Fixing Daryl's Offseason
The Opening Tip
Hello & Happy Almost Weekend - It's the Corner Three!
Ricky Ticket Deals
1. TBT IS BACK! And it's coming to Philly on August 2nd and 3rd. Get buy-one-get-one-free tickets for TBT at this link with the code TBTBOGO.
2. Our buddy Amos Lee is playing a show at the Mann Center TONIGHT with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Honestly, it's going to be fucking awesome. Get $10 off tickets by going to this link, hitting the UNLOCK button in the upper right and using code RICKY.
Oh Yeah, The Sixers
Top Ten will return next week but today we have a special (how the fuck did we get here again) 5 questions
1. Seriously, how did we get here again in so little time nonetheless?
Well, I wish it was a simple answer. However, I can say that it continues to center around (no pun intended) a star player and front office yet to be in total lockstep on right move/next move/best move. When the pieces continue to change and the running mates come and go, you can't help but look at the constants.
2. Who do you think is ultimately to blame?
I'm personally annoyed and tired of Harden/Morey/Embiid group so I'm going to give equal parts to them.
3. Is Daryl Morey on the hot seat?
I don't see why not. He inherited a team that wasn't quite good enough and turned it into something that is not quite good enough. When/If the day of reckoning does come, I don't see anyone saying he didn't get a fair shake.
4. How do you expect the Harden hostage crisis to end?
He will be a Clipper sooner than later I believe, and I think the Clips will pony up one serviceable player and enough other stuff for Daryl to acquire himself one shiny Zach Lavine.
5. Is the Embiid magic wearing thin with fans?
For sure. Pretty simple. That Game 7 performance will be all people think about and see until he clinches a finals birth and honestly they are correct. We're all out of favors.
Mike's Corner... Fixing The Offseason
Every week Spike or Mike will give you something that's on their mind. It's Mike's week, and he's redoing the offseason.
Haryl Morey (goes by Daryl) said on the radio that we shouldn’t read too much into the roster in July. But in lieu of more leaked white boards, this is what we got. So let’s criticize him and hope he proves us wrong.
This offseason, the Sixers let Shake, Niang, and McDaniels walk. Matched Bball Paul. Signed Mo Bamba and Pat Bev to the minimum. Committed tax fraud and human rights violations by re-signing Montrezl Harrell. Then Filip Petrusev finally came over (to nowhere near Dario commotion — John Clark didn’t even track his plane). And they made their draft night announcements official, in signing Terq Smith, Ricky Council and the Rights To Ricky Council, and Azuolas Tubelis to 2-way deals.
Daryl should’ve let me handle this part. I can’t do anything about Harden, that’s above my pay grade. And I’ve already submitted enough Tobias trades into Elton’s mail slot. But the end of the bench is my domain. So here’s what I would’ve done.
- Re-sign McDaniels to the deal he got with Toronto. Youth. Size. 2-way upside. Tradeable contract. He simply can’t miss as many alley-oops this season. If he just didn’t want to be here, I’d have given Malik Beasley this contract (which is better than the one he signed w/ Milwaukee).
- Kiss Shake & Niang and sadly watch them walk away.
- I am more than amenable to Bamba & Pat at the minimum.
- Delete Trez’s number and get a new phone, then change my identity and move off the grid. Learn the right kind of plants to eat and which bugs taste okay. Sell blood & semen to sustain my lavish forest lifestyle. Remarry, to a possum or a loose goat, whichever I vibe with first. Not sign Montrezl Harrell.
- I would convert Terquavion Smith to the main roster. He rules, should’ve been drafted, and you can get him on a 4-year minimum deal now. A wonderful UDFA by the front office. He fills out his body, he works through mistakes, he gets rotation minutes sooner than we expect. The frame is thin but the defensive effort is there to hold up as a good bench scorer on or off ball with some occasional creation upside, maybe more. Kid can play.
- Keep Ricky Council on a 2-way. The shot needs a full 100% teardown. Doesn’t even make sense to play him in live games until he can shoot like a person. Send him to the Phillies Instructional Complex for Extended Spring Training, whatever. He’s not an NBA player unless he can hit off the catch.
- Backsies on a Tubelis 2-way deal. not an NBA player.
- Trade Petrusev for a 2nd rounder. He’s got an intriguing level of soft touch from 12 feet in, but he’s so unwilling to let it fly on pick & pop that with his lack of athleticism, I can’t waste the roster spot on him. Get me a future pick and let’s get a wing in here for chrissakes.
- Sign Javonte Green to the minimum. With his athleticism and motor and cutting instincts, and not nearly as bad a jumper as his market seems to indicate, he’s an NBA player and I believe he’d be a helpful addition to our rotation right away. There’s obviously a lot of other intriguing minimum guys who signed elsewhere, but let’s assume they don’t want to be here and this Javonte remains unsigned. Fellow Bull/Bul Derrick Jones Jr is also an unsigned option if he’d come for the vet min.
- So with Terq up and Tubelis out, that leaves two 2-way spots with RTRC. For simplicity’s sake, let’s keep it to in-house options and decide between the 4 most interesting SummerSixers guys available - DJ Steward, Javonte Smart, Jordan Tucker, and Greg Brown. I’d probably go Smart and Tucker, who both really impressed me and have the positional versatility to pop in a limited role as a diamond in the rough.
So your 18 are the starters (out of my purview), then Beverley/Melton/House/McDaniels/Bball, then Terq/Springer/Korkmaz/Javonte#1/Bamba, with Podcast Ricky, Javonte#2, and Jordan Tucker as 2-ways. A few dozen less centers and a couple more intriguing wings and ballhandlers, with athleticism that is actually surprisingly legal in the NBA bylaws. Barring the big roster maneuvers Daryl is teasing at, this is the roster I’d have, and even though your championship probability wouldn’t change much, it gives you more upside guys for the future or to include in trades while staying pretty cap clean for next offseason. Plus I just think they’d be a more intriguing & versatile roster this year.
(Also trading Korkmaz is outside my department because his body is physically freeze-dried into the practice facility so we are unable to move him.)
Iced Tea + Lemonade + Vodka = Too Good
Peace, Love and Process Call Your Parents - Go for a Walk
-Zo