While the Sixers were a decent little feel food story for a few weeks there, but they are quickly falling from any playoff talk.
Consider they have lost five games in a row with San Antonio, Houston (a team they beat) and Boston on the road this week. No easy task.
At 14-23 the Sixers are 37 games into the season and getting to the 35 wins they had in 2006-2007 might be a challenge now that they are not up for.
Here is a quick breakdown of the roster and what could be in its place next season.
Point Guard - Andre Miller, Louis Williams and Kevin Ollie - Miller played extremely well during the Sixers sting of solid play. However, he alone can not help this team win. I still think Miller will be here next season, unless Stafanski gets his socks blown off. No team with a decent enough draft pick or expiring contract in the playoff hunt can help the Sixers, so I think he stays. Williams is exciting, but doesn't have a true position and he isn't ready to be a true point guard. Ollie is taking up space on the bench and must be a nice practice player.
Shooting Guard - Willie Green, Gordan Giricek - Green would be a nice player to come off the bench, but Cheeks is kind of forced to start him. He could be a poor mans Vinne Johnson, scoring in bunches off the bench but the Sixers are playing him to many minutes and he just isn't a starter in this league on a team that is a playoff team. If the Sixers could trade him for something similar that they got for Korver they would jump at it. Giricek is gone after this season.
Small Forward - Andre Iguodala, Rodney Carney, Thaddeus Young - Iguodala isn't playing like a guy who deserves a max contract. His numbers overall are good, but not good enough to lead this team to the playoffs. Iguodala is a nice player, not a max player. His defense isn't as good as it once was and he needs to be more aggressive. Carney has had an up-and-down season, but mostly down. He was buried, then started and now is buried again, to the point he was inactive verse Denver last week. I was never a fan of Carney to begin with, but he could have some value somewhere else, he was a former first round pick but dint expect much in return if he is dealt. As for Young, he looks like he could be a player. He is Young and talented and Mo is starting to use him more and more and he is responding. Overall, I think he is going to be a nice player in this league and could potentially be a starting player by seasons end.
Power Forward - Reggie Evans, Jason Smith, Louis Amundson - Evans is a bruising re bounder, but he is a back-up in this league. The Sixers are desperate for a scoring presence in the post and none of the power forwards on this team can provide that. Smith is definitely a nice role player coming off the bench in this league, but isn't the low scoring threat they need. Amundson is a journeymen at best.
Center - Samuel Dalembert, Calvin Booth - Samuel just isn't a fan favorite but he is having a pretty solid season. If he had a low post scoring presence next to him he might be able to take off. He might even be named to the all-star team this season due to his rebounding and blocked shots. Booth was signed to a pretty big deal this off season but really hasn't contributed much of anything.
Coach - Mo Cheeks - Cheeks is going to be the fall guy here at seasons end, he is going to be gone. Stanfanski will bring in his own guy but Cheeks is coaching as if he has a shot to get the job next season at the expense of guys like Young, Smith, Williams and Carney. I think Cheeks has done an OK job of keeping the ship from completly sinking but they still might not surpass last years win total.
GM - Ed Stafanski - The new GM traded Kyle Korver away to clear cap space and I am sure he has some other moves up his sleeve this season. There isn't a whole lot of attractive names on the free agent market but two that are available are Josh Smith of Atlanta and Elton Brand from the Clippers who is out til March with an Achilles injury. Maybe he will trade Miller maybe he wont, I think the deal will have to blow him over. Keep in mind, Miller had a contact for next season and the Sixers can trade him next year if need be. So far I think the culture has changed in the Sixers locker room, but the players at this point just aren't good enough. If they can get a big free agent to come here this summer they can get to the playoffs next season and if they make the right moves in this draft and during next summers free agent period they can be a player in the East in 2 years.
Here is a list of this summer free agents both restricted and unrestricted.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=2008FreeAgents
Talk to you on the radio....
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