Building Going Forward Means Pruning
So the Philadelphia 76ers have a dilemma. The team’s future is no longer lashed to the lottery, nor to the NBA draft… entirely. The team, even without Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and yes, even Jerryd Bayless, is more energized with youth, passion, vim and vigor, than ever.
Sir Charles In Charge
And there is the first challenge. The team now has two doors remain vigilant upon: whomever the team bring to the team, and whomever the team parts ways with.
I must admit that I saw Nerlens Noel as a good fit for the Philadelphia 76ers: both personality and in scheme. But as my well-versed colleague Josh Wilson points out, the center has been problematic in the short amount of time he’s been with the Dallas Mavericks.
Get What You Pay For
Now before we become saddened for the Dallas Mavericks in some version of seller’s remorse, keep in mind that the Mavericks factored in a deep discount for Noel in the trade. With the deal from the 76ers involving absorbing a salary dump of overpaid Andrew Bogut, plus the right to control the future of expiring contract of young center Nerlens Noel, the team received two 2nd round picks (2017 and 2020) and a promising young man in wing Justin Anderson.
Anderson’s debut has been spectacular. But the deal components suggest that Bogut’s salary dump was the equivalent to a 1st round pick. That translates the Nerlens Noel for Justin Anderson straight up.