Empty the Bench

As the season winds down, ETB is going to take a look at the state of a number of non-contenders. We’ll talk about what’s going right, what’s not, discuss their key personnel, look at team needs and size up their future.

Today: The Philadelphia 76ers

As hard as it may be to believe, the Philadelphia 76ers are one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won 8 of their last 11 and 12 of their last 17 games, including victories over playoff-caliber teams like Dallas, Orlando and Phoenix. And while they sit several games under .500, Philly currently occupies the 7th seed in the East and also has impressive wins against Portland, Houston (twice), Cleveland and Toronto on their resume. Saturday night’s massive win over the Phoenix (setting) Suns on the road (their first victory in Arizona in seven years) brought the Philadelphia 76ers some much-deserved national attention. They’ve been a depressing franchise since their NBA Finals campaign of 2000-01 that featured an MVP season from longtime face of the franchise Allen Iverson. The Sixers finally decided to give up on the Iverson era early last season and shipped him to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and a couple of first-round picks. It was then that they officially undertook a three-year rebuilding process, but over the last month we’re starting to see that this team may be ahead of schedule.

That NBA Finals team was built by then-GM Billy King, but from that year on King’s tenure was riddled with bad decisions, bad contracts and bad roster moves (Aaron McKie, Kenny Thomas and Chris Webber come to mind). King was jettisoned last January after a disappointing start and was replaced by former University of Pennsylvania baller Ed Stefanski. Moving forward the new GM should have plenty of flexibility, with multiple first-round picks and the only players necessarily under contract past next season being Samuel Dalembert, Reggie Evans and Willie Green. Even that trio will only clock in at just over $20 million in 2010-11 when they come off the books. Additionally, Philly does have very reasonable team options they will pick up on for first-round picks Thaddeus Young, Rodney Carney and Jason Smith for a couple more seasons. Stefanski will also be looking to lock up Andre Iguodala, the Sixers’ best player, to a long-term extension this summer.

Unlike most rebuilding teams, Philly appears to have a solid plan in place and they’re actually entertaining to watch. They feature Andre Iguodala, one of the most electrifying dunkers in the NBA who should have a Slam Dunk Title under his belt. They also run all game long, after makes and misses, and they have the young speedsters to hustle people out of the gym. They score 14% of their field goals on dunks, which is the highest percentage in the league. A big part of that is the picturesque passing of Andre Miller, but it’s also because they have fast hands in the passing lanes and average 8.5 steals a game, the fifth-most in the NBA. In that sense they take after their coach, hometown hero Maurice Cheeks, who led the 76ers to three NBA Finals appearances in the early 80s and brought Philly an NBA title in 1983. As a player Cheeks was a tenacious defender with a nose for the ball who made four consecutive NBA all-defensive squads and has the third-most steals in NBA history. His hard-nosed, ball hawking style is rubbing off on the youngsters.

Philadelphia was widely predicted to finish last in their conference this season, but they’ll certainly end up much higher than that. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised by the young Sixers so far though: they finished the season 30-29 after the Iverson deal last season. In any event, while the Philadelphia 76ers are still a couple years away from Eastern Conference relevancy, they’re a young team to watch.

A detailed roster analysis and a look at the future of the franchise after the jump…

Backcourt:

Keepers: Louis Williams, Willie Green, Andre Miller
Expendable: Kevin Ollie

The resurgence in Philadelphia has been led by the savvy play and leadership of veteran point guard Andre Miller. Miller has done an admirable job of not giving up on this team, even though he should have every interest in finding his way onto a playoff contender and very little interest in babysitting these youngsters. He’s been a consummate professional though, tutoring the kids off the court and on. Unfortunately, as a 32-year-old Miller does need to go eventually, and he was my pick as the most likely player to be traded before the season began. Perhaps the Philly brass was wise not to move Miller just yet. He’s done such a good job of working with the young athletes on this roster, rewarding them for their hustle with clean passes when they get open — he throws the best alley-oop in the NBA, which the kids always enjoy. Philadelphia also doesn’t have anybody else on the roster they should feel comfortable starting at the point, especially considering the fact they they’re surprisingly still in the playoff race. Additionally, Miller might be more valuable as an expiring $10 million contract next season, either to the Sixers looking to get into an impressive free agent class or as trade bait.

