76ers Future Nucleus [Archive] - Message Board Basketball Forum

Dr.J4ever

07-13-2014, 10:38 AM

C-- Nerlens Noel..We already got a preview of what he might be capable of in 2-3 years. An eventual 14/10/3-4bpg/1-2spg is not out of the question. He's already an athletic freak, and if he can get stronger, he could prove to be the anchor of a very strong defense for the next decade.

PF--Joel Embiid.. Despite the concerns about his ability to stay healthy, Embiid is the best player in the entire draft class. The 76ers have what may be considered the closest player in ability to the Dream. That really says it all, and oh, he has shown that he may be able to shoot for range too. Can Embiid be the Sixers 1st superstar since AI?

SF--Dario Saric..Saric has mostly played PF in Europe, but Draftexpress has him playing SF in the NBA. The Sixers also plan to play him at SF, despite his average lateral quickness. Playing with Noel and Embiid behind him, this Croatian will be unleashed to use his all around ability, which is as good as any player in this draft class. Not yet an accomplished shooter, but numbers like 23 points, 11 reb, and 7 assists in the Adriatic League championship game says a lot about his NBA potential.

PG-- MCW.. The reigning ROY. The only concern about him is his shooting. Will he ever shoot at an elite level? Otherwise, he has the length to see over the defenses, ability to get in the lane, and plays good defense too.

The Sixers have great financial versatility too. So we will need to use our cap space to get a free agent star at some point in the next 2-3 years. Players taken in the 2nd round like Vasilije Micic and Kj Mcdaniels are going to be potential pieces also.

If you squint a little, I see this core with a free agent or two, as a championship contender. Many things still have to go right, and there will be many challenges, but is this team going to be competing with the Clevelands of the world in 3 years? There could still be many challenges and unforeseen turns, but as Lao Tzu said, " to see things in the seed, that is genius."

chips93

07-13-2014, 10:44 AM

incredible size, but with no shooting

id be surprised if hinkie keeps all 4 of those guys together

knickballer

07-13-2014, 10:48 AM

Great future and upside although there's some question marks on how healthy Noels and Embid are/will be.

But that's how rebuilding is done :applause: Tanking gets shit done and it's better to sacrifice 2-3 years of awfulness then to be stuck in 8-10 years of mediocrity. I'm talking about you Milwaukee :facepalm

AintNoSunshine

07-13-2014, 11:04 AM

Can you compare Noel and Embiid please?

iggy>

07-13-2014, 11:07 AM

Hopefully we can draft manny mudiay next year to fill in our 2 guard position. Then our roster will be complete.

GimmeThat

07-13-2014, 11:08 AM

that's probably a 90+ point per game squad.

the good news is that defensively, no matter who they sign, it probably really won't get worse if at all.

however, trying to get decent players that doesn't just turn into a spot up role player on that squad may prove challenging.

Dr.J4ever

07-13-2014, 11:23 AM

Hopefully we can draft manny mudiay next year to fill in our 2 guard position. Then our roster will be complete.

Is he any good?

GimmeThat

07-13-2014, 11:23 AM

Can you compare Noel and Embiid please?

my gut tells me that Embiid is going to be a tad bit slow then Noel running the floor, which may be the deciding factor on who plays what position on the initial set.

which means, before any play that takes place.

I see Embiid being a great screaner on the weakside to open up any guards.
while Noel being more so on the strong side as the roller, even if he may not nessecarily get into the position to score, it still puts him in a good position to pass the ball if the Guard wasn't able to be opened up.

I think MCW will end up doing a lot of dribbling, and running around while looking for his shot as well as players who are benefited by the two bigs spacing.

I wouldn't be surprised if they even go with a defensive nucleus with their second unit. Because having bigs who can get you high percentage shots means protecting the easy hoops while they get up and down the court should be the most efficient team formula.

btw, this is probably some real sh*tty analysis on some players who hasn't step their foot onto the NBA court.

wally_world

07-13-2014, 02:01 PM

Those 4 will form the worst shooting team in league history

Rameek

07-13-2014, 02:15 PM

I figure Embiid would be C and Noel PF (no weight to bang).

Nice young core with flexibility and options to improve.

Dr.J4ever

07-14-2014, 09:53 AM

Those 4 will form the worst shooting team in league history

You're totally discounting the fact that MCW is likely to improve his shooting .Saric hit 34% from 3 last year in the Adriatic League. It's not great but the kid is 20 years old.

