Sixers have to make more moves

The Sixers enter an off-season filled with many questions marks. On the one hand, they are an above average team, with a good mix of veterans and improving young players. On the other hand, they are in that area where they are too good to get into the lottery, and too bad to make a serious run in the playoffs. Therefore, many things need to happen before we head into next season. First, we need to shake up the starting lineup a little bit. We need to go into next season with a new starter at the shooting guard and center position. Willie Green and Samuel Dalembert just cannot cut it in the starting lineup. Willie Green is a great guy, and does a lot for the community, but he is not a starting 2 guard in this league, especially for a team that wants to make it past the first round of the playoffs. The Sixers should be able to get rid of Green, he is a serviceable player. Green and Kapono are both not starters, and since Kapono is the sharp shooter, Green has to go. Samuel Dalembert is a typical basketball punk who is over-paid and will never live up to his potential. One night he will give you 20 and 20, and the next night he gives you 8 and 8 (his career average). He requested a trade, yet no team in the league would take him because Billy King gave him a 15% trade kicker... and cause he sucks. Sometime during this season, Dalembert announced that he should take more 3 pointers. He cannot even make a 10 foot jump shot. He was kicked off the Canadian National Team for being a jackass. Basically, Dalembert is a joke, and cannot be the starting center on the Sixers. I think the only way to solve this problem is to offer him a buy-out.

Next on the Sixers radar is the upcoming draft. If the Sixers do not make a move on draft night and stick with the 17th overall pick, 3 point guards come to mind: Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor, and Jeff Teague. You never know what will happen on draft night or leading up to the draft, but Stefanski is already on record stating that the Sixers will be looking for the best available guard. As the draft gets closer, we at Kotite's Corner will give an in-depth analysis on each of those three point guards and our recommendation to Stefanski. Right now, I will discuss the possibility of trading up. I believe that Ricky Rubio is going to be a great player, a player that only comes around every 3-5 years in the draft. To get him, you will have to trade up somewhere in the 2-4 pick range. As the Sixers currently stand, you have two pieces of trade bait: Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young. After Brand (if he ever returns to form), these are your next two best players. Problem is, they play the same position. One has to go at some point in the near future to improve this lineup for the long term. I am not sure which player currently has move value in a trade. Thaddeus Young is still raw, has an amazing upside, and is still on his rookie contract. Andre Iguodala has proven to be a great player in this league, but has a max contract. The Memphis Grizzlies expressed an interest in Iguodala last year during the free agency period, and they have the cap room to take on Iguodala's contract. Memphis also has a bad reputation with Spanish players, with Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro not working out there. Rubio has already made it known that he does not want to play in Memphis. I say we offer the 17th pick and Andre Iguodala for the 2nd overall pick and select Ricky Rubio. Rubio has the chance to be the best point guard in this draft, which is loaded with point guards. Even though Iguodala gives you the best chance to win right now, the Sixers need to shake things up, so we don't stay in the position of "middle of the pack" for years to come.

Sixers Hire Eddie Jordan

Sixers hired Eddie Jordan as their next head coach. This is no surprise, because he is Stefanski's boy from their days at the Nets. Eddie Jordan has a head coaching record of 230-288 (Sacramento and Washington).

"I saw firsthand the immense impact Eddie Jordan had in helping the Nets reach two NBA Finals and as the head coach in Washington he consistently put his teams in a position to win on a nightly basis," Stefanski said Friday night. "He embodies all the qualities I was looking for in the next head coach of the Sixers and we are very excited to have him in Philadelphia."

It has been rumored that Jordan signed a multi-year deal worth about 4 million per season. The Sixers will have a news conference to announce Jordan as the next head coach sometime on Monday.

