FanPost

The Sixers Need their Own Legarrette Blount -- Jahlil Okafor for Bobby Portis?

What up, yall? It’s your boy, SmittyBanton. Long-winded Process-Truster. Been a long time. But y'all know how I do. Don't even get started with this unless you have time on your hands:

Two things caused me to write this post on Bleeding Green Network, a) I still refuse to acknowledge my ban from Liberty Ballers, and b) the Sixers highly anticipated success and the (highly speculative!) prospect of trading Jahlil Okafor for Bobby Portis caused me to think of the Philadelphia Eagles and how much a team having its own knockout artist, Legarette Blount, brings an attitude that goes beyond simply his play on the field.

First, a couple jabs of my own. For all my friends over at LB: Wade Baldwin sucks. His time in Dallas proves Nerlens is either a defensive switchblade who you sic on the other teams’ best offensive three, four or five--or he’s nothing at all. We have the 21st century’s version of Magic and Kareem. And not only is Ben Simmons a point guard who can in fact guard other point guards, the whole league is realizing that the way to defend small ball is by sagging, switching and swatting at the rim. John Chaney-style match-up zones are everywhere.

Instead of promoting position-less basketball, I just like playing guys "out of position". Lol. Alright, I’m done being petty.

"Today’s topic, self-destruction.…"

Bobby Portis. After a punch in a practice fight that broke several bones in Nikola Mirotic’s face, the Bulls are planning on welcoming him back and inserting him in the rotation as the back-up four---ahead of Nikola Mirotic, who they're paying $12M this year. They say its because he brings energy and an attitude.

On the other hand, they could be featuring him for a trade. Not much of a feature, as he only gets 16minutes a game. That’s basically who he is as a player, because like Dario Saric, he’s simply not very explosive.

But that 16 minutes a game behind Saric and the willingness to break someone’s face is perhaps one of the few things that the newly-revamped Sixers are missing. Joel Embiid is jovial. Maybe he can back up his chat, but you don’t want him to. Ben Simmons is cool, maybe even aloof. Covington is smooth and quiet, and Dario is gritty. If it goes down in a dark alley, I’m not sure who’s gonna stand and bang…enthusiastically.

Portis will. As would Legarrette Blount.

Blount is notorious for having sucker punched a Boise St. player who was taunting the Oregon Ducks after the game. Unhelmeted, the guy should’ve thought better of doing it while Legarrette was around, because one shot knocked him out.

Fast forward two years, and Blount is in Titans training camp protecting his intercontinental championship belt with another knockout. There was even a training camp skirmish back in 2014, but its not clear whether Blount got another punch in.

I was embarrassed for the Eagles last year when the Redskins cold-trucked Darren Sproles and we did absolutely nothing about it, except go on and lose the game. Like Jason Peters socking dude that roughed up Nick Foles, I don’t think Blount would take kindly to a cheap shot on Carson Wentz. With Peters out, I’m glad we still have that type of guy on offense.

Okafor for Portis. Easy, peasy.

That said, I’m one of the few holding Okafor out for more than that, even after refusing his option. After thinking about it for awhile, I think I get what Bryan Colangelo is trying to do. And if I’m right, we’ll be flipping Okafor and Jerryd Bayless to the Atlanta Hawks for Kent Bazemore—a guy I wanted the Sixers to sign during the summer of 2016--(Smitty’s Shadow Sixers: Fournier, Bazemore & Waiters).

The only way we can reconcile Colangelo and Okafor’s camp believing there were multiple deals on the table and the fact that he’s still here is because all of the decent offers involved the Sixers taking on salary. I’ll be teams like New Orleans and Phoenix offered us first round draft picks or players for Okafor, but only if we took on bad contracts like Omer Asik’s.

So I think Bryan Colangelo has something up his sleeve by attempting to trade Jahlil after NOT picking up Okafor’s player option.