It's a good bet that this group will be a decent shooting team. However, I did say that the Sixers will and do have a lot of cap space to sign a big time free agent. So knock yourself out, the 76ers can sign virtually anyone.

If that nucleus proves to be as good as we think they could be, Philly will once again be a free agent destination.

Jailblazers7

07-14-2014, 09:57 AM

Hopefully we can draft manny mudiay next year to fill in our 2 guard position. Then our roster will be complete.

Mudiay seems to be more effective as a big PG type but I think it'd be cool to essentially run a two PG line-up with two big guards.

Phantom84

07-14-2014, 10:26 AM

I hope that Embiid is healthy because the kid will wreck the NBA. Just going by potential he is hands down the best in his draft class. Three years of basketball and he is pulling all those sweet moves in Kansas. The kid also have a nice shooting mechanic unlike Noel. I can see him being able to develop a good mid range jumper like Ibaka. Hope he take Hakeem offer and train with him.

AboutBuckets

07-14-2014, 10:32 AM

Hope he take Hakeem offer and train with him.

Did Hakeem already reach out to him about training? That's insane, you usually only hear about him working with Tier-1 players (Kobe, Dwight, Lebron)

Phantom84

07-14-2014, 10:35 AM

Did Hakeem already reach out to him about training? That's insane, you usually only hear about him working with Tier-1 players (Kobe, Dwight, Lebron)

Yep, he actually did and I'm pretty sure that is what Embiid is going to do after he recover from the foot injury. I don't think he is playing next season so he has plenty of time to bulk up and develop his game.

http://www.nj.com/sixers/index.ssf/2014/06/joel_embiid_will_workout_with_hakeem_olajuwon_once _he_is_healthy.html

Dr.J4ever

07-14-2014, 10:38 AM

Mudiay seems to be more effective as a big PG type but I think it'd be cool to essentially run a two PG line-up with two big guards.

The Sixers already have a big PG other than MCW, its Vacilije Micic. He's our 2nd round draft pick from Serbia. In one year, he can come over.

He's 6'6, and they call him the "maestro". Don't know if it was Rich Hoffman who coined that. He's got a lot of vision, and runs a great P n R game. He has to improve his shooting though.

2 big guards in the lineup? Why not, except for that shooting though.

AboutBuckets

07-14-2014, 10:41 AM

Yeah I was really excited about the possibility of us signing Bradley, but I guess it's not part of Hinkie's big picture plan. I think we'll be best off with a 3 and D type; it seems we'll be able to generate enough offense without needing a high-volume SG but could use some 3 point shooting

GOBB

07-14-2014, 10:44 AM

I'm not against Mudiay especially if MCW doesn't impress me this season. He was ROY but I need to see static improvement this season from him. And it starts with shooting not just from 3. Rehabbing shoulder makes me wonder what kind of work he is doing this summer.

Mudiay is explosive. Has a Westbrook feel to his game.

lilgodfather1

07-14-2014, 10:45 AM

Promising future. The only possible problem outside of health, obviously, is can the big men play together? We won't know until next year, but hopefully they can.

Dr.J4ever

07-14-2014, 11:03 AM

I figure Embiid would be C and Noel PF (no weight to bang).

Nice young core with flexibility and options to improve.

Well, PFs and Cs can be inter changed today depending on the match ups, but offensively, Embiid can play further from the post, I think, because of his versatility and ability to shoot.

You never know though. I saw Noel do a face up drive the other day in the OSL. So we'll see.

AboutBuckets

07-14-2014, 11:06 AM

Well, PFs and Cs can be inter changed today depending on the match ups, but offensively, Embiid can play further from the post, I think, because of his versatility and ability to shoot.

You never know though. I saw Noel do a face up drive the other day in the OSL. So we'll see.

Noel's offense is still absurdly raw, he'll need to work on his ball handling and his shot still if he wants to be able to play the 4. His free throw shooting was a plus though, which if nothing else is indication that the potential for a decent jumper is there somewhere.

