With the latest moves, 76ers have assembled a superteam. On paper they are better than any other team in the East and on par with Warriors. They now have the roster to win the East and win the championship. Agree or disagree?
I saw a bit of their last game and they look scary. As a Bucks fan I prefer 100% the Celtics over them. Let the Raptors and Philly fight it out and exhaust each other in 7 games.
They are deeper than the Warriors but their stars are not better overall than the Worriers. Not close yet. They look scary as their role players such as Redick and McConnell are absolutely hitting everything now. Let's see if they cool off. If Tobias can be that 20+ ppg dude, that is indeed scary.
This was meant to be a joke but is actually a good point. Their ownership group hasn't shown any signs so far in the past that they would be willing to actually pay the tax let alone the repeater tax. They had Hinkie doing some complex moves that had them actually paying as little as allowed by the rules. I don't believe that they will be willing to be paying 3 max contracts + signing 1 max rookie extension in the books, next season unless they actually make the finals.
Right now, they are about $11 million under the luxury tax threshold. For 2019-2020, they have about $48 million in guaranteed contracts WITHOUT counting Butler's current contract. If they waive Simmons in the summer, his partially guaranteed deal would only eat $1 million in capspace. Let's just assume that they keep him. Now, the assumption is that Butler will opt out to re-sign with the Sixers at 5 years, $190 million. Tobias Harris can also receive a max deal of 5 years, $190 million this summer. Worst/realistic case scenario for the Sixers, they have to max out both players at about $38 million each, which will put them at $124 million in contracts among 8 players. This doesn't factor in players that are also going to be free agents this summer, including Redick, Boban, Mike Scott. TJ McConnell. Let's assuming that Redick and McConnell will come back for about $15 million combined next season (split it however you want). That pushes their team salary to $139 million against a projected $132 million cap, leaving them with plenty of room before they go over the luxury tax threshold. I think the pain will come when they have to decide on an extension for Ben Simmons in 2020. If Simmons signs an extension, that would effectively up their total salaries beyond the $170 million mark. They then the deal for Butler might look fairly nasty (simliar to Paul's deal now) but a trio of Simmons, Embiid and Harris is still a contender in the East.
In their defense the Sixers have only played one of those three times since acquiring Harris and that was a 3 point loss to Boston. I think Harris will be an equalizer of sorts as he's another scorer for Philly to use. This is why I'm not a huge fan of Simmons. Is he a good player? Absolutely but his lack of elite scoring is why Philly needed to make that trade for Butler and now Harris. Embiid can put up his 20-30 a night but then you're hoping that a Redick or McConnell to catch fire on a nightly basis to make up for Simmons' lack of elite scoring. Maybe if his shooting was respectable then the lack of elite scoring wouldn't be an issue but in order for him to put himself in the Top 10 list Simmons need to grow as a perimeter scorer.
Here are some hypotheticals..... Would the Sixers have traded for Jimmy Butler if they had kept the #1 drafted Jayson Tatum instead of Fultz? Would they have traded for Harris if they had Tatum, Simmons, Covington, Saric, and Embiid all on one team?
Remind me what the Raptors regular season record was last year until they hit the playoffs. Raptors are perennial playoff chokers. It is going to take a monumental performance from Kawhi to go against a stacked Sixers team. Also, Sixers have upgraded. Not the same Sixers team since the start of the season. The only thing holding the Sixers team back is a starting PG that cant shoot from outside. They have everything else.
Lol how are they a super team ok they have a collection of really good players but they aren't a superteam when two of their supers are JJ Reddick and Tobias Harris. Embiid is definitely a superstar when healthy but health is a big concern for him Simmons needs to learn to shoot to be a superstar and Butler is really good bit his toxic personality makes everyone around him worse. GSW still head and shoulders above the Sixers apart from tge Rox I think the Bucks are the only threat to them this season.