Folks who know me know I’m not a Bryan Claimjumper fan. I believe Summer ’16 was when Hinkie was going to get Ben Simmons and poach impact free agents (Bazemore & Fournier) to compliment Simmons and Embiid. Even after Simmons and Embiid got injured in the Fall, we would’ve had a much better season, and still gotten Fultz because we had swap rights with Sacramento. I mean why trade for swap rights with Sacramento if the plan wasn’t to maximize the spread???

With Fournier and Bazemore already aboard, we could go over the cap to re-sign Joel and Covington.

But that’s expensive, and why Hinkie was neutered. "It was Barzini all along." Josh Harris hired Hinkie because he promised him the lowest relative payroll in history, and he moved him out the way when the Process dipped into the bank account. Simmons and Embiid are going to make Josh Harris a ton of money. The last thing he wants is to go deep into the luxury tax and not profit like Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers.

Joel is the Process. Ben was the reason for the Process. Thank you, Bryan.

But selling off second round picks is not the Process. Handing $10M deals to Sergio Rodriguez, Gerald Henderson and Amir Johnson is not the Process. Needlessly trading a first round pick for Fultz instead of trading down for Dennis Smith Jr is not the Process. Anyone who thinks Hinke would’ve been scared off by DSJ’s knees hasn’t been paying attention.

Colangelo was brought in to do what he’s always done. But together an offensive pleasing team that will make the playoffs and sell tickets, but not contend for a championship. His modus operandi in both Phoenix and Toronto was to trade defense first players, and the first thing he did in Philly was trade Nerlens Noel and Jerami Grant.

Colangelo makes a lot of deals. And he has since coming here. But he’s not known for ‘winning’ trades, and he hasn’t since coming here. I get why he likes Fultz. I like Fultz too. But he was one of the top seven, not the absolute best. And he was a horrible fit for the Celtics, and we let them off the hook. We would’ve gotten Fultz at #3 anyway, and if not there were a ton of options besides Dennis Smith Jr. Isaac, Jackson, Tatum, Fox, all would fit in well with this team.

Is Bryan Colangelo true to form or what?

Because if he is, his next move is power forward who can shoot, rebound and play above the rim! Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, Chris Bosh. That’s the type of four Colangelo likes. Dario has it all but the athleticism. We’ll talk about free agency in a little bit.

Now, one thing Colangelo does well is draft, and find good Europeans. Ta da! Timothe Luwawu-C and Furkan Korkmaz (who is dumb nice, just watch). Jonah Bolden and Anzej Pasecnics and Matthias Lessort.

I also can’t blame him for what’s going on with Markelle Fultz right now. First of all, Fultz is a great fit for this team, despite my criticism of what we gave up to get him. I think we would’ve gotten him anyway if we called Boston’s bluff. And as I said before, I loved the alternatives just as much. But, regardless, Fultz is a tremendous scorer in half-court sets, which is exactly what we need on this team. Joel is intimidating and Ben is a slasher. But one-on-one, breaking down a half-court set is Markelle’s specialty.

There’s also Fultz body frame and dumb-long arms. At 6’4 with that wingspan, Fultz can switch onto taller players better than, say, Dennis Smith Jr. We already saw while he was palying hurt that he can affect the game defensively at the top of the point. Long arms don’t make one a good defender, see Wade Baldwin. But long-ass arms on a guy with good instincts makes for a problem! Markelle can be that.

Fultz is not a point guard, and he knows it. When he signed on to University of Washington he expected to play the two next to Dejounte Murray. Murray unexpectedly rose up the draft ranks and exited earlier than anyone anticipated. Noone thought Marquese Chriss was a one and done kid either. When they left, Fultz had to take the reins, and we saw the unpleasant win-loss record. The only reason I didn’t lump JJ Redick into BC’s boat of useless free agent signings is because Fultz needs keep his own style yet he also has to learn how to play off the ball like JJ.

