The first real post of the 2011-2012 season
This post is going to read very much like something that should have been written in July, or maybe August. Such is the damage of a five-month lockout.
The first real post of the 2011-2012 season
This post is going to read very much like something that should have been written in July, or maybe August. Such is the damage of a five-month lockout. But as the league's "tentative settlement agreement" gradually becomes the league's next "collective bargaining agreement," we must quickly get up to speed on what will be this year's 66-game season.
First, for anyone who has some time today and wants to talk 76ers, we'll be holding a Live Chat here at Philly.com beginning at 3 p.m. To join, click here: Live Chat. To follow everything about the Sixers and the NBA, please follow on Twitter: Deep Sixer.
I know everyone is clamoring to know the details of the new 2011-12 schedule, but the NBA has not yet released the schedules to each team. Perhaps that will come as early as today, but it's possible that the schedules wont be released until the CBA is ratified. The NBA has released the outline for how the 66-game schedules will work. The NBA will launch on Dec. 25 (some teams, like the Sixers, will launch on Dec. 26) and the regular season will end on April 26. Each team will play 48 conference games, 18 out-of-conference games, which means the Sixers won't necessarily visit every city during the abbreviated schedule. The playoffs will start on April 28 and run no later than June 26. There will be back-to-back-to-backs during the regular season and back-to-backs during the playoffs, neither of which exist during a full season. There will still be a four-day break for the All-Star Game, set this year for Orlando.
The Sixers' reconfigured schedule might look very much like the existing remainder of their schedule (with the league just plugging in the extra 8-10 games to balance out the home-and-away). We know for sure that the Sixers will open on the road. And that they won't make their debut at the Wells Fargo Center until early January.
Both training camp and free agency are scheduled to begin on Dec. 9. Expect that the Sixers will play two pre-season games (usually they play six) in advance of the start of the regular season.
Now onto ... basketball. What? Actual basketball talk?
Yes. Basketball.
Doug Collins has been in Philly for a while now, preparing for the possibility that the NBA and the union would finally end the lockout. The rest of the coaching staff -- Michael Curry, Aaron McKie, Brian James, and Jeff Capel -- were scheduled to return to the team's practice facility, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, today. It's very likely the entire coaching staff is, at this very moment, meeting about a slew of topics: game plan for the shortened training camp, goals for free agency, and strategy with the current roster. Which, of course, brings as to all of these topics.
1. Goals for free agency/trading period: At this very moment, the Sixers have 11 players under contract for the season: Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, Jodie Meeks, Evan Turner, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Andres Nocioni, Craig Brackins, Marreese Speights, Elton Brand, Spencer Hawes. During the 2011 NBA Draft, they selected center Nikola Vucevic, who will soon become the 12th player under contract. They also selected power forward Lavoy Allen, who will attempt to make the roster at training camp, but who is not guaranteed a spot on the team. The current payroll (before Vucevic's rookie contract) is $55 million for the season. This year's salary cap is expected to be $58 million. So, to be clear, the Sixers have very little room to sign free agents. But here will be the main goals during the odd period of trainging camp/free agency, which will begin Dec. 9:
*Re-sign restricted free agents Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes. The Sixers have extended qualifying offers to both, meaning that if they don't sign an offer sheet with another team, they are under contract with the Sixers for this season and become unrestricted free agents next summer. If any of the other 29 teams sign either player to an offer sheet, the Sixers will have exactly three days (down from one week under the old CBA) to match the offer. As I've written repeatedly, expect the Sixers to match any reasonable offer for either of these players.
*Add a solid option at the center position. Although Hawes can, at times, pass for a starting center in this league, he has not yet proven himself an everyday starter. Expect the Sixers to sign a solid option to compete for the starting center spot (translation: not Marc Gasol, but somebody like Erick Dampier or Kwame Brown). It's also possible that they'll look to re-sign last year's veteran presence, Tony Battie, just to add depth and stability in the frontcourt.
*Make a decision about swingman Andre Iguodala. It's been five months and an ownership change since the Sixers fielded trade offers for their starting small forward. Will he go back on the market? Or has the team's position changed during this extended down period. I don't yet have this answer; I can say that Iguodala has been involved with his teammates this off-season. Although Evan Turner has spent much of his off-season time in Philly (and some in Columbus, Ohio) working on his jumper, he's also spent time in his hometown of Chicago. Turner was expecting to get in a few workouts with Iguodala in Chicago after news broke that the league had reached a settlement. Iguodala was also part of the team's mid-summer gathering in Los Angeles.
