| Sixers' New Direction Leaves Lots Of Questions Authored by Derek Bodner - December 4, 2007 - 12:59 pm
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Billy King was far from a perfect GM, and while he did have his positives (most notably success in the draft), he also had more than his share of negatives. The most glaring problem during the tenure of King was his handling of the cap, with numerous long term extensions that you couldn't fathom the player receiving in free agency (RE: Kenny Thomas, Eric Snow, Dikembe Mutombo). Ultimately, these were contracts he could never truly get out from under, and severely limited the maneuverability of the team.
The myriad of coaches hired (and subsequently fired) during his time here would be another black mark on his tenure. Since Larry Brown left following the 2003 season, the Sixers have employed Randy Ayers (21-31), Chris Ford (12-18), Jim O'Brien (43-39), and Maurice Cheeks (78-103). Ultimately, when a GM fires a coach he hired just a season ago, one has to wonder about the direction of the team.
King's final major decisions are perhaps as perplexing as any. It became obvious that a trade of Allen Iverson was needed during last year, particularly because Iverson himself was no longer capable of filling the Wachovia Center, which was most likely the straw that broke the camels back with regards to his future in Philadelphia. But while King spoke of a 3 year plan, the return the Sixers received in the trade (A good solid point guard, albeit one who would be turning 31 later in the year, and two late first round picks who essentially amounted to Jason Smith) seemed more in line with a General Manager who thought he could retool rather than rebuild. At this time Miller doesn't seem like he's in the Sixers long term future, and it would be hard to imagine the Sixers being competitive before his contract runs out.
Jason Smith, while developing into a nice bench player, isn't the type of player that's going to significantly change the fortunes of this team around, and it shouldn't be expected he does considering he was the 20th pick of the draft.
Even if Billy King had a plan in place, it became obvious that he wasn't afforded the luxury of having the time to conceive the plan.
Which brings us to the part todays events that are a bit baffling. If Snider believed that this team truly needed to rebuild, why begin rebuilding with a lame duck General Manager who doesn't have the job security to rebuild? What happened since the offseason that has changed to make now the time to act?
If King was fired because Snider doesn't feel he was the one best suited to rebuild, then that's fine, and it's a very good thing to get a GM who is going to have the job security to put a real rebuilding plan in place. If Ed Snider was frustrated with the performance on the basketball court and expected the Sixers to be further up in the standings, and expected this to be a retooling process and they should be further along, then there has to be a little fear for the future.
This raises a lot of questions for the future of other personnel on the team, not just the players, most notable Maurice Cheeks and Tony DiLeo. With Ed Snider's endorsement of DiLeo during the news conference, in which he said DiLeo was the primary one involved in the draft decision making process, his future certainly seems a little brighter. A decision on Cheeks needs to come swiftly. If he was on the hot seat before, that seat may have gotten a little hotter this morning.
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Derek Bodner
dbodner22@gmail.com |