As for this current injury fiasco, I place no blame on Bryan Colangelo and the front office.

Fultz knows how and when he hurt his shoulder. And he's not saying. Absolutely no reason for him to withhold it if he did it while participating in team activities. Every reason in the world not to disclose it if he hurt on his own doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

19 years old with a couple million dollars all of a sudden?

Williams, like a good representative, steps in front on what should be a simple issue, so that Fultz doesn't have to field questions and lie.

The Sixers are in the dark, and they have no incentive to pry for the real answer. Colangelo, like me, suspects he did it while engaging in some summer activity prohibited by their insurance carrier: dirtbike, motorcycle, waverunner, trampoline, e.g.

But the Sixers have no incentive to ask him directly. In fact, they could make money by NOT asking. It is in their best interest for Colangelo to play dumb and pretend he hurt it AFTER he changed his shot, so that if god forbid he gets shutdown, insurance picks up the tab, and Josh Harris saves/makes even more money.

Brett Brown is the only honest man in this whole scenario, and he says Fultz changed his shot over the summer and he doesn't know why. He said specifically that Fultz said he was trying new things. No way Brett Brown goes on to make up a fake conversation.

That is the truth, as far as he's concerned.

Plus, plus, Fultz camp would've refuted it then if Brett were lying.

Plus, plus, plus, Keith Williams would be fired or forever sidelined as both trainer and mentor if for no stated reason so far he changed Fultz jumper not only to something that didn’t work, but to a style so horrid it injured his client unlike any other basketball player since I’ve been watching Sonny Hill/Baker League games in the 1970s?

As far as I'm concerned, Fultz hurt it between summer league and training camp, while he finally had the first time in his life to go nuts with a wad of cash, and he nor his camp has told the Sixers how and when it happened. If he tells Brown he changed it on his own and that his shoulder is just sore, then there is nothing Brett, the training staff or Colangelo can do at that point.

Until it becomes "painfully" obvious.

No one has lied. No one has told the truth, either.

Im also starting to think that maybe Bryan is on to something with Jahlil.

By not picking up Jahlil Okafor’s option a team gets a) his offensive abilities down low off the bench this year and an insurance policy against injuries, b) his expiring contract which may be worth more to a capped out team than his play. Add them together and he's more attractive than if his option were picked up. Plus, c) there may be no down-side to him being an unrestricted free agent because, considering this past summer's market, Okafor's probably looking at less than $6M per annum.

If Atlanta wants to shed Kent Bazemore's big contract, we can give them several expiring deals. If we can exchange Bayless and Okafor for Bazemore, we'd be in pretty much the exact same cap position for Covington, Embiid and the big fish free agent. Atlanta gets out of Bazemore's deal with a little something to show for it.

I think that’s why GMs say the most likely landing spot for Okafor is Atlanta or Chicago. The Bulls are an especially attractive landing spot for Okafor because his lack of defensive aptitude will not affect a team that’s already tanking for a top draft pick. Better than that, he’s home, the casual fan loves scoring, and losing more helps them secure a better draft pick.

The Hawks need to run with Dedmon and Okafor now, and draft either Mohammed Bamba or Deandre Ayton. If they like what they see, they can treat him like Dallas did Nerlens last year and depress his minutes so that he’ll have to sign cheap. If they keep him, they can sign him cheap, and they can consider Marvin Bagley or Michael Porter in the draft. They can go BPA.

Think about it, Atlanta will have a better chance at those dudes if they go full tank and move Bazemore who plays great defense but is unappreciated because he’s not a big offensive weapons, and replace him with Okafor who the fans will pay to see score but whose defense fits well with the tanking objective.

Bazemore’s not essential. They have Taurean Prince on a rookie contract, and he’s good. They also have St. Joseph’s DeAndre Bembry who they can audition after Bazemore’s gone. His game is similar in style.

