MVN - Most Valuable Network

Sixers offseason priority numero uno: PF

Watching these NBA playoffs has changed my offseason outlook for the Sixers. They finished the season with a nice upside and find themselves in position to make some serious noise this summer. While that doesn’t include the draft lottery, it does involve some cap room, a young nucleus in contract negotiations and the trigger finger of our new man of accountability - Ed Stefanski.

Some of you might of heard of the phrase, “What Would Jesus Do?” It is meant to guide the ethics of believers in the protestant faith. If the Sixers made you a believer in basketball once again, then the question must be asked, “What Would Ed Do?”

I’m not here to predict for you what he WOULD do or WILL do, but present to him and to you, the humble reader, what I think he SHOULD do.

My outlook this season and heading into the playoffs was that our offseason priority numero uno would be to lock up Andre Iguodala to a contract extension. The young gun proved his meddle as a go-to player and leader, but had some of his thunder stolen by the merits of one Andre Miller. Miller showed that he could be a steadying force for a rebuilding team and became an extension of Mo Cheeks on the floor.

When I say that Iguodala proved himself, what I mean is that he stepped up under the pressure and showed that he can be a piece of a championship puzzle for a franchise looking to build a winner. He’s not going to be the man in the same way that Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or other prolific scorers are. Now, in terms of athleticism, he can match the best of them. But in terms of basketball skills (i.e. shooting the basketball, handling the rock, making the right decisions), he still has a ways to go if he wants to enter the upper echelon of NBA players.

The problem with Iguodala is that his biggest value to this point in his career has been his ability to defend the opposing team’s best player. Therein lies his dilemma. In order to separate himself from the competition, he needs to beat the best in the business. He’s fared well, but it’s a mountian to climb. When the position you play is stacked with the likes of LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Paul Pierce, the standards of excellence are raised a notch or two.

Take a look at these NBA playoffs and what you see is that in order to give yourself a chance for an NBA championship, you need a dominant power forward. This is especially the case in the West, where dominance at the position is a prerequisite to surviving elimination. Tim Duncan sets the tone in the West and Kevin Garnett is now the king on the block in the East. Acquiring a dominant low post presence is rare in the NBA these days, with only Pau Gasol’s midseason trade to the Lakers making the difference.

After the top tier guys, you have to look at a guy like David West of the New Orleans Hornets. West made the All-Star team this year. Watching him on several occasions, you have to love his versatile inside-out midrange game. West is a true go-to scorer, which is something that Andre Iguodala has struggled with on a consistent basis.

If you could trade Andre Iguodala for a guy like David West straight up, would you? I think Ed Stefanski would consider a sign-and-trade for Iguodala and you have to look for a power forward of West’s calibur to pull off any deal.

West is already too well known at this point and is on the rise, so it isn’t likely that the Hornets would part with him. He fits their scheme perfectly. However, I’m thinking about the next David West. He could be had for the right deal, but I can’t imagine getting him without trading Iguodala. That guy I’m thinking of is Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger.

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Another guy who will be a restricted free agent on July 1st is Lou Williams. I think we need to keep him to eventually take over for Andre Miller and to continue to play the Leandro Barbosa / Monta Ellis role for us. With Williams as a cornerstone to the future, and the development of rookies Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith, things look bright for the Sixers.

I still think the Sixers should resign Iguodala and reward him for helping to get us back to the playoffs, but at this point, I’m not sure that I would consider it as the top priority. They have the cap room to sign a dominant power forward, but of the guys who are available, I’d rather take Elton Brand or even Emeka Okafor over a guy like Josh Smith who plays a more perimeter style game.

If Iguodala can land you the guy you want at power forward, sliding Thaddeus Young to small forward, I think you have to strongly consider it. The guy I want is Danny Granger. Granger and Young would be interchangeable. Ideally, I’d want Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams in the backcourt as well. With two restricted free agents as cornerstones of your successful season, and around $12 million in cap room with which to work, the Sixers have plenty of options.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 10:03 pm and is filed under Thaddeus Young, Andre Miller, Monta Ellis, NBA Playoffs, Tracy McGrady, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, Mo Cheeks, Sixers, Ed Stefanski, Lou Williams, David West, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers, Tim Duncan, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Smith, Elton Brand, Leandro Barbosa, Kevin Garnett, Emeka Okafor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.