The Sixers put a king-sized ass whipping on the Hawks last night in Atlanta. They have pretty much guaranteed themselves a playoff spot with their improved play, although winning a series remains a pipe dream. But next year…
Next season the Sixers have the players in place to host a playoff series and be real contenders to represent the Eastern Conference as the team that loses to the Heat before Miami goes on to the finals. The Celtics are an older bunch, and hopefully getting closer to a time when their big 3 is merely Rondo, Perkins, and Davis. The Magic are the most likely team to drop off, since next season they’ll be under the same gun currently aimed at downtown Denver. If Dwight Howard appears poised to leave for greener pastures the tension could cause the team to under perform.
The Sixers must do their part in all this. The young guys such as Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, Evan Turner and Thad Young must continue to improve. The Sixers have to resign Thad, or at least manufacture a sign and trade that recoups his value. Elton Brand is the only main contributor that you could see regress with age, the rest of the team should improve with another year under their belts, and as Brand slips off a touch, he’ll just have to sacrifice more of his minutes to Thaddeus Young until Thad eventually ends up as our starting power forward.
Andre Iguodala has played out of his mind recently, and deserves serious consideration for defensive player of the year, and, if this play continues, a spot in the 2012 all-star game. Andre is the team’s leader, but he isn’t a traditional star. Iggy is very unselfish, which makes him a dangerous playmaker, but also prevents him from being an elite scorer. As long as Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams can keep scoring in the teens nightly, then the Sixers shouldn’t be adversely affected by Iggy’s style of play. Ideally I’d like to see Jrue Holiday play like a second shooting guard if Iguodala is going to control the offense. I think Jrue should probably be given more direction to shoot the basketball, and I want Jrue to emerge as the team’s leader in both scoring and field goal attempts.
The Sixers will have a solid rotation of Iggy, Brand, Young, Jrue, Lou, ET, and Jodie Meeks. You may have picked up the issue with that rotation, that there aren’t any big men listed. Mo Speights will return next season, but Mo isn’t a starter, he is another high-energy offensive minded reserve. Which is ok, if you can get somebody starting with more talent then Spencer Hawes. Looking around the Eastern Conference, the Sixers have to contend with Shaq & Perkins, Dwight Howard, Al Horford, and Amare. Spencer Hawes is not up to the task, and the Sixers must upgrade if they want to get to the next level. Currently on the trade market, it appears Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby may be available, although neither would be a long term solution. In the free agency pool this off season there will be Perkins, Tyson Chandler and Yao Ming, but the Sixers can’t afford anybody under the cap right now.
By not trading anybody thus far the Sixers have grown into a nice little team, and one that should only improve with time. It will be up to the front office to find moves that fix the team’s glaring issue in the middle, while maintaining the rest of a fairly talented roster. Rod Thorn has a history of making savvy moves, let’s hope he has one or two more in him, since that may be all this team needs.
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