Sixers and Trade Deadline

Yes, the Sixers are bad and going nowhere.

For the third year in a row it looks like they just might manage to win enough games to put them out of contention for a top lottery pick, though it appears that they're too far out of a playoff spot to earn the honor of getting destroyed by Cleveland.

The Sixers are basically are (rumored to be) making moves based on money and who other teams will take from them. If they were making purely basketball decisions, I don't think they'd be considering dumping Andre Iguodala--at least not over Elton Brand.

What's most troubling to me is how messy and unstructured the creation of this team has been. Are we rebuilding or fighting for a playoff spot? Are we a young team or a veteran one? Are we built for entertainment, the future, or making it to the Finals?

Ed Stefanski was brought in with the hopes that he would sort through the mess that Billy King made and create a contender. What do we have instead?

Remnants of BK's Legacy:

Sam Dalembert is still on the squad, is still being shopped and is actually playing relatively well. He boards, he blocks shots, he will never be a great offensive player. His contract continues to choke the Sixers, though at least he's worthy of seeing the floor now.

Willie Green is still on the squad, his absurdly long and generous contract (signed after ACL surgery no less) makes sure of that. He is a serviceable backup guard no more, no less. You could get the same player--or better--for no money from the D-League or the draft. His inclusion on the team doesn't add much. Case in point: Royal Ivey is a slightly worse player that was signed for beans.

Allen Iverson is back! And this time, he's worn out! AI is selling some tickets, taking a lot of time off, and generally using this Sixers season as a farewell tour. It's nice to have the vet, but his inclusion on this team is bizarre from every standpoint other than marketing.

Stefanski's Own Mistakes:

The two contracts that the Sixers would most like to dump at this point are Ed Stefanski's doing.

Yes, he signed Lou Williams to a decent contract and, yes, his drafting has been solid.

But, the amount he overpayed for a broken-down Elton Brand and a not-quite-superstar in Iguodala have basically stopped the growth of the team.

The drafting of Marreese Speights and Jrue Holiday have only complicated things as Speights at times has looked a good deal better than Brand and Holiday has looked like the true PG the Sixers need making Lou, Willie, and Iverson seem less necessary.

Young or Old?:

Then there's the conundrum of which direction this team is going.

There are a bunch of potentially very good young players on the squad: Lou Williams, Holiday, Speights, Thaddeus Young, and maybe Iguodala could even be included in this group.

Then there are the vets like Dalembert, Iverson, Green, and Brand who eat up the young guys' playing time.

The team started winning when Eddie Jordan finally listened to Licky Boom and began starting Holiday and Brand over Young and Lou. The bench improved, the defense improved, and now we're on the winning streak that has officially taken us out of the running for the top 5 draft picks--but that will almost certainly not lead to a playoff birth.

How messed up is this team?

Firstly, the coach has no idea how to use the personnel and is, by all accounts, not the right fit.

Second, the guard situation is a total mess. Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams are decent future pieces, but adding Iverson and Green to the mix only confuses what this team is about.

Third, who is the shooting guard? Is it Allen Iverson? Since Iguodala can't shoot, he's been shifted to SF. But then the team is doomed to start an undersized SG such as Green, Lou, or Iverson. If Iguodala could be the 2, a lot of problems would be solved. But he's not. And the team has no real offensive weapon that can match up with the long, 6'6"+ shooting guards in the league. This position desperately needs filling and sorting out.

Fourth, the small forward situation is too bunched up between Iguodala and Young. Young has taken a big step back this year, but if he hadn't maybe the Sixers would be more willing to dump Iggy. You can't have two of your best players at the same position. The team will have to basically make a choice because they can't have Young playing the 4 or riding the bench forever.

Fifth, the big man situation is equally muddled. Dalembert, if he were on a reasonable contract, might be a reasonable starting center. The same goes for Brand. Speights, after starting the season red-hot, has been buried in Eddie Jordan's inscrutable rotation. Given the $ dedicated to the frontline, this should be the Sixers' strength. It is definitely a weakness on the team that will take years to sort out since Brand isn't going anywhere and Dalembert will be both hard to move and hard to replace.

The Trade Deadline

I strongly suspect that the Sixers will do nothing to sort out their team this trade deadline. Other teams may want Iguodala, but they're not going to just give him away. They'd love to dump Dalembert, but his contract is still hard for others to take on--even with just one year left on it. After next year, Dalembert and Willie Green's contracts will be off the books, but a decision will also have to be made about the future of Thad Young. The team has been mediocre for years and now, without Andre Miller, they're going nowhere fast: neither to the playoffs nor to the high-lottey.

I strongly desired the Sixers to dump Miller so that Lou or whoever else would have a chance to play and so that the Sixers could actually rebuild. Instead, they're putting together one of the uglier rebuilding projects I've ever seen. Bringing back old legends, playing broken down power forwards, installing a coach that has no clue, playing vets in order to be mediocre rather than young people whose progression will actually help the team. Yep, it sounds a whole lot like the reign of Billy King.