By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
First, when Cleveland was trying to unload Jarrett Jack to free up the necessary cap space for LeBron, Boston swooped in to acquire Tyler Zeller and Cleveland’s first-round pick. All they had to do was take on Marcus Thornton and the $8.6M he is owed in the final year of his contract. Then, after it looked as though Jeremy Lin to the Sixers was all but a certainty, the Lakers came in at the last minute and picked up the former Harvard guard and a first round pick in the process. Finally, the Sixers were always seen as a possible destination for Carlos Boozer if the Bulls needed to do a sign-and-trade for Carmelo or another big-name free agent. Obviously, nothing materialized on that front and Boozer was recently amnestied by Chicago, meaning another team can bid on and acquire Boozer’s services for just a few million dollars.
Of course, in a vacuum, none of these moves were necessarily can’t miss deals that the Sixers missed out on. Zeller’s ceiling appears to be a big man off the bench and the Cavaliers’ first-rounder will almost certainly be a late pick now that LeBron is making like Skylar Grey. The Lakers appear to value what Lin will do on the court for them, which the Sixers in their infinite tanking wisdom would not have; paying Lin $15 million just to receive a late first-round pick from Houston would be a steep price. Still, the fanbase was sold the last year or so that all this available cap space was an asset in and of itself and would offer the team tremendous flexibility. So far, it’s disappointing that nothing has come to fruition on that front. Maybe that changes around the trade deadline during the upcoming season, but like the Brazilian Kevin Durant, everything with the Sixers lately seems two years away from being two years away. It’s understandably frustrating for people.
Out in Sin City, things have not gone as smoothly for the Summer Sixers as they did in Orlando. The Vegas roster has dropped to 1-2 after TJ Warren scored at will to lead the Suns to victory last night. Aside from more defensive go-go-gadgetry from Nerlens Noel in the one game he played, the main guy that has stood out is Jordan McRae, who has averaged nearly 20 ppg. The former Tennessee volunteer is by no means a huge asset on the defensive end or the boards, but he’s shown a knack for both hitting the outside shot and get to the free throw line. With those two skills arguably the most prominent areas of concern for the Sixers a season ago, it wouldn’t shock me if the late second-round pick eventually carves out a small role in the rotation.
Former Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick looked solid in the initial Vegas game, scoring 20 points on 7-13 shooting in the Sixers’ win against Utah. However, he has only received 13 and 14 minutes of playing time in the two subsequent games. My suspicion is as an undrafted free agent, the Sixers don’t own the rights to Kilpatrick and want to limit his exposure to other teams to ensure he comes to training camp in Philly in the fall.
The Vegas Summer League has now switched to a tournament format after the first three games; the Sixers take on the Lakers in Round 1 tonight. Hopefully, we’ll see Noel and the rest of the Summer Sixers’ ‘A’ team back on the court. There’s bad basketball and then there’s bad basketball with talented players taking part. I’d at least prefer to watch the latter.
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