Sometimes i hate living out here in AZ cause Suns fans are Fing delusional. The amount that state they’d take Ayton right now over embiid is comical. If you switched Ayton and embiid, the Suns are likely the overwhelming favorite at the start of the playoffs and Booker and Paul would be the two best players Hes likely ever going to play with. Meanwhile Ayton would have the issues embiid currently does with spacing due to Simmons and the roster constructed. There’s no way the sixers are a 1 seed out here with Ayton having to be the guy every night. 

if you were going to tell me you want him cause health concerns over embiid that makes some sense. But talent wise at this moment embiid is a far superior player and getting way less help then Ayton with that roster. 

Kind of depressing  on the first night of the ECF that the "Soccer" thread has been the last replied to thread for the last hour.

Just so everyone knows we drafted Simmons 5 years ago today. And boy are we still paying for it lol 

3 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Sometimes i hate living out here in AZ cause Suns fans are Fing delusional. The amount that state they’d take Ayton right now over embiid is comical. If you switched Ayton and embiid, the Suns are likely the overwhelming favorite at the start of the playoffs and Booker and Paul would be the two best players Hes likely ever going to play with. Meanwhile Ayton would have the issues embiid currently does with spacing due to Simmons and the roster constructed. There’s no way the sixers are a 1 seed out here with Ayton having to be the guy every night. 

if you were going to tell me you want him cause health concerns over embiid that makes some sense. But talent wise at this moment embiid is a far superior player and getting way less help then Ayton with that roster. 

A couple seasons ago when there was a debate on whether Joel and Ben could co-exist and Joel's health was a concern for us, I was behind the trade idea of offering Embiid + filler for Ayton and Booker.  Of course, since then Booker has really blossomed and Ayton looks to be a boarder-line All Star. 

Ooph

15 minutes ago, therealdawk20 said:

A couple seasons ago when there was a debate on whether Joel and Ben could co-exist and Joel's health was a concern for us, I was behind the trade idea of offering Embiid + filler for Ayton and Booker.  Of course, since then Booker has really blossomed and Ayton looks to be a boarder-line All Star. 

I like Ayton a lot. Met him multiple times. He’s a great kid. People at Arizona always spoke highly of him. M I think he’s going to be an all star type player going forward. I’d even argue currently he’s the 4th best center in the league behind embiid, jokic and AD. 

However his job is made much much MUCH easier on the offensive end having Booker, Paul and bridges. If you put embiid in that offense i think he’s going to be ridiculously efficient and dominate. I also think he likely doesnt wear down by the end of games because he’s not forced game in and game out  for an entire season and playoffs to just have to dominate in order for the sixers to win. 

Not sure Ayton develops as fast if he’s here in Philly unless you got someone like Booker with him. Sadly there was a time 2 years ago where Booker wanted out of Phoenix and Simmons was widely considered a player that could be used to acquire him. Not happening now. 

TIWIW

 

19 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I like Ayton a lot. Met him multiple times. He’s a great kid. People at Arizona always spoke highly of him. M I think he’s going to be an all star type player going forward. I’d even argue currently he’s the 4th best center in the league behind embiid, jokic and AD. 

. 

I think you forgot about KAT 

18 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

I think you forgot about KAT 

I’d argue KAT is one of the more overrated players in the league. Yeah he probably is better at this moment then Ayton but Ayton is 22. at this moment KAT is the better offensive player but I’d argue Ayton is better on the defensive end (statmuse has KAT at 113 and Ayton at 108 (one of the best in the league)). I also think Ayton isn’t featured like Kat cause of paul and Booker so he doesn’t have the numbers KAT does. KAT shot 17.5 shots per game this year whereas Ayton is at 10. If Ayton averaged 7.5 more shots per game at his average career percentage of 59% (4.5-7.5 to get that percentage so 4.5 field goal makes per game) his points this year goes from 14 to 23.  Id probably take Ayton over KAT cause i think Ayton is eventually going to get to being 22-24 ppg guy when Paul slows down so he gets more shots and i think his defense is better. 

Kobe quotes on Simmons found...

Quote

"Well, he's gotta get a jump shot. Listen, it sounds humorous and all that, but I'm deadass serious. If not, he'll regret it when his career is over. When you look at what he's doing now without that, it's astonishing. Now imagine you can shoot the ball. What does that open up for you? You don't want to retire and look back and go 'Man, if I just had a jump shot, what would I have done?' You don't want that, you don't want that. So I don't care if you have to lock yourself in the gym for 10 hours a day. If this kid gets a jump shot, it's a serious, serious problem. To answer your question, sky is the limit for him. He can be as good as he wants to be."

 

4 minutes ago, Gannan said:

Kobe quotes on Simmons found...

 

Kobe wasn’t wrong. It’s what all of us have been saying for years. If he does it there’s no telling how great of a player he can be. Unfortunately he seems to not want to accept that or work like that to have that in his repertoire . 

 

Doc needs to go as much as Simmons does.

