Interested parties would like to know your thoughts on the Warriors too....
asking for a friend. lol
I wrote a whole thing the other day when Klay Thompson's Achilles injury was official. I got distracted and didn't post it so I figured the window closed on commenting. Basically, without Thompson, it's curtains for the Warriors this season as far as contention. The Warriors did their best in an awful situation. Snagging a solid rotation player in Kelly Oubre is better than letting the Andre Iguodala trade exception expire though he's coming off a torn meniscus so not great. Bringing back Kent Bazemore is a good move. He apparently turned down eight other offers. The Warriors should make the playoffs if everyone stays healthy.
The NBA is better when the Warriors are good so I personally hope James Wiseman blossoms quickly, but everything I've read stated he's a little raw. They shouldn't trade him. Curry and Thompson are both in their 30s. How many more years do they have left? I always get a little sad when great players start approaching the end of their careers. I hate the fact that we're losing another year of Thompson's prime. His defense may not be elite when he returns, but he has a skillset that should keep him effective for a few more years.
Also, this was supposed to be the pitch year for Giannis Antetokounmpo. So much for that.
and I didn't see all the trades and drafts, but who did the Sixers pick up to get such praise?
It's less about who the Sixers picked up than who they shipped off. Last summer, the Sixers signed Al Horford to a $109 million contract or ~$27 million per year, the last year guaranteed for $14.5 million when he'll be 36. Ewww......... Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons need shooters around them to spread the floor, the Sixers let their best shooter walk (JJ Reddick) then signed the absolute worst fit with Embiid and Simmons. I defended Horford's signing last year, but in practice, woof....... (freezing cold take from me, my bad)
That said, Daryl Morey traded Horford to the Thunder for Danny Green, Terrence Ferguson, the 34th pick in this year's draft (Theo Maldon), a protected 2025 first round pick, and the draft rights to someone. It didn't cost them
that much to get Horford off the books.
Also addressing their lack of shooting in the same trade is almost a miracle.
Morey also signed Dwight Howard to a veteran's minimum contract and traded Josh Richardson and the 36th pick in this year's draft (Tyler Bey) to the Mavericks for Seth Curry to get even more shooting. Richardson is a better defender, but the Sixers
really needed more shooters.
I believe the Sixers were hard-capped so they didn't have tons of options yet they (or rather, Morey) filled a dire need, got off of a long-term albatross contract, and somehow managed to reduce salary this year. The Sixers may be under the apron now; I haven't done the math though. Either way, a very successful off-season so far.