by Spree#8 on Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:35 am
Turns out K.J. might have been essentially gone at the deadline the moment he declined to sign the Hinkie special and went for early RFA. With his hot start to the season and flashy dunks and chasedown blocks all over the Internet, I guess Hinkie didn't like the odds of re-signing him at the price he considers right. The return is very unimpressive. Canaan better be ready to play 35+ minutes instantly because he's the only healthy PG on the roster.
MCW for the Lakers' pick is a very risky move. The protection goes:
2015 - top5 protected
2016 - top3 protected
2017 - top3 protected
2018 - unprotected
With LAL tanking hard, there's no way they let Philly have the pick this year. And depending on how their offseason goes, it might not be such a great pick next year and onwards. So apparently, Sixers' fans need to hope the Lakers can't sign anyone notable in the summer with all their cap space and Kobe takes 25 shots per game next year as well. Otherwise, it might turn out MCW was given away for a pretty low pick.
I am really bummed about MCW being gone. He had his flaws, but was mostly unfairly shat on for his bad percentages and turnovers this year and was instrumental to whatever little success the Sixers had. Between the offseason shoulder surgery and the team he was given to work with, I think Carter-Williams did about as well as could be expected and tried his hardest to do his job well. With his all-around contributions and improving defense, I saw potential in him to be the 3rd-4th best player on a contender someday. He has talent and I believe he'll figure things out, especially when he gets an NBA offseason to work on his game (particularly the jumper, of course). Too bad it won't be in Philadelphia. With so much uncertainty surrounding that Laker pick, I really don't know if this is a good move.
What I know is that we can't keep trading players for picks forever. How much more can this rebuild be set back? I'm mostly on board with the moves Hinkie makes, but I fear that he will one day outsmart himself badly and screw the franchise over for a good half-decade. He might have outsmarted himself already with MCW, but PG is the easiest hole to fill in today's NBA. Hinkie swims and sinks with his draft picks, it seems. I can't help wondering how much longer he'll have green light from the ownership to focus entirely on stockpiling them.
By the way, this can't be good for the Sixers' team spirit and, being now without a PG (unless Canaan is a badass or they strike gold with a random D-League callup like they did with Covington), the losses should start piling on again after going 12-24 in their last 36 games. However, it seems NY and Minnesota have no intention of letting the Sixers take any of their ping pong balls. Really don't know how to feel about any of this.