40 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I’d argue KAT is one of the more overrated players in the league. Yeah he probably is better at this moment then Ayton but Ayton is 22. at this moment KAT is the better offensive player but I’d argue Ayton is better on the defensive end (statmuse has KAT at 113 and Ayton at 108 (one of the best in the league)). I also think Ayton isn’t featured like Kat cause of paul and Booker so he doesn’t have the numbers KAT does. KAT shot 17.5 shots per game this year whereas Ayton is at 10. If Ayton averaged 7.5 more shots per game at his average career percentage of 59% (4.5-7.5 to get that percentage so 4.5 field goal makes per game) his points this year goes from 14 to 23.  Id probably take Ayton over KAT cause i think Ayton is eventually going to get to being 22-24 ppg guy when Paul slows down so he gets more shots and i think his defense is better. 

We will see but right now KAT is way more offensively gifted, shot 40% from 3 previous tow year on a good amount of attempts and 38% with his whole family basically dying from COVID and him getting it as well. He fits right beside Simmons as a player that doesn't give a F a about basketball 

25 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

Think that Cavs 3rd pick is for the taking and hope somehow we work into it. Whether it be for a future or vet or Green/Suggs. 

38 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Kobe wasn’t wrong. It’s what all of us have been saying for years. If he does it there’s no telling how great of a player he can be. Unfortunately he seems to not want to accept that or work like that to have that in his repertoire . 

I think he's right that he will look back with regret when its all over. 

7 minutes ago, Gannan said:

I think he's right that he will look back with regret when its all over. 

I dont. You have to remember this is Ben, who doesnt care about basketball. Hes never going to care that he didnt get himself in the HOF, or win multiple championships. The only thing he ever might regret is not working just barely enough to eek out a 2nd max contract. But in the end he has already secured generational wealth. He will get another hefty contract even if its nowhere near max. And hes likely going to be very content with all that. 

2 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

I dont. You have to remember this is Ben, who doesnt care about basketball. Hes never going to care that he didnt get himself in the HOF, or win multiple championships. The only thing he ever might regret is not working just barely enough to eek out a 2nd max contract. But in the end he has already secured generational wealth. He will get another hefty contract even if its nowhere near max. And hes likely going to be very content with all that. 

Why does he care so much about being an all star I wonder? He's just a weird dude. I can't begin to try to figure him out. 

2 minutes ago, Gannan said:

Why does he care so much about being an all star I wonder? He's just a weird dude. I can't begin to try to figure him out. 

star status= notoriety=money. It has nothing to do with drive for basketball greatness. Its a means for him to live a celebrity lifestyle and afford fancy things.

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

TIWIW

 

It just amazes me when you hear players and coaches talk about his vision. I guarantee if you go through his career assist by assist, the majority come in fast breaks. When you are running the floor with a numbers advantage its not so hard to find the open guy. Especially when youre a 6'10'' freak athlete and the guys have to collapse. Everyone is open.... it doesnt require amazing vision.

He doesnt have half court vision. Hes not a good setup man in the half court. In a similar exercise, go through his career assist by assist and focus on just the half court assists. Now youll find probably 90% of them are him stopping his dribble, turning his back, and underhand passing the ball to someone right behind him. Its no amazing cross court passes. No needle threading. No amazingly placed passes. Theres nothing amazing about his shot creating game. Its again because defenses collapse on him in the paint and someone is going to be open behind him.

 

Then they talk about him having 13 assists in game 7, overshadowed by his lack of shot attempts. And say 13 assists is something thats probably easy for him to do on a nightly basis because he is so amazing. Well... he doesnt. He has so many nights with 7 or 8 assists. Thats not good enough considering his talent. He should be averaging a triple double But he doesnt. He gets far fewer of them than he should. 

 

Theyre active players who are stuck on superficial stats. Its baffling that they have both played with him and dont realize the unimpressive ways he always got them the ball. 

 

re: @mr_hunt post about Harris for McCollum

I think I must have read the same thing. And the article started out by pointing out that both are really #3 options. McCollum has been a #2 and isnt good enough. Harris has been the #2 with mixed results. Its really a swap of a #3 guy for another #3 guy. Its very even, and makes sense for both teams. 

I love if it were that easy and you can focus on getting something else for Ben. 

 

 

 

 

Some people were talking about whether IND needs to blow it up, with Brodgon as a trade target. Any chance theyd trade TJ Warren?

 

McCollum and Warren on the team in place of Ben and Harris would probably be great. 

What would it take to make this work? Add in Maxey? Add in a couple 1sts?

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

Theres no way OKC can match money. Only Kemba is there and no one else is even close. Obviously not trading for Kemba. Not sure how/why theyre on the list? Leaving Kemba out, you can literally trade for their entire roster and still not make the salary match. 

 

We think Sixers can only get CJ for BEN or equivalent, but I think people will be pleasantly surprised when the trade is finally done. 

To me CJ doesn't move the needle nor TJ Warren. He might blow balls on the offensive team, but he still made multiple All Defensive Teams and that has way more value than what we think. 

5 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

We think Sixers can only get CJ for BEN or equivalent, but I think people will be pleasantly surprised when the trade is finally done. 

To me CJ doesn't move the needle nor TJ Warren. He might blow balls on the offensive team, but he still made multiple All Defensive Teams and that has way more value than what we think. 

I like Harris for CJ. Im gonna hold out hope for that one and not consider Ben for CJ.

I do feel like CJ, Warren, and Turner is a good return for Harris and Ben. 

Now youre talking

McCollum

Curry

Warren

Turner

Embiid

That starting lineup can score, and shoot the lights out. You lose perimeter defense, but gain a ton more rim protection as well. Or you can even start Thybulle instead of Curry and its still a good offensive lineup.