Baka

Lakers vs 76ers Summer League Game was insane lit. Russell hits a clutch shot to tie the game and then proceeds to celebrate with ice water in veins gesture as McConnell runs down the court and scores with seconds left then Russell redeems himself and hits a 3 to win it. Though on the other side Simmons outplayed Ingram by a good margin and a couple of huge dunks for Grant and Nance. Then Russell gets interviewed and screams, "I played like $&!#!" on live TV. really getting back into the NBA this year

Croatia wins and Dario Saric named MVP of the tournament after averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds per game (18 points and 13 rebounds in the final win). Immediately after he smashed any doubt that he will be a 76ers uniform next season telling a reporter, "I am going back home and then to USA for the 76ers" Sixers will probably have 3 players on their own team competing for rookie of the year.

Dunn looked really good. The only knock on him was I believe he had an absurd amount of fouls very fast. (RIP Jakarr Sampson's Ankles) Westbrook should have a good amount of options. A lot of PG's will be free agents next offseason and even if a team has a solid on under contract you could see them trade that player to sign Westbrook. If he gets traded though I think the Celtics may be the most aligned with OKC for a trade. Westbrook may give them the chance to knock off the Cavs and they have an abundance of assets they can part with including the Nets unprotected 1st round picks and players like Jaylen Brown etc. I have vaguely paid attention to FiBA. Mainly paying attention to Croatia to see how Dario Saric is doing. I watched some of the Greece vs Croatia game. I was surprised to see Saric looking a lot better than The Greek Freak.

On a side note Ben Simmons played his 2nd Summer League game. His jump shot still needs some work but if he ever gets it figured out he will be a Generational talent. His court vision and passing are unreal and at 6'10 he moves like a point guard.

If OKC trades him I doubt it would be to the Lakers. Keep in mind the Lakers are a horrendous looking team again this year. No point in gutting themselves just to have Westbrook for a few games and miss the playoffs. They might as well keep all their prospects and then try to sign him in the offseason. Then trade someone like Russell + for another piece. DeMarcus Cousins may be a good player to chase given they need a Center and it looks unlikely that he will want to stay with the Kings who look to be treading in the wrong direction.

I think Tavares is a premature comparison. LeBron played 7 years in Cleveland and left when he was 25/26. Durant played 9 years in OKC before he left at 27/28. Tavares has played 7 years and is 25/26 still. John hasn't even been an UFA yet to have a chance to leaven which is still a very real possibility. I actually completely disagree on the trade vs FA statement you made though. Can you really criticize a player for signing a contract and honoring every year of that contract but praise a player who signs a contract and asks to leave before it's complete? You can go as far as to say management deserves a large chunk of the blame for some players and teams falling apart. LeBron's Cavs had a great record but he was literally the entire team. The Cavs starting line up was Mo Williams LeBron James Antawn Jamison Anthony Parker Shaq (well out of his prime) LeBron was the entire team and left to do everything on his own. When he left they dropped to the 29th ranked out of 30 teams. Why should a player waste his best years on a team that management is failing? They didn't start winning until after he returned and pushed moves like the Love trade. The KD situation is near impossible to defend. Even though management was criticized for being cheap with luxury tax and giving up Harden which may have killed an OKC super team they were a legit contender that choked because of players like KD. He didn't completely give them the finger though it was no secret even going back to last season that he may leave. They even considered trading him back when he had his injuries and admitted they thought the chances of him leaving were legit. As a contending team they kept him though and took a chance. With that said though I feel you are still overlooking that this happens in the NHL too. Parise and Suter were both on playoff teams in their prime years and left (both teams they left missed the playoffs the next year). Scott Gomez goes down as a horrible signing but left his team still in his 20s. Go back a bit Marc Savard left Atlanta in his 20s after scoring nearly 100 points in a season. Although knocking on 30 both Briere and Drury left Buffalo after career seasons (95 points for Briere and 37 goals for Drury). Go back even farther and you have players like Eric Lindros who outright refused to ever play for the team that drafted him. How is this really any different?

We will see how Durant fits but he has the tools to make them better. He is a much better passer and rebounder than Barnes as well as a better shot. Barnes may only have an edge on defense but Durant certainly isn't a defensive liability and they still have Draymond and Iggy defensively. I feel they will only have an issue if Durant is cutting into Curry and Thompson's shots. Then it may all be counter productive.

Pardon me as I throw some salt at Melo but that is because he is the only Superstar player in the East where as the West has a cluster of them. My point being is as far as contenders go both leagues only have a few select teams that just hoover around while everyone else plays with spare parts.

I don't think the NHL is much better honestly. Last 8 years of the NBA champions 3x - LeBron's team (2 Heat, 1 Cavs) 2x - Lakers 1x - Mavericks 1x - Spurs 1x - Warriors Last 8 years of the NHL champions 3x - Blackhawks 2x - Penguins 2x - Kings 1x - Bruins The NHL has just as little parody and players like Hossa did basically the same thing KD did. Even players like Kesler pushed his way out the door wanting to play for a few of those teams. It just seems more obnoxious in the NBA because it is easier to make these kind of moves in that league. Ether way both leagues are watered down when it comes to competition IMO.

This is great

I bought a gun. America, &^@# yeah!

