Woooooooooooooooooooooooo.
First note of business is Iguodala. I loved him as a player. Consummate professional, incredible tone setter and defensive specialist. But he wasn't the player the Sixers needed and that caused a lot of resentment in a fan-base that is infamous for being very critical. As stupid as it sounds it didn't help that he had to have the same initials as Iverson. We needed a go to guy. A star. And I personally think Bynum has that potential. I lovvvvved Iguodala but his contract tiptoes the line of being on the high end of things and blatant overpayment. As a basketball player I have nothing for respect for him though. The teams strengths, fan expectations and his contract are no fault of his and I wish him all the best in Denver. Again I love him.
His professionalism was utterly lacking in LA but I truly feel like Philadelphia is an ideal situation for him. Doug Collins is an amazing coach, he's close to where he went to high school (right over the bridge St. Joes in NJ) and most importantly he doesn't have to play third banana anymore. There's gonna be some serious expectations on him to be our number one guy and I think he's ready to start taking that role. I'm happy. (FUCK FUCK STAY HEALTHY FUCK)
In terms of the effect on the pieces already on the team. Kwame Brown is no longer our starting center. That one speaks for itself. Evan Turner gets more time handling the ball and creating which he excelled at in our three guard set last year. Now the inefficiencies of the height mismatches are completely off the books and he has so much more playing time in front of him. Hopefully he can turn those flashes of immense potential into something consistent. The glut of 6'6-6'9 tweeners has shrunk drastically. I was excited for Harkless but I had no idea where he fit in. That isn't a worry anymore. Cya. Opens more time for Thad Young who has extremely impressive per minute stats. Opens more court space for Jrue to operate. The Sixers had no athleticism at the center position last year and it cost us. Elton couldn't jump more than 4 inches off the ground and Hawes is a goofy white dude. Substitute in one of the top 2 centers in the league instead. One of the key problems for the Sixers was an inability to penetrate and get good shots from a majority of offensive sets, leading to a terrible jump shooting team settling for far too many jumpers. Introduce one of the best low post threats in Basketball. New kickout man Dorrel Wright is noice too.
The one worry is defense. Iguodala was amazing. A leader and a tone setter as stated earlier. Hopefully the team saw where that could take them this last year and can keep the team defense philosophy. Thad and Turner have both shown flashes of being great defenders and now is the time to prove and improve on that. Bynum is a huge defensive upgrade over Hawes who can now potentially even play the 4 as is rumored. Spencer Hawes as a poor man's Pau Gasol isn't actually the worst thing in the world. If anyone watched him last year his offensive game, especially his passing, was incredibly impressive. His jump shot is developing and I see tremendous potential for synergy between the two of them. I'M SO HAPPY IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. (Please don't get hurt )
Oh wait no one cares about The Sixers and everyone just wants to talk about how good LA is? Ok