Dr.J4ever

07-14-2014, 01:49 PM

Yep, he actually did and I'm pretty sure that is what Embiid is going to do after he recover from the foot injury. I don't think he is playing next season so he has plenty of time to bulk up and develop his game.

http://www.nj.com/sixers/index.ssf/2014/06/joel_embiid_will_workout_with_hakeem_olajuwon_once _he_is_healthy.html
That move
:applause: :bowdown:

Meticode

07-14-2014, 02:05 PM

Jailblazers7

07-14-2014, 02:11 PM

I'll be totally surprised if Noel and Embiid can play together on the floor at the same time. 80% of Embiid's shots at Kansas were 8 feet or closer to the basket. I'm not saying he can't develop a nice jumper, but I'd be surprised if long-term one is playing center and the other power forward.

That'd be like me saying I don't think Wiggins will ever be a shot creator because he struggled off the dribble at Kansas. Young player develop new skills. I really do think that the Embiid/Noel experiment is going to work and it's going to work well. I think people are underestimating Embiid's passing ability and how that will be vital to a pairing with Noel.

Dr.J4ever

07-14-2014, 02:14 PM

L.A.Hawks

07-14-2014, 02:26 PM

why the hell would you have embid playing pf and noel playing center.....switch them around.

GOBB

07-14-2014, 02:31 PM

Meticode

07-14-2014, 02:44 PM

Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. :confusedshrug:
That didn't' work out very well considering their lack of success last season, but that was a slightly different situation because they were playing Smith alongside those two players. Basically all their forwards played 15 feet or close to the basket, and Smith thought he could shoot threes and he can't.

Dr.J4ever

08-17-2014, 10:15 AM

With the doldrums of the NBA season upon us, daydreaming about the possibilities of an Embiid/Noel/Saric/Hezonja/MCW with KJ as 6th man. That’s going to be frightening. I like it.

All we need is a good backup PG (Micic?) and a bench shooter (Hollis) and a good backup big who can play D and rebound and finish at the rim (Sims? Grant? RonRob? Anthony Bennet?) and that there’s a mighty dangerous basketball team come 2017-18 that is.

http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/8/7/5978059/2015-nba-draft-mario-hezonja-sixers

Here's an excerpt on Mario Hezonja, a 2015 76ers Draft prospect:

Playing his first full season at the top level of the ACB, Hezonja, while limited to only 12.2 minutes per game, showcased many of the skills that make him so tantalizing as a prospect. Standing 6'8", with a frame that looks like it could fill out down the line, to go with an incredible first step and leaping ability, Hezonja has a great physical profile for an NBA wing prospect.

Fiba basketball

08-17-2014, 03:12 PM

Forget about Saric playing at SF he's a PF and will only get slower by gaining weight.

Lebronxrings

08-17-2014, 03:15 PM

bennet.

stalkerforlife

08-17-2014, 03:20 PM

They'd be great in a wheelchair league.

imdaman99

08-17-2014, 03:37 PM

Young nucleus and will be stacked enough in 3-4 years for bran to join them.

D-FENS

08-17-2014, 03:49 PM

I'm hoping James Young beasts and we trade him for Nerlens Noel :pimp:

Dr.J4ever

08-17-2014, 10:52 PM

Forget about Saric playing at SF he's a PF and will only get slower by gaining weight.

Maybe so. We will see.

One thing about any player playing with Noel and Embiid is that those 2 guys will erase any mistakes a slower perimeter player might make. However, I agree that the defense becomes unbalanced when this happens.

So we won't know if such a large lineup with 2 7 footers, a 6'10 guy in Saric, a 6'6 PG in MCW, a Hezonja who is 6'8 can all play together. That remains to be seen, and we might see one of them transferred to the bench in favor of another.

In today's NBA, where PG's and perimeter quickness dominate with the no hand checking, a big lineup is not always the best lineup.

Imagine if it could be made to work, though. :bowdown:

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 11:28 AM

76er fans, it's time to monitor Dario Saric's performances coming up in the World Cup.

This should be a good gauge of how improved his play has been. First game this weekend is again the Philippines on Saturday, I believe.:rockon:

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:35 AM

Sorry, but I stopped reading as soon as I saw "Dario Saric - SF".........

You just CANNOT stop trolling EVER.

:facepalm

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:36 AM

The Sixers already have a big PG other than MCW, its Vacilije Micic. He's our 2nd round draft pick from Serbia. In one year, he can come over.