The most intriguing player in Philly’s backcourt is Louis Williams, the self-proclaimed fasted man in the NBA. The 6-2 Williams has shown himself to be more of a scoring combo guard thus far, but he may eventually be asked to man the point in the post-Miller era once his passing skills and basketball IQ mature. Many don’t see a prototypical NBA point guard in Williams, but his skills are adaptable and demand playing time and he’s too undersized to play the two every night. Let’s also not forget that while this young man famously averaged 46 points per during a three-game stretch in the D-League in 2006, he also averaged 14 assists in those games. The former second-round pick and Naismith Prep Player of the Year possesses tremendous quicks and natural scoring ability, is electric in the open court and is going to be an 18+ PPG player in the next couple of seasons.

The other keeper of this bunch is Willie Green, a 6-4 scorer out of Detroit. I don’t see Green as a starter long-term, and as a 26-year-old he probably isn’t going to get a whole lot better than he is right now, but he has proven his worth as an energy option on offense off the bench, and a valuable insurance policy in case any of their starters go down. When given minutes, he’s capable of heating up and dropping 20-30 points on a given night, but he’s not consistent, lacks a strong outside shot and he doesn’t give a lot on the other end of the floor. Green has started all 54 games he’s appeared in this season and averaged a serviceable 13.3 points, 2.6 boards and 2.0 assists on decent percentages in 28 minutes a game. In the long-term, I see him as a guy who comes off the bench for 18-25 minutes a game and provides a scoring punch.

On the Wings:

Keepers: Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young
Expendable: Louis Amundson, Rodney Carney

Andre Iguodala is the franchise player for this up-and-coming squad. He was at the center of that major victory on Saturday when he put up 32 points, 5 boards, 3 dimes and two steals with just one foul on 15-of-23 shooting in nearly 45 minutes. Even before the 2006 Dunk Contest, Iggy was known in NBA circles as AI’s extremely athletic, efficient and defensive-minded running mate. He’s received national attention since those ridiculous dunks, and had a magnificent season last year as one of only three players to average at least 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. The other two are known by their first names: LeBron and Kobe. Even more impressive, Iggy has averages just over 2 steals per game over the last two seasons. His 2.1 steals per tie him with Shawn Marion and Allen Iverson for fourth in the NBA this season. And unlike a lot of players who rack up steals, Iguodala doesn’t just vulture and overplay passing lanes. He’s a tremendous man defender and help defender, a rarity in the NBA.

Samuel Dalembert Photo Credit: Icon SMI

After the obvious Iggy, the Philly swingmen are highlighted by a pair of young and athletic forwards who have been taken in the first round the last two seasons and have the look of real players: Rodney Carney and Thaddeus Young. Philadelphia will be evaluating these two for the remainder of the season, as it doesn’t seem prudent to keep the trio of similarly-skilled Thad Young, Rodney Carney and Iguodala. Right not, it looks like Carney will be on the way out sooner or later. He showed flashes last season with his athleticism and tenacity on defense and emerged as a third option in the starting lineup late in the year, but hasn’t gotten much love this season.

Meanwhile the play of Thaddeus Young has been eye-opening over the last month and a half. He was expected to be a project who wouldn’t contribute this season, but he’s exceeded such modest hopes. At just 19 years of age with a wispy 6-8 frame, the 76ers’ first-round pick in 2007 will need some time to bulk up before he can truly hang with the stronger NBA forwards. And while Young’s offensive game showed improvement last year at Georgia Tech, he still needs polish there. But his extremely quick feet and hands make Young a solid defender already. He’s been a major part of the Sixers’ strong play of late, averaging an impressive 10.5 points, 6.5 boards, 1.5 steals and just 0.8 TOs on 57.5% FGs over the last month. Philadelphia is just starting to tap into Young’s potential, and the versatile forward should continue to take large strides over the next few years as he grows into that body and picks up some polish on offense.

