the draft while still keeping their #13 pick AND getting rid of Chris Webber in the process. They could also deal away Allen and our #13, get back some bloated one year deals, end up drafting someone in the top 8 which they could have gotten at 13 anyway, and then spend two years racking up the losses.
In any event, the NBA Draft is tonight at 7pm on ESPN live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Let’s hope for the best.
And wouldn’t it be fucking sweet if Lowry fell to us in the 2nd round? He’s going to be a BEAST in the pros.
Do you trust this man?
No Winners here
There are no clear winners in this year's draft. Not a single pick is a no brainer. Which means anybody can justify anything they do. There is no savior on the free agent market. There are no simple or satisfying way to trade Allen . There is no magic move Billy can make. We just have to get lucky.