He's 6'6, and they call him the "maestro". Don't know if it was Rich Hoffman who coined that. He's got a lot of vision, and runs a great P n R game. He has to improve his shooting though.

2 big guards in the lineup? Why not, except for that shooting though.

They really stole Prigioni's nickname? That's just lame.

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:39 AM

Forget about Saric playing at SF he's a PF and will only get slower by gaining weight.

Are you now finally going to except that you CANNOT discuss anything with this guy rationally?

How many times have we explained to him that Saric CANNOT be used effectively as a small forward? Like 10 times at LEAST.

And here he is AGAIN...........saying that Saric is going to be a small forward.

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 11:41 AM

Sorry, but I stopped reading as soon as I saw "Dario Saric - SF".........

You just CANNOT stop trolling EVER.

:facepalm

Draft Express has him at SF, but I won't insist on it. If he is to slow to play SF defensively as fiba has said, then we go back to PF.

Don't forget we have Noel and Embiid in the paint to erase "mistakes".:oldlol:

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:42 AM

Maybe so. We will see.

One thing about any player playing with Noel and Embiid is that those 2 guys will erase any mistakes a slower perimeter player might make. However, I agree that the defense becomes unbalanced when this happens.

So we won't know if such a large lineup with 2 7 footers, a 6'10 guy in Saric, a 6'6 PG in MCW, a Hezonja who is 6'8 can all play together. That remains to be seen, and we might see one of them transferred to the bench in favor of another.

In today's NBA, where PG's and perimeter quickness dominate with the no hand checking, a big lineup is not always the best lineup.

Imagine if it could be made to work, though. :bowdown:

And when did Hezonja become the 76ers draft pick?

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 11:42 AM

Are you now finally going to except that you CANNOT discuss anything with this guy rationally?

How many times have we explained to him that Saric CANNOT be used effectively as a small forward? Like 10 times at LEAST.

And here he is AGAIN...........saying that Saric is going to be a small forward.

Meh, it's one local Philly columnist who was very impressed.

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:44 AM

Draft Express has him at SF, but I won't insist on it. If he is to slow to play SF defensively as fiba has said, then we go back to PF.

Don't forget we have Noel and Embiid in the paint to erase "mistakes".:oldlol:

Draftexpress has literally HUNDREDS of players that play in Europe listed as playing at the wrong position.

What is your point?

If you want just an example of another guy listed in their mock draft...Vezenkov is in their mock draft and they list him as a "SF".

He plays EVERY second of EVERY game for YEARS at power forward.

There are hundreds more of such examples. Again, what exactly is your point?

Euroleague

08-27-2014, 11:49 AM

Meh, it's one local Philly columnist who was very impressed.

Do you understand what a small forward is expected to do and what a power forward is expected to do?

What the coach asks in the offense and defense?

What say a guard, wing, center does?

I am curious because........there simply is no reason to use Saric as a wing. Just none at all. Just trade his ass while he still might have some trade value then.

Because if you use him as a wing, you will not get his best out of him, and then his trade value won't be at its best if you do want to trade him.

There just is no sense in using a player like Saric as a small forward. You list for instance Noel as a power forward.....understand this, Saric is MORE of a power forward than Noel is.

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 11:51 AM

And when did Hezonja become the 76ers draft pick?

He's a DRAFT PROSPECT. With 2 more 1st round picks next season, Philly will have a good chance to get him as long he isn't a top 4-5 pick.

So it's always good to know what's out there.

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 11:59 AM

Do you understand what a small forward is expected to do and what a power forward is expected to do?

What the coach asks in the offense and defense?

What say a guard, wing, center does?

I am curious because........there simply is no reason to use Saric as a wing. Just none at all. Just trade his ass while he still might have some trade value then.

Because if you use him as a wing, you will not get his best out of him, and then his trade value won't be at its best if you do want to trade him.

There just is no sense in using a player like Saric as a small forward. You list for instance Noel as a power forward.....understand this, Saric is MORE of a power forward than Noel is.

I don't disagree with you at all.

This is why I used the term "nucleus", instead of starter. I am not saying all of them will play together. We will see how it goes, but Noel or Saric could play from the bench as PF.

Embiid is the one guy who looks like he will be really special, and some who have seen Saric 1st hand have said Saric was a top 5 talent in last year's draft.

JerrySeinfeld

08-27-2014, 12:43 PM

Joel Embiid is a center.