Up Front:

Keepers: Samuel Dalembert, Jason Smith
Expendable: Reggie Evans, Shavlik Randolph

Sammy Dalembert is a long, lean, athletic center who can get up and down the court. The Haitian didn’t start playing basketball until later in life, and it showed in his unpolished game on both ends of the floor for his first few seasons. Bert’s offensive game is very limited, but he has always had good rebounding and shot-blocking ability, and is sixth in the NBA in total blocks since the start of the 2003-04 season. Teammates and Philadelphia brass thought the kid had All-Star potential though, and that’s why they locked him up to a sizeable contract that will pay $52.6 million through the 2010-11 season. He’s taken huge strides this year, and even got my vote for the All Star game based on his improved play. After leading the NBA in goaltending during the 2005-06 season, he’s started to pick up on the subtleties of NBA defense. He’s cut down the goaltending, improved his defensive footwork and is fifth in the NBA this season with 2.3 blocks per game and is fourteenth in the league with an even 10.0 boards a game.

Bert lacks offensive moves, and he probably always will. The footwork on offense is a work in progress at best. Not only does Bert need to work on building an offensive repertoire in the post, he also needs to learn how to find open cutters and slashers- the assists need to come up. Nobody expects him to suddenly become Kevin Garnett down there, but the 0.5 assists per game is pretty pathetic. The bottom line is that he’s on the hook for a big deal, but he has started to earn it defensively and on the glass. And let’s face it, talented big men with All-Star potential are few and far between in the East. Slightly overpaying for one with upside can be excused.

Philadelphia is going to need to pick up another big man in the coming year or to help out Sammy on the glass. They did bring in rebounding specialist Reggie Evans to do just that, but Evans is such a one-trick pony that it’s hard to keep him on the floor long and it’s hard to have two big men so offensively challenged in at the same time. After appearing to be part of the picture last season, the 6-10 Shavlik Randolph has fallen off the map, appearing in just three games this season for a grand total of 2:00 minutes.

Philadelphia’s other big man of note is Jason Smith, a seven-footer and the 20th overall pick in the 2007 draft. Smith is a project, but figures to be a serviceable big man in an up-tempo attack. He runs the floor well for a guy his size and has a decent shooting touch, but he still gets pushed around on the box by more physical NBA power forwards and centers. He should continue to improve the mid-range game and bulk up, and theoretically he would make a lot of sense alongside Dalembert eventually because of a more polished offensive game and the ability to get up and down the floor. All that said, I caught this kid in extended action as MSG this preseason and he appears to have a long ways to go. If Smith can develop a go-to move he’ll be an asset to Philly, but I’m not expecting much for a couple of seasons. He’s averaging 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks thus far.

What Needs to Be Done:

This is a tenacious team that gets after the ball and works hard. They’re young, lean and athletic. They don’t have much depth or many big-name players, but they’re on their way to the playoffs. They continue to work hard, winning the second game in 11 of their last 12 back-to-backs, and they continue to surprise teams with more experience and more talented rosters. It’s a good start, but there are a number of things they will need to address before they can take the next step:

*Maximize the value of Andre Miller in the coming season.

*Find or figure out their PG of the future.

*Stock up on some mid-level guards for added depth.

*Decide who their core is after Iggy and Bert, and namely if Thad Young, Rodney Carney or Lou Williams is in it.

*Lock up Andre Iguodala to a long-term extension this summer, but not a max deal.

*Get Bert some help up front.

*This is still an erratic and young team that lacks an endgame strategy and a closer on offense. They need to know if Louis Williams can be that closer because Iguodala shrinks from offensive pressure. If it’s not Williams, they need to draft or sign a pure scorer.

*Get WEEN to write them a theme song, or perhaps use this one…

For looks at other NBA teams and the state of their franchise, click on over to read ETB’s takes on:

- The Minnesota Timberwolves
- The Memphis Grizzlies
- The Portland Trail Blazers
- The New Jersey Nets

Tags: Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert, Louis Williams