Letter to Ed Stefanski

Dear Ed,

After the news came across the wire that Elton Brand would need season ending surgery, I think that I have the answers for you, and they don’t include signing Stephane Lasme from the EuroLeague (although that would be nice). Right now the Sixers are playing better without Brand, but this is still a huge blow to them for two reasons. First, Brand is signed for 5 years. Although he did not find his way in our offense, we are delaying the inevitable fact that we will have to come to some compromise as a team and learn to play up-tempo and fit around Brand’s strengths. We are delaying this learning process another year. The next problem this creates is that we got Brand in order to play half court basketball in the playoffs. Without Brand in this offense, we will not win a single round in the playoffs.

All of this being said, what do the Sixers do now? They will continue to run a high tempo offense and will make the playoffs. The Sixers need to make a decision on Andre Miller before the trade deadline. If you decide to keep him, I want Miller to sign an extension before the trade deadline. My thought is Miller does not want to stay in Philadelphia, but you would know better. He has taught this young team a good amount about basketball, but Miller is getting towards the end of his career, and he wants to play for a team that can win this year. So if Miller does not resign, I want you to trade him for an available player that fits our needs: to Orlando, who just lost Nelson for the season for a package that includes JJ Redick (Magic just traded for Lue, but we all watched the Sixers-Lakers finals and know he is not the answer and is a chump), or Portland for one of their young guards such as Bayless, Fernandez or Rodriguez. Either of these trades will help get something for Miller before he leaves for free agency, and it will help fill in gaps that we have on our team right now.

Listen, even if the Sixers do not make the playoffs without Miller, no one is coming to the games anyway and without Brand we have to play for next year not this year. Making a move to trade Miller is what is needed to be done right now, even if it makes the team worse this year. Also, while we are at it, could you please do us a favor and unload Green and Dalembert?

We still feel as if you are turning our Sixers around, and despite the current Brand situation, we feel as if you are doing a very good job with the Sixers, and we definitely still support you.

Thank you,
Kotite’s Corner

In Ed We Trust

Philadelphia native and Penn grad, Ed Stefanski took over the Sixers last winter and changed the culture of a losing team. He got rid of fan favorite, sharp-shooter Kyle Korver and told head coach Maurice Cheeks to play an upbeat style of offense and defense with his young team. The team responded well, becoming one of the hottest teams to end the season, gaining a playoff birth in their first “Iversonless” season. They drew the hard-nose veteran team of the Pistons in the first round. They surprised the Pistons taking the series to 6 games before losing.

Fast forward to this off season, the Sixers have a good amount of cap room, but do not seem to have a enough to sign the top prize of the class, Elton Brand. In a surprising move that came from left field, Stefanski unloads Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth and a protected first rounder for a conditional second rounder, then he signs Elton Brand. He also resigned young stars in Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams. With the buzz created from last year’s turn-around and the signing of Brand, Stefanski was able to lure key veteran bench contributors in Kareem Rush, Donyell Marshall, Royal Ivey, and the return of Theo Ratliff. The Sixers also drafted freakish athlete Marreese Speights, who should see some playing time, since Jason Smith is out for the season.

The predicted starting line-up for the season opener is:
1. Miller
2. Iguodala
3. Young
4. Brand
5. Dalembert

Iggy has moved from small forward to shooting guard. Although A.I. 2.0 is better suited to play the 3, the Sixers had to open a spot for standout rookie of last year Thaddeus Young who really thrived in the new Stefanski-style offense. Most of last season, Young played out of position at power forward. If Iggy and Young can improve their outside game this year, they will both be very difficult to stop. Andre Miller had his best year statistically last year, and will continue to be a great court general. His assist numbers should improve with the ability to run a frequent pick and roll with Elton Brand. Brand has averaged 20 and 10 over his career. Although he may not reach those numbers (we are predicting 17 and 9) he will open up the offense, like we have not seen on the Sixers in a long time. Last year during the playoffs, the Pistons swarmed and embarrassed Iguodala every time he drove to the basket. This year it will be difficult for defending teams to give help defense in the paint without the threat of kicking it to Brand for a dunk or a ten-footer. The Haitian Sensation, Sammy D, should be able to mostly concentrate on D and rebounding this year. Brand will take a good amount of offensive pressure off of Sam. This should open him up for a few easy dunks a game and not too many shots. Look for Sam to be in the leaders of field goal percentage this year.

