| C-WEBB Comes To Philly Authored by Jim Serratore - February 25, 2005 - 1:40 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Howard's Role In The Gold For the first time in eight years, there won't be any talk of failure, or the world catching up, only praises for the Olympic champions – that is unless your name is Dwight Howard.
Grading The Deal: Williams To Cleveland In Three-WayMo Williams just barely outperformed the first year of his new contract, but he gives Cleveland's offense a few more teeth.
 |
Is It Time To Worry?
Training camp is less than four weeks away, and the Pacers still haven't signed Danny Granger to an extension or gotten rid of Jamaal Tinsley.
|
 |
Auditing Miami's 2007-08 Season
The Heat came out of the season in an immediately better situation to compete, turning Shaq into Shawn Marion and a 15-67 record into Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers.
|
 |
The Lakers Need More Gas
Maybe it’s Pau’s blood. Whatever it is, something happens when he switches his NBA jersey for a national one. It somehow evokes an emotion and a confidence that an NBA paycheck doesn’t seem to be to able to ignite.
|
|
More from RealGM's Columnists
|
| |
What a difference a player makes. Especially when that player is Chris Webber.
Webber follows in the foot steps of players like Dikembe Mutombo, Theo Ratliff, Tyrone Hill, Derrick Coleman, Matt Geiger, Keith Van Horn, Toni Kukoc, and most recently Kenny Thomas. All were at one time or another the best big man in Philadelphia. (In the cases of Van Horn and Kukoc, the words “big man” should be applied loosely.) Now the best big man in Philadelphia also happens to be the best big man in Philadelphia since Charles Barkley last wore a Sixers uniform 13 seasons ago.
One could argue that Barkley’s departure created a hole as big as the man himself. Allen Iverson picked up the slack in ‘96 and replaced Barkley as the Sixers resident super star, but his presence alone has clearly not been enough to return the Sixers to ultimate glory. Just like Barkley often lacked a complimentary All-Star caliber player during his days in Philadelphia, so did Iverson. Until now.
Iverson must have been the happiest man alive when news broke that Webber was coming to Philadelphia. Iverson has been like Batman without a Robin for his entire nine-year NBA career. He has yet to have another perennial All-Star for a teammate. He has yet to have another marquee name on his team. He has yet to play with another guy capable of dominating a game all by himself. Until now.
The Trade
Who would have thought Sixers General Manager Billy King could swap Chris Webber for Kenny Thomas, and then replace Corliss Williamson with Rodney Rogers? It took two separate deals for that scenario to become reality, but King pulled it off. The Sixers have two new power forwards, and they got a steal of a deal.
Webber replaces Thomas as the starting power forward. That change alone made the Sixers chances of winning the East instantly legitimate. Williamson was also sent packing by the Sixers in the Webber deal, which left the Sixers with a big hole on the bench. Enter Rodney Rogers. One could argue that Rogers fits Jim O’Brien’s master plan better than Williamson does anyway. They are similar type players at similar stages in their respective careers. The big difference, as far as O’Brien is concerned, is that Rogers has three-point range. Williamson does not. O’Brien loves players with three-point range like kids love snow days. Case closed.
Heading to Sacramento with Thomas and Williamson is Brian Skinner. Skinner came to the Sixers as a free agent last summer, with visions of at least being part of the eight-man rotation, but it was never meant to be. Ahead of Skinner on the Sixers depth chart were Samuel Dalembert and Marc Jackson. Unless one of them got hurt, Skinner could expect to be watching from the sidelines. Consider the fact that Skinner had two more years left on his hefty contract with no reason to believe he’d be part of O’Brien’s plans between now and then, and his departure makes perfect sense from the Sixers point of view.
Joining Webber on the plane from Sacramento to Philadelphia are two young players who will have to earn the right to play on this team. One is former Villanova star Michael Bradley who was drafted nine spots ahead of Dalembert in the 2001 Draft. For all intents and purposes, Bradley is an unproven work-in- progress. The Sixers will be his fifth team in four years. He takes Skinner’s place as the emergency big man, in case something happens to Webber, Dalembert or Jackson. Matt Barnes is the other new guy. He joins a crowded situation on the perimeter where available minutes are few and far between. The Sixers are Barnes’ third team in two years. Both Bradley and Barnes will have to prove that they were more than just throw-in’s to make the Webber deal work financially.
Technically, Jamal Mashburn takes Glenn Robinson’s place as a permanent resident on the Sixers injured reserve list. Mashburn once would have made a great addition to Iverson and the Sixers, much like Robinson was expected to do, but injuries have taken their toll and caused Mashburn to seek retirement after the season. As a consolation prize, at least the Sixers finally extinguished the black cloud of smoke that has been hanging over the Wachovia Center since it became apparent that Big Dog was not part of O’Brien’s plans.
So the Sixers acquired Chris Webber and the four years remaining on his contract, plus two young guys who make peanuts and will become free agents at the end of the year. In exchange the Sixers unloaded Kenny Thomas and the six years remaining on his contract, plus Williamson and Skinner who both have two years left on their current deals. Not bad.
Then the Sixers added Rodney Rogers who will become a free agent at the end of the year, plus Jamal Mashburn who is expected to retire. In exchange, King parted ways with Big Dog’s monster contract, which expires at season’s end.
No doubt, the Sixers have put their faith in Chris Webber’s ability to stay healthy and earn the $63 million, give or take a penny, left on his contract. The possibility of adding a marquee free agent this summer officially went out the window when the Webber trade was announced. Was it a risk worth taking?
The Aftermath
Take a look at the Sixers roster after the trades and suddenly you realize that all the pieces seem to fit together nicely.
The new starting lineup is Iverson, Andre Iguodala, Kyle Korver, Webber and Dalembert. The biggest winner in the Webber lottery might be Korver. Now that he no longer has to carry the load as Iverson’s scoring side kick, he can float under the radar and bury any team that doesn’t pay close attention to him. Since Iverson and Webber both command a double team at all times, Korver should find himself wide open more than ever.
The rest of the eight-man rotation consists of veterans Aaron McKie, Marc Jackson and Rodney Rogers. If Rogers is not the happiest man in the NBA today, then I don’t know who is. Rescued by Billy King from the team with the worst record in the NBA, Rogers actually has something to play for this year. Not only that, but he gets to re-join O’Brien, his old coach in Boston from a couple years ago. McKie and Rogers join Korver as the primary long range specialists and likely beneficiaries of passes from Iverson and Webber for wide open 3’s.
The end of the bench includes five young players with potential (Willie Green, John Salmons, Matt Barnes, Michael Bradley and Josh Davis) and a reliable, steady-handed veteran point guard with playoff experience and the league’s best Groucho Marx mustache (Kevin Ollie).
Can the Sixers make a run at the Eastern Conference title this year? There’s no reason to think they can’t. They trail Boston by half a game for the Atlantic Division lead with 28 games to play. On the bright side, they have a ton of home games upcoming and one of the best collections of talent in the entire conference. On the dark side, they have two new, key players who will have to adjust on the fly to life on a new team under the watchful eye of a city desperately starving for a championship parade. On paper, the Sixers are as good or better than any other team in the East, but as always, that’s why they play the games.
|
