It goes without saying that the most talked about move of the summer for the 76ers was their acquisition of Andrew Bynum.  Plenty of people have chimed in on this, both positively and negatively, and it has (rightly so) been pegged as the team’s most impactful move. 

However, one aspect of this trade that has not been analyzed enough is the fact that it ensures that Spencer Hawes will spend the majority of his playing time at the power forward position rather than center.  This move will impact different aspects of Hawes’ game in different ways.

First off, let’s take a look at what this will do to Spencer on the offensive side of the ball.  Last year, Spencer didn’t exactly play like the prototypical center.  Scouts have always said that he has strong skill in the post, but he almost never shows it.  Instead, he prefers to play out of the high post or mid-range corner.  This spot away from the basket suits his skill set, as he has proved himself to be a valuable distributor (4^th in assist rate among qualified centers) while also taking care of the basketball effectively.  It should be noted, too, that these assist numbers were accumulated without having Andrew Bynum as an option offensively. 

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A big man (well at least a good one) is a rare commodity and a precious jewel in today’s NBA.  

Certainly, Philadelphia, like most other cities lately, has been bombarded with a bunch of coal at the center position – instead of the precious diamonds that shined in places like Orlando (Dwight Howard), San Antonio (Tim Duncan), and even Houston (Yao Ming) for a time. 

A generation of 76ers basketball was depleted of interior dominance. 

But, in the perfect tale of basketball novelty, there could be no one better to rectify this problem then the nearly native son, Andrew Bynum. 

When Dikembe Mutombo (the last solid true center the Sixers roster could boast) left town, Bynum was barely an adolescent.  Now, it is a 24 year old Bynum who can possibly fill a wide stretching empty space in the paint for this franchise.

 
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With only 40 days left until the 2012-13 Sixers season gets underway there is plenty of news to talk about.

• Sixers announce that senior vice president of basketball operations Tony DiLeo has now become the teams new General Manager. I like DiLeo as a person. I thought he did a pretty good job of coaching the team in the 2008-09 season, while almost upsetting the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic in the playoffs that year. I think the Sixers keeping the position in house isn’t necessarily a bad thing. DiLeo has proved to be a valuable asset in changing the culture of the Sixers around in the past 5 years. It also gives coach Collins some more say in what moves are made which I feel is a good thing as well, rather than the debacles which have occurred from the likes of Billy King and Ed Stefanski over the years.
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There was a time not too long ago (about 24 months if you’re a stickler for exactitude) that Thaddeus Young had the distinct look of a player who might struggle to find his place in the NBA.  The criticism directed at him: heavy and possibly deserved.

After an outstanding rookie season and a middling follow-up, he just withered in the context of Eddie Jordan’s ill conceived Princeton O.  In retrospect it’s not exactly an enormous surprise that a player who’s game is predicated on athleticism and the fast break would be less successful in a system that doesn’t have much use for those skills.  Still, all the same, the plain fact was that Thad struggled in 2009-10. 

But then something happened: Thad started playing much, much better.  He swore off the three-ball and began attacking the rim.  The result: a season after, by the reckoning of Wins Produced, that he tallied negative wins for the Sixers, he played 56 percent better than the average forward.  When was just as good in 2011-12, his head-scratching roller coaster story felt complete.  Some chalk up his rise to the influence of Doug Collins, whose arrival coincided neatly with his resurgence.  Some point to maturity, natural progression.  Some just shrug: in the NBA, stuff happens.

Whatever the factors that underpin his unusual volatility, one thing is clear: the Sixers (big ticket off-season acquisitions not withstanding) will absolutely need Thad to be his best self if they’re to repeat last season’s run.

In a recent conversation with Philadunkia, the now-longest tenured Sixer looked ahead to the coming season, talked about which position he’s going to play, and told us why, when a friend told him the Sixers had landed Andrew Bynum, he didn’t believe him.

Q and A, as always, after the J.

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Welcome to Philadelphia, Andrew.  You’ve told fans that you like the city and that’s great but have you checked out the banks?  Philly has lots of em’ and I think they will be to your liking but the question for me is, “Are you worth it?”.  

 At first glance you certainly seem to be worth it, but it’s important to see if the numbers back up intuition.  As my previous articles have stated, the numbers make the world go round.  In this case, the numbers say you aren’t worth the money.

It’s been reported that Bynum and his representative did not speak to anyone from the 76ers prior to this trade.  That isn’t a bad sign, but it’s certainly not a good one.  If Bynum doesn’t sign an extension this season, he is leaving once the season is over.  You see, the fifth year that Philly can Bynum offer is just not the Ace of Spades that people think it is.

Seriously, if you could go play with Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and The BROW or Holiday, Turner, Jrich, Lavov and Hawes, where would you go if you wanted to both win and party?

That isn’t the only team that will be vying for his services come this off-season, but that’s at least one with a more attractive offer.

Hopefully, that doesn’t happen and Bynum stays in Philadelphia, that’s what’s best right?

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Evan Turner the versatile, 6’7 small forward for our Philadelphia 76ers is now two years removed from the star studded career at Ohio State which enabled him to become the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.  Unfortunately in his first two seasons with the Sixers Turner has not produced the star type numbers many had been expecting. 

Yes we have seen flashes of brilliance, but his overall averages are actually pretty weak — 8.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.  The only positive way to look at that stat line is to keep in mind that Doug Collins has only played ET and average of 24.5 minutes a game for the past two seasons.  And if we are totally honest, we should also note that Collins has not done a great job of managing the still developing Turner as the coach has frequently toyed with the kid’s minutes and mind. 

Year three will be a crucial season for Turner.  With Andre Iguodala now in Denver, ET will have an opportunity to win a spot in the first-five for the Sixers and hopefully put together a breakout season that will be the spring board for a great NBA career.  For that breakout season to happen in 2012-13 there are three things that Evan Turner needs to do this year.

 
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Earlier this week, ESPN.com released players #181-200 from their rankings of the 500 NBA players (The exercise is titled #NBArank) who are most valuable to their team for the 2012-13 season.  One hundred and four different basketball experts ranked the players based on a scale of 0-to-10.  Some of you may remember that prior to last season these same “experts” ranked Sixers forward Lavoy Allen as the very worst player in the NBA (#500), only to apologize to Lavoy during his incredible playoff performance against Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics.

With ESPN.com’s #NBA rank receiving a great deal of attention in its second year, we thought it would be a good idea to look at where some of the 76ers have appeared in the ranking so far and make a few predictions for where the remaining members of the 7-6 will be popping up on the list.   

Below are the rankings for the Sixers players who have already appeared on the 2012-13 #NBArank list:

#182 – Forward, Dorell Wright, 30 spot dip from last year’s rankings

#232 – Forward, Lavoy Allen, 268 spot leap from last year’s rankings

#332 – Center, Kwame Brown, 28 spot dip from last year’s rankings

#375 – Guard, Royal Ivey, 43 spot leap from last year’s rankings

#400 – Forward, Arnett Moultrie, first year in the rankings

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