newyorker4ever wrote:

wargames wrote:

stopstandthere wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Probably won't pass on Okafor in that case.

Sad for Okafor. He does not want to see that.

best case is if Towns and Okafor are off the board Philly takes Porzingis and Russell drops to NY. This news just makes Russell falling more of a possibility.

I actually think this news will make Philly trade down some now in the lottery and draft WCS or M.Turner or another big depending on how far down they trade, or maybe they just overpay a big in free agency. Who knows what the heck they'll really do but it adds more questions to the top of the lottery.

Hinkie does have Saric, and one other Euro (not sure of position played) in the pipeline, and it is well known know that he's trying to buy out Saric's contract ahead of time.

Wonder if he knew about Embiid well before we actually found out.

Interesting stuff for fans. Philly fans must really be going crazy at this point.

Wonder if they will eventually get out the pitchforks...

crzymdups wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:I can see Philly trading up to #2 so they can get OK4 or Towns and they have plenty of assets the Lakers would love to have and the Lakers still get Russell.

They almost need to move assets. They have 5 picks in the second round. They have a bunch of young players signed already and then others that they have the rights to Jordan McRae, Dario Saric, and one that they have stayed loyal to, Pierre Jackson in the fold. Not sure how Hinkie works this draft. Maybe he packages some seconds to move up a bit or maybe he trades them for future seconds. He has set the table nicely for the Sixers but it still needs to be determined if he can take the next step in building his team.

Yeah, if the Lakers covet Russell as reported, I could see them swapping picks.

I feel there's almost no chance the top three isn't - Towns, Okafor, Russell

The only time I would ever use "never" is when I tell you, "never say never."

Not saying that you aren't right, and I don't know how much the Embiid injury affects things, but Porzingis is still a wild card, and you have two GMs- Saunders and Hinkie- who have scouted him personally. You also have Orlando, which allegedly promised to take him last year before he dropped out of the draft. They are a potential trading partner for him, too, and might do the same with us if he is there at #4.

Lots of possibilities, and while I won't be surprised if your order- which has been what we've thought it would be forever, is correct, but who knows at this point.

Nalod wrote:Emiid would have been the no. 1 pick.
Hinkie took a gamble with a high payout. He took Norlens and sat him a year.
Don't think the owner is not in on these decisions. Its the organization.

Personally I don't care about Hinkie as he is not GM of the knicks.

It goes without saying he knew the risks involved with this kid and his condition.

BTW, any of these kids can break the first year. They are young and susceptible. Randle broke his leg the first game last season.
Why are there no good centers in the league like the good old days? AAU and year round play since these kids are 8 are breaking all the bigs and they are not growing properly. Not all of course but where are the big humans now on the basketball court? Are we not giving rookies time to grow?

Willis Reed was basically antonio Mycdyss, a high flying PF who filled out to be center. He had Walt Bellamy to play the 5 and bear the brunt of size. Moses Malone was a skinny 18 year old and perhaps because he was not a crazy leaper it helped him. Jabbar had a style that was graceful and easier on the body.

Then there was the last great which was Shaq and one might just say he was a biological freak to be they big, athletic, and stay healthy!
Yao Ming was a science experiment.

You are also right about the year round playing of a single sport. Lots of folks are looking at this, now. If the results show it is a problem that can be statistically prove, you can expect that the metrics crowd will start urging player to take more time off and play other sports.

Embiid fractured a bone in his back and then had the leg injury in his first year of college...No?. Got to see the red light, there.
You also have to remember that many of the guys you mentioned played 4 years in college, even if one was on a JV team- they had track records of being able to play even if they were injured and had to do rehab.

tj23 wrote:Berman reported that a league source said that Philly wouldn't let Russell/Okafor slip past them no matter what.

Well, that's it then- you can't argue with an unnamed league source- they are never wrong