65 Comments

There is a paranoid side of me that wonders about George exacting revenge on Morey for Harden. Agreeing tonight to sign with the Sixers, then on July 6th backing out and resigning with the Clippers leaving the Sixers to having missed out on the entire free agency period. Just a nagging thought.

Then I get my head together and realize all the 'indecision' was likely cover so it looked like we didn't do the deal beforehand and get fined more draft picks for tampering.

I think the Sixers get Paul George and Andre Drummond. Then resign Batum, RoCo, KJ Martin and either Melton or Oubre but not both. Then keep all their draft picks. Should be a fun next 24 hours.

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I don't think the indecision is that tough to understand. He wants to stay in Los Angeles where he lives and is from but potentially has to take $60 million less guaranteed to do so. Even for people with tons and tons of money that is a lot of money. Hard for me to blame the guy for caring about his peace of mind and quality of life along with money.

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If you had your choice, would you rather sign Paul George or trade for Brandon Ingram + sign KCP?

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Paul George.

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Sign PG. Latter wouldn't be a disaster outcome but would still be a disappointment.

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I’m down with Paul George, but do we think we are legit contenders with him. (>5%?)

Honestly the best part about Paul George is that it’s the “all in move” without moving our entire future

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What kind of contract do we think Klay Thompson gets? As a backup plan, or alternative to PG, I’ve been wondering if Klay + KCP + athletic 3/4 is possible. I’m guessing it would be hard to build a better roster even in the “role players” scenario because those contracts are so inflated.

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Jun 30Edited

My heart wants to sign PG from an NBA2K POV, what a great lineup. But realistically I think it would be a fatal error to pair an often injured 37 year old with our dominant but often injured superstar. The chance of them both being healthy enough to play in playoffs can’t be better than 1 in 4. I’d rather sign KCP and Caleb Martin ( not Max S) along with many of our own free agents not named Tobias or Buddy. Give me a team of strong role players to pair with 2 stars (isn’t that what C’s just did). I think there is better chance of a strong role player exploding in a playoff game 6 or 7 than there is of making it through even 2 series with a healthy Emdib and PG. Plus then, I’m still positioned if someone shakes loose who is younger and more long term later (I.e. pipe dream of LM from Utah).

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He is not 37.

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Yep, 34. My bad. Doesn’t change my fear but I should be accurate.

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I don't know if we can win a title with KCP as our third best player -- I would guess not -- but regardless let's NOT compare that theoretical situation to what the Celtics did. What the Celtics did was win a title with essentially six All-Star/very-near-All-Star-caliber players. KCP would the seventh-best player on that team (with a big gap between six and seven).

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Fair point. I think they will sign him and I hope I’m wrong about him. I’ve been optimistically wrong with this team for so long that it is a good bet that I’m wrong pessimistically this time. Regardless I’ll be holding my breadth and convincing myself that this is the year next spring. Thanks for all you guys do to make this a much more enjoyable team to be a fan of that it would be otherwise.

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Btw when Nurse was with Toronto, he had two 6’ guards and won a title. I believe he’s the perfect coach to make Maxey and McCain work.

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There is simply no chance they envision this as a starting backcourt. Definitely not this year.

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Lowery and VanVleet didn’t start together but they both played significant minutes

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TBF VanVleet didn't start on that title team.

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What move do you think our rivals would prefer us to make? PG + depth/minimums or potential Lauri/KCP/higher-level depth? I have a feeling teams like the Celtics (if they’re even thinking about the sixers at all) would love to see us lock ourselves into $50MM annually for PG.

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Fair or not, if I was a Celtics fan Paul George to Sixers wouldn't really scare me, and I would be PRAYING they mortgaged everything for Brandon Ingram. (I wouldn't want them to get Lauri or Jimmy, but I also wouldn't be terrified of them. Celtics fans really don't have much reason to be scared of any incarnation of the Sixers until they are definitively given one.)

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Thanks, AU!

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What do you think the odds are of actually trading for Lauri? I guess it partially depends on OKC because if they decide they want him, they can easily outbid us? Do you think the Lauri trade and PG signing are independent things or will we bow out of consideration for Lauri if we get PG?

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Almost zero on both. Immensely close to zero.

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Not zero but very low. (And plenty of capologists more capable than me have detailed the near-impossibility of landing both PG and LM.)

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Can someone explain to me the logic of the NBA's rule of not being allowed to trade your own picks in back to back years? Because of this rule, it's the only league that has teams trading picks like 7 years down the line to acquire star players, it's absolutely absurd in my estimation. If teams want to gut their immediate draft capital they should be allowed to do so. Never in your life will you see a team in the NFL trade a pick in the 2030's to acquire a star player. It seems totally untenable to not only allow but encourage pick trading that far out. Why does the NBA structure it this way?

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I mean the logic is very easily explained. The rule is known as the "Stepien Rule" because in the '80s Cavs owner Ted Stepien kept trading away first-rounders in short-sighted trades that doomed his team to irrelevance. The league is a little smarter now but there absolutely would still be owners desperate enough to win now/GMs desperate enough to save their jobs to mortgage their entire futures to add Brandon Ingram or whoever to their roster. Maybe those teams don't deserve to be saved from themselves but if the league does actually care about parity, it makes sense to institute safeguards against those practices.

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Embiid

Batum

George

Maxey

Melton

Oubre

Pope

McCain

Adem

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Sounds cool!

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Do you want Paul George? I don’t. I feel like everyone will get tired of how much of a loser this dude is by Xmas

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Yes

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I don't really want him either but I've come around to conceding that he's the best available option for the Sixers right now and the things that we'll hate him for -- and we *will* hate those things -- won't outweigh his positives, at least for the first year or two. (Unless he just can't stand it here and Horfs it up which is also a possibility.)

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I can’t believe “just feel grateful he’s not Tobias Harris” is the level we’ve sunk to. What a sad state of affairs

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Saw something that said if PG signs with Philly he will help recruit solid role players. Who are the PJ Tucker's and Daniel house's that would follow PG?

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If PG is in, do we have the cap flexibility to bring back Melton, Oubre, or Batum? (gonna assume Lowry could be signed for a vet min)

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Are there any new NBA (on the court) rules rumored for next season that could impact the effectiveness of some veteran players who can't adjust?

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Is DeRozan the backup plan for PG as the next best available FA? If you're DeRozan, do you wait and see what PG does or take the first big $ offer available?

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Signing DeRozan is not a good plan in my opinion. Operates in the same exact spots as Embiid. And for everyone saying PG is a playoff loser...

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Reports are saying that DeRozan is indeed waiting on PG. I like the DeRozan back-up plan option (and would personally prefer it in a lot of ways) but PG would probably be better for the team and Daryl isn't likely to splurge on DeRozan anyway.

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Which is more likely if PG joins?

He goes 2 for 5 in a playoff game.

He misses at least 2 games through injury

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Always bet on injury.

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