The Sixers have always been irrationally averse to trading Iguodala. It's known throughout the league that, while the team will occasionally reach out to teams to test the waters, they very often pull back and slam shut the door. I believe that now that general manager Ed Stefanski, who signed Iguodala to his long-term deal, is no longer in the front office, the possibility increases that the Sixers truly and really loosen their hold on Iguodala. Because he's the best player on the team, and a very valuable player overall, the Sixers will need to receive a key piece in return: a top-10 shooting guard, or someone very close to that status.
*Trade power forward Marreese Speights. There are plenty of teams who are willing to take a chance on a young big guy who can shoot. They'll see his upside. Even after a five month lockout, he still doesn't work in Collins' system.
Collins and the staff will also be looking at how to run this training camp, and this season, under such a compressed schedule. Keep in mind that all coaches have a certain rhythm to their season-long plan -- when to take off days, when to go hard, when to go light -- but with this new animal that will be the abbreviated NBA season, that rhythm must be completely different. With the existence of back-to-back-to-backs, the key guys are going to need more down time than they otherwise would.
Expect players to start trickling into Philly. And as soon as the lockout is lifted, they'll begin getting in some workouts with the coaching staff in advance of the beginning of camp on Dec. 9.
It's really strange writing about basketball -- even if it's not really about basketball just yet, but the trades and tactics before basketball. Much easier than writing about lawyers and lawsuits.
--Kate
Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
Bring #3 back— CptObvious- 1 i agree, dampier,and brown ,not what this team needs.bur u need a mid level big.maybe this kid,u draft.. won't b a bust.good luck boys,see u when u get to orlando...gonna get me a font row seat.— t_darb_56
- 1 i agree, dampier,and brown ,not what this team needs.bur u need a mid level big.maybe this kid,u draft.. won't b a bust.good luck boys,see u when u get to orlando...gonna get me a font row seat.— t_darb_56
- Keep Thad Young at all costs. Trade Iggy for Ellis. And do a sign and trade Brand for Nene. If you have to include someone else, so be it. Starting lineup: PG Holiday, SG Ellis, SF Turner, PF Young, C Nene. Is the starting lineup improved? What does everyone think?— Bobby V
CTFU@dasher..yeah that was funny wasn't it?- @zeru, pop, bran , dave13, & xdox, thank you all for making sense. the same people yelling trade iggy will be complaining when we go further in the basement for nothing..it's like make up your minds. I'm not saying the man is durant or lebron but give me a break..who's going to fill his shoes? i don;t see superstars lined up outside of wells fargo to play here...
@ESF good point about thad..he is a 6th man..call it like it is..i hope he stays humble and realize his role in this system works - Do you people actually read the whole article before making comments?— BeFrank
- Kate, I’m not a big fan of trades or signings unless it's a perfect, or near perfect, fit. Probably, that's because they never seem to work out that great for us, so just let me say a few comments about the guys you mentioned in your blog: Iguodala, he's the one guy that I'm bullish on trading. Personally, I think he's overrated and I would like to move him, this would free-up minutes for Evan Turner, something that's needed. I like the Wes Mathews trade that was rumored last year, however, I doubt that it can happen now that Batum is playing so well. As far as Speights goes, he was awesome in the Las Vegas summer league, (granted it's only the player's version of the summer league), but he had some huge games against JaVale McGee, and really opened some eyes. It's a known fact that his defense is woefully lacking, but most people believe defense can be taught, with Marreese, I'm not so sure? Maybe we should wait awhile before we unload him, I'd hate to see him traded and then blow-up. Last year he was put in a very difficult role and, in my opinion, he handled it relatively well.
Personally, I can't see bringing in a free agent center if we sign Spencer Hawes. The rationale for this opinion is that I expect Nikola Vucevic to force his way into the lineup and I don't see where the minutes will come from with 3 centers who all expect to play. According to reports Vucevic is playing really well in the Euro League, I read where one writer called him the best player on his team. If we were to get one of the two centers that you mentioned, I expect/hope that Hawes wouldn't be resigned, which is OK with me, we need some muscle and shot blocking down low, and right now all we have is Elton. And on those rare occasions where we need a third center, Elton has proven himself able to play the 5, so I don't see a problem unless a season ending injury comes into play.— L.A. Steve - I'd rather see Vucevic as a PF because I think the Sixers need to get big on the back line. My only hope right now is that the kid can play in the NBA. Collins can worry later about where to play him. — beegal99
- Iggy to the Clippers for Kaman and a pick. Kaman's in his last year. Turner moves to starting 3 spot. Sign Jason Richardson to play the 2 guard, 2 year deal. He's a scorer in the starting lineup, along with Brand and to an extent, Holliday. The hope would be that enough money is left for Hawes and Young. All this contingent on buying out Nocioni and freeing up the cap space.— beegal99
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