That is a weird trade. What makes it worse is it's a 2nd round pick xD Though it isn't the first time teams gutted picks way in the future. The 76ers literally own the Knicks 2nd round pick in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Outside of the fact that he is getting that much for being great for 3 games why does Orlando make sense? They have Vucevic and Ibaka at the 5 and 4. All that to come off the bench and possibly stunt his growth.

Mmm. Esdeath ^

I played through X and am currently in X-2. Though I have others on deck for later. My waifu Yuna needs me :')

I ave been going ham on Final Fantasy these past few weeks.

I feel he will stay healthy. It is speculation but it really sounded like his set back was his own fault for getting caught up in the distractions of a millionaire. Reports were that the team was supplying him with a specific diet of food and he would leave it to waste in the fridge and wasn't wearing his boot which was confirmed by videos of him going out in sneakers etc such as him just hanging out on twitter trying to pick up Rhianna.. Then they scanned his foot again and it wasn't healing properly. Sounded like it was more him being an idiot than fragile. He became a joke though and the team has been saying he has matured and is taking the recovery very seriously and is ahead of schedule. Even on his twitter now when he posts he is spammed with people making fun of him for having the same stats as them and he seems like he is taking it as motivation. Plus unlike guys like Oden or Ming he doesn't look awkward after his procedure he looks if anything more powerful than he was in college.

I think Ingram will struggle a bit his rookie year simply because of his weight. Again for reference Durant is 6'9 and Ingram is also 6'9 with similar body types yet Durant is 45 pounds heavier than Ingram. The only reason Ingram wasn't #1 was because Simmons is compared to LeBron James. He is also a freak athlete but more so physically. He is 6'10 and can play any position on the court. He can physically push around people in the paint and he his speed was on par with prime Derrick Rose. Source... https://hoopshabit.com/2016/06/08/2016-nba-draft-ben-simmons-is-the-clear-no-1-prospect/2/ His ability to ball handle while seeing the court and pass are considered elite. The only knock on Simmons was his shot. But to his credit his mechanics are considered great and he simply didn't take many shots in college or work on it. He literally only took 3 attempts from beyond the arc all season. He was so dominant he would just get to the hoop. Shot 56% and averaged over 19 points and 11 rebounds in college clock. On top of that he gained 20 pounds of muscle since his season ended still at 19 and his workout with the 76ers was great with him showing improvement in his jump shot. Basically both Simmons and Ingram are genetic freaks and likely superstars but given how dominant Simmons is in so many areas you can't blame the Sixers for not passing on him. But at the same time it is like damn Ingram still looks damn good xD As far as tanking goes it is over. Hinkie was the GM who was tanking and he stepped down. But even so Hinkie was being blunt saying the Sixers gutted themselves with bad drafts and the Bynum trade and he was acquiring assets because you need a superstar to win in the NBA. Most of his picks were irrelevant to the team but are now set to be relevant. Saric is coming over from overseas, Embiid is listed at 7'2 now and considered healthy and set to start the season, and of course Simmons joins. They are also still shopping Noel or Okafor for a big return around a PG or SG. Basically they won't contend next year obviously but they are looking to develop and make moves to achieve winning now. In addition they don't need to tank now thanks to Hinkie's trades. They own the Lakers #1 pick next year and they have the right to swap picks with the Kings. For bonus though Simmons 76ers workout video. Then of course with this guy playing center healthy so it seems if Embiid can stay healthy he is as much as physical freak as Simmons. Making Ingram look like a small child here In other words the Sixers should start to rise this season.

Listed as 7'3. For reference the player he is most compared to (Durant) is listed at 7'4. He has scary high upside.

Ingram's limbs are no joke

Looking back at it the Celtics draft looked bad all over. Dunn was on the table and they had multiple teams wanting to trade up for him including the Bulls and Sixers talking to them about Butler and Noel (Sixers reportedly offered Noel, Covington, the 24th, and 26th picks for the 3rd. The Celtics could have possibly taken that then used any combo of their 4 remaining 1st round picks to jump back up for Brown). On top of that they end up taking Brown who many had projected to not be selected until around 8th. They could have literally traded back a few spots and still got him even though his fit for them is still questionable as other players like Bender seemed to be a better fit. In addition all of the picks just seemed like reaches. Outside of Brown who had an ugly college season and finished it in horrible fashion (making 10 of the last 48 shots at 21%) and had fallen in the charts they also reached with their other firsts. Their 16th pick was used on a player projected to be a very last 1st round pick or high 2nd round pick then again with their 23rd pick. These players may not end up being bad but the manner in which they went about getting them given all the doors just seems ugly to me. Celtics last 8 first round picks outside of these guys... MarShon Brooks Jared Sullinger Fab Melo Kelly Olynyk Marcus Smart James Young Terry Rozier R.J. Hunter

Time will tell. But even by that definition he would be at best a situational/bench player.

What about his play makes you think it was a system and not his ability?

And then he dropped hard when he got destroyed in college and was benched. To his credit he started to play better towards the end of the year but this is a guy who was projected to go undrafted at one point. This is a guy who averaged 15 minutes, 5 shots, 3 rebounds 6 points and cant shoot free throws. I give him this maybe he reclaims the hype but he lost that hype for a reason. Do you think it was because Kentucky managed him terrible or because he was legit overrated?