The Sixers have their best bench since Iverson and Larry Brown led them to the NBA finals. 6th man candidate Lou Williams just knows how to score. He really does not have a position. He is too small for the 2 and cannot handle the ball and lead the team well enough for the 1. Look for him to continue to grow as a point guard as he is going to be the PG of the future. Although he will not start, he will rack up a good amount of minutes. We also have former starter Willie Green coming off the bench who can also have a scorers touch. With Brand in the middle and the eventual double team coming ever time he gets the ball, not having a good outside shooting team can really hurt production. Stefanski addressed this by signing Rush and Marshall who have career 3 point percentages of 36.0 and 34.8, respectively. These two coming off the bench should give the Sixers the outside option they will desperately need. We all know what Theo Ratliff can do. Although he is not as athletic as he was with his first stint with the Sixers, he can sniff out block shots like a bloodhound. Royal Ivey also is a great defender and can shut down the opponents PG, when Miller is getting a breather. Ivey and Ratliff know their roles as defensive specialists.

The Sixers have vastly improved from last year, but so has the Eastern conference in general. Former playoff teams, the Bulls and Heat had the first two picks in the draft, and should return to form with possible playoff births. The Sixers opening day opponent, the Raptors traded for Jermaine O’Neal. If healthy, having Chris Bosh and O’Neal should be a great 1-2 punch for Toronto. The defending champs lost James Posey, which will hurt them, but they still have the big 3. The Cavs seems to be suffering from what the Sixers used to struggle with, which is finding a great second option to their super-star. The Cavs had made multiple deals over the past few years to try and get a Pippen to their Jordan. This years attempt was former Bucks PG Mo Williams. The 5th year PG from Alabama averaged 17 ppg last year. Orlando will still be in the playoff picture with their young team developing and getting more experience together. The Wizards if their key players can stay healthy, they have Agent 0 back this year. Atlanta has a good 1-5 and if Josh Smith continues to grow, they could surprise some people this year. They should battle the Bulls for the last playoff spot in the East.

Our predicted 1-8 in the East is:

1. Celtics, 2. Cavs, 3. Sixers, 4. Magic, 5. Pistons, 6. Raptors, 7. Wizard, 8. Hawks

Saturday in South Philly

Kotite's Corner spend the day Saturday down in South Philly for a huge day in Philadelphia sports. Here is a recap of how the day went--

2:00 p.m. - Arrived at the stadium complex, parked in the Lincoln Financial Field parking lot with a case of Yuengling.

3:00 p.m. - Hanging out at the Phillies block party, and tailgating, even though we don't have tickets for the game.

3:30 p.m. - It starts to rain hard, so we go into the Wachovia Center, since we do have tickets for the Flyers game.

7:00 p.m. - Flyers win in overtime on a goal by Jeff Carter. Great game, Flyers get their 2nd straight win, lots of fights, and an overtime win. Can't ask for more than that leading up to the Phillies game.

7:30 p.m. - Back outside in the parking lot, everyone is going crazy in the rain getting ready for the game.

8:00 p.m. - Inside the Wachovia Center again at the AT&T Pavilion.

8:30 p.m. - I see Ed Stefanski, president and GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, and get some exclusive one-on-one time with him. Stefanski informs Kotite's Corner that he is excited for the start of the Sixers season, and hopes that everyone comes out to the games this year. Stefanski is the man.

9:30 p.m. - Phillies game still hasn't started. We head over to McFadden's in the rain, and the line is out the door halfway down the long sidewalk. It's already packed inside also, and I doubt anyone is leaving anytime soon.

10:00 p.m. - Phillies game finally starts, we are with a good crowd back in the Wachovia Center.

1:47 a.m. - Phillies win!!! Everyone is going crazy!!!!!!

Flyers win, Phillies win, and we spoke with Ed Stefanski. Can't ask for a better Saturday in South Philly.