| Trying To Learn From The Knicks Authored by David Mintz - May 17, 2006 - 8:59 pm
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But the Knicks elected instead to trade Nazr Mohammed, Vin Baker, and later Tim Thomas and Penny Hardaway, all players who come off the books this offseason, and starting PF Kurt Thomas, and acquired long-term contracts in Eddy Curry, Jerome James, Steve Francis, and Quentin Richardson. They also used the Amnesty Rule on the wrong player in Jerome Williams (they could have saved $13 million per season in luxury taxes by using Amnesty on Allan Houston).
Sixers’ management has been almost as inept over the years. This year, the Sixers still had Jamal Mashburn, Todd Maccullough, Aaron McKie and Greg Buckner on their payroll for a combined almost $25 million. Cap money invested into players not on the team could have been better spent on players who can contribute. Combine that with the fact that Allen Iverson and Chris Webber cost the Sixers almost $40 million against the cap, and the Sixers have a dearth of talent on the bench.
Last offseason, GM Billy King signed Samuel Dalembert, Steven Hunter, and Kyle Korver to long-term deals. Hunter and Korver played to the value of their contract, but Dalembert did not. If the right deal was offered for Dalembert, the Sixers should consider the move, but it would be nice to see Dalembert give it one more year with the Sixers. If Dalembert does not improve, his contract could be more difficult to trade. Regardless, Dalembert has a lot of work to do on his game this offseason. Teams like Phoenix are showing that you can win playing small ball, so the demand for Dalembert might not be as great.
The contract that the Sixers must be very careful with is Chris Webber’s deal. A year from now, his contract will be appealing to other teams as it will be expiring a year after that. And if the Sixers do not trade Webber, his contract will come off the books in 2007 and $20 million of cap space would be freed. The worst thing the Sixers could do is trade Webber for three longer contracts owed to marginal players. This team needs championship caliber players, not marginal players.
Looking at the playoff teams still alive, what is common amongst the teams? They all have skilled, athletic players, and the players have a distinct role on the team such as perimeter defender, 3-point shooter, or bench scorer. Does John Salmons have a distinct role on the Sixers? Can he defend well, shoot well, or provide a spark off the bench? If not, then the team shouldn’t resign him.
Match-up problems play a huge part in this year’s playoffs. One Sixer, Allen Iverson, presents matchup problems for almost every other team in the NBA. If the Sixers can get championship caliber players in the next year or two to surround Iverson, then they should keep him. If the team needs three years to rebuild this roster into a winner, then they should trade Iverson. Iverson will be 33 in three years and not worth as much in trade.
Whether the Sixers keep or trade Iverson, the key is that the team does not sign or trade for marginal players. The Warriors looked like a promising team with Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, and Troy Murphy. But long-term contracts tenured to Derek Fisher, Adonal Foyle and Mike Dunleavy will prove to be the team’s undoing.
This is an important offseason for the Sixers. When the summer is over and the moves have been made, will they be one year closer to salary cap freedom, or two years further away like this year’s Knicks? Only time will tell. Hopefully for Sixer fans, the past is not an indicator of the future. |