Since Atlanta's already going to lose no matter what, Okafor’s scoring will sell more tickets and ‘hope’ to the casual Hawks fan than keeping Bazemore and losing anyway! The NBA is after all a for-profit business.

For the Sixers, Bazemore and Covington are precisely the type of 3-and-D players you want inbetween Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Although Covington is more versatile on defense, I dare say Bazemore can handle the ball better than Covington and therefore has a slightly more complete offensive arsenal.

Having secured Kent Bazemore for Bayless and Okafor, the Sixers still have max money to throw around. While I’m skeptical that BC and Josh Harris are going to actually use it, I concede that Bryan Colangelo probably wants to make a move that certifies the team as his. Right now, even Ben Simmons is Hinkie’s, and TJ McConnell is playing as well as Redick, while Richaun Holmes is about to put Amir Johnson on the bench.

Meanwhile, BC still doesn’t have the explosive power forward his track record suggests he wants. I mean, who are we talking about when he says he is preserving cap space for a max player or even two?

Let’s exclude Kevin Durant and Paul George from the top. They are on winning squads already. If Paul George is going anywhere, its to his home in Los Angeles, along with Lebron James. That’s what the Lakers envision.

But what if Paul George re-signs in Oklahoma City? I think that’s a distinct possibility, if not a good probability now that Russell Westbrook signed his extension. If George re-signs with OKC, then Lebron James to the Lakers seems a lot less like a fait accompli.

I’m not getting my hopes up, but I'll take Lebron James. As far as fit, Dario Saric, our current starting power-forward, and Lebron basically play the same four--except Lebron is a better shooter, finisher, playmaker, rebounder, defender... If there’s one thing guys like Billy King and Colangelo do, it’s bring in stars well past their prime. Remember when we had Ivo, Billy King brought in Glen Robinson, Jamal Mashburn, Chris Webber, …

This time, the Sixers kids are so good, that an old vet actually works out well. Lebron James is more Elton Brand than he is 37 year old Chris Webber, but you get the point.

Would Lebron even consider coming here? Well, things are starting off better here in Philadelphia than they are in Cleveland. Kyrie Irving jumped ship because he knew Lebron is going to leave. And if things look enticing now on Broad Street, wait til Joel and Markelle get a full year of development under their belts. JoJo still has a lot to work on. Which is great, because that means we get even that much better!!!

Joel and Ben are great, but it remains to be seen whether they have that championship fire within them. Wouldn’t hurt to have LBJ show them what it looks like.

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Besides LBJ, the other top free agent worth a max deal is even more controversial …Demarcus Cousins. If the Pelicans don’t step it up, they’re going to lose him. Cousins wants to play in the playoffs and teaming up with Joel might be the answer. Cousins’ launching 7 three pointers a game, and shooting over 33% since 2015 says they can play with each other as much as he can play with Anthony Davis. Moreover, he steps in to the five and the Sixers keep on rolling if, god forbid, Embiid ever gets hurt.

The thing is, besides George, LBJ and Cousins, there are no free agents in 2018 worth a max deal. Ben is our point guard and assuming Fultz takes over the two guard spot, there’s no need to spend big money and a long-term deal on Avery Bradley or Zach Lavine or Marcus Smart or KCP.

And if you swing and miss on the top tier guys, then you’re looking at non-max forwards like Wilson Chandler, Jabari Parker or Julius Randle. Chandler is by far the most attractive, I think. But getting him does not require us being all stingy now.

Forgive me if I believe that Colangelo will make a big show out of recruiting LBJ, George or Cousins. But in the end, Josh Harris is perfectly content using our cap space to extend our own players. To Colangelo’s credit, I think Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Covington, Korkmaz, TLC, and Jonah Bolden may turn out to be so good that we win a championship anyway!

Like the Eagles, it all starts with getting a guy like Legarrette Blount who has no problem punching grown men in the face. More Broad Street Bullies. Bobby Portis for Jahlil Okafor, let’s go!