Noel should be getting developed as the power forward.

Dr.J4ever

08-27-2014, 01:13 PM

Joel Embiid is a center.

Noel should be getting developed as the power forward.

Ultimately, their play on the court will help determine what their positions exactly are.

76er fans have a lot of trust in the Sixers brain trust. From Hinkie to Brett Brown, a Popovich disciple who molded many of the young Spurs, we have faith in the front office.

The nucleus is promising.

SwishSquared

08-27-2014, 01:34 PM

I wouldn't get too preoccupied with positions because it's likely for some guys to come off the bench. I'm interested to see if Embiid and Noel could potentially play together. They could play the same way Spurs & Grizz have used 2 bigs together. Pre-draft, Simmons said Embiid was knocking down 15 footers like it was nothing in a workout (think he even hit 3s).

Saric could be used in the same way Mirotic will be used for the Bulls this year (and presumably in the future) as nice backup big. Nothing wrong with using picks to form a nice bench. Micic could be a nice guard off the bench (maybe in a Manu-type role) or 76ers could play as a larger version (and worse shooting) of the Suns. I'm not too familiar with other guys they own the draft rights to that are now overseas, so I won't comment on that. However, I do like McDaniels as a dirty-work type wing who canlockdown guys, potentially. If he ever becomes a consistent catch-and-shoot 3 point shooter, he'll be a nice piece.

This upcoming draft they should try to get a stud offensively-gifted SF who can get his own shot in the lottery. Then with that Heat pick (presumably it'd convey) get a great shooter.

Then you look at a potential line-up of:
MCW-Shooter-2015 Lotto pick-Embiid-Noel

With key reserves being Micic-McDaniels-Saric giving depth at guard, wing, and upfront.

These guys might all bust, but you can see a team construction that makes sense. 3-4 years from now that might be a nice 8 man rotation. Or it might stink lol and we witnessed a failed massive tank job. Nice NBA experiment.

NugzFan

08-27-2014, 01:36 PM

I could see that team winning 48 games in about 3 years. Because it's the east.

Not bad

Dr.J4ever

08-28-2014, 12:51 PM

I could see that team winning 48 games in about 3 years. Because it's the east.

Not bad

If you look at the Sonics/OKC model, they won 20 games after drafting Durant, 23 games in the 2nd year with Westbrook, but by the 3rd year with Harden and Ibaka, they were going for the Playoffs, and have never looked back since.

The 76ers had the last year as the 1st year, and we will have one more year this upcoming season to tank,... err, rebuilding and asset acquisition, and then next year Embiid joins the team, and the next year, Saric..

So 48 games in 3 years? Maybe, and that would be good.

ralph_i_el

08-28-2014, 01:12 PM

Hinkie is going to trade 2 of those guys probably. Gathering assets to try and nab a star like Morey did

AboutBuckets

08-28-2014, 01:25 PM

Hinkie is going to trade 2 of those guys probably. Gathering assets to try and nab a star like Morey did

Ugh. I understand the business nature of things, but for the first time in a few years I'm actually emotionally invested in the team. Us going with the gutsy picks on high potential guys, then monitoring their recovery, Embiid's off the court personality, etc. As ghey as it sounds I would be really upset if we traded either Noel or Embiid preemptively

Dr.J4ever

10-04-2014, 11:37 AM

http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-philadelphia-76ers/brown-joel-embiid-progressing-fantastically

"Everything is progressing fantastically," Brown said. "The bone is healing. He is still in his boot. Like with Nerlens, we are identifying chefs to help them eat. Identifying dietary concerns and making sure whatever is going into him is educated. He is fine. But I have to help him with diet, weight lifting, and hydration."

A reporter asked Brown if he wanted to see Embiid play this season.

"Of course I do," Brown said. "I think it is too early to guess. Keep in mind last year I had to go to media training when I said Nerlens wasn't going to play."

Summer vacation
In early September, team president Sam Hinkie, Brown and the Sixers' top three players traveled to Spain to take in the FIBA World Championships. Carter-Williams, Noel and Embiid were invited to watch another building block of the organization, Dario Saric, who was playing for Croatia.

"On draft day I shared some thoughts, and Sam shared some thoughts on the draft," Brown said. "We both agreed, for the betterment of the club, we should draft Joel Embiid and Dario Saric......"