Thanks to [yet another] underwhelming trade-deadline, I've been left with somewhat of a predicament. Do I write about the tiny moves that hardly anyone will notice? Do I compose "power rankings?'? Do I nix the blog post altogether and study? So, I've decided to write about the one deal that sent some minor shockwaves through the NBA-world, Evan Turner to Indianapolis.
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Turner, former 2nd overall pick and major bust,
was traded to Indy for an expiring contract |
The Trade: The Pacers send SF Danny Granger [expiring contract worth approx. $10 mil.] to the 76ers in exchange for SF/PG Evan Turner [expiring rookie contract, restricted] and PF/C Lavoy Allen [expiring rookie contract, restricted]
This is awkward. My favorite team takes on my least favorite player [see: Top 10 Most Overrated Players in the NBA]. Let's start off with how this works out for Philly. Assuming they don't resign Granger, the 76ers are officially in the "Riggin' for Wiggins", "Sorry for Jabari", "Low-Seed for Embiid", or whatever else you want to call it, sweepstakes. Simply put, they're tanking. Big time. They now have some more cap-relief, thanks to Granger's expiring contract to work with. Kevin Love in 2015 maybe? [more on that later]. All in all, tanking have officially begun in "The City of Brotherly Love". Now to the tricky part, Indianapolis. My hate for Turner is well-known among my peers. I don;t like him. The guy's a flat-out bust. BUT, I do recall saying he'd make a really good bench player. So what does [the genius that is] Larry Bird do? He turns the man into a bench player. Now, Indy has a solid backup plan if Lance Stephenson decides to leave in free-agency [G-d, please don't let this happen]. Philly gets what they want, Indy gets a swiss-army knife off the bench who can do a bit of everything [IN MODERATION, I cannot stress this enough] to help them destroy Miami.
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| Noel has yet to play for the 76ers due to injury |
The one player who is affected the most by this trade is Nerlens Noel. Nerlens Noel now holds the keys to the next 8 years of 76ers' basketball This trade has really emphasized what Noel will mean to Philly down the road. Noel showed many flashes of brilliance in college, swatting shots like a pro, before tearing his ACL. What people must understand, is that this is a much more dangerous injury to big-men than it is to guards. 7-footers and knee injures aren't exactly a match made in heaven, just ask Greg Oden. What happens if Noel never fully recovers and/or refines his game? The 76ers never reach their full potential. Michael-Carter Williams and Andrew Wiggins / Jabari Parker are never anything more than great statistical players who never win rings without an interior presence, forcing them to pull a LeBron and jump ship to another team. But why only focus on the negatives? Here's what happens if Noel pans out: Philly has a great young core to begin with in MCW, Wiggins/Parker, Thad Young [or whoever they trade him for], and himself. They flash tons of potential as a team in the 2014-15 season. Grab another lottery-caliber talent, and with all of that salary cap room; perhaps lure in Kevin Love who just so happens to be a free agent after next season? Coming off of a handful of lackluster seasons with the Wolves, Love still hasn't made the playoffs [forget winning a ring], and even if he does, they'll just be Thunder/Spurs bait in the first round, barring ridiculous improvements/signings Take a minute. Soak that in. MCW, Wiggins/Parker [ideally Wiggins in this situation, because he's smaller and would fare well at the 2, where as Parker would play at the 3 and probably force Thad to play 6th man, even though that would probably be fine too.], Thad Young, KEVIN LOVE, and Noel. That's a team nobody wants to play against. Do you now realize how important he is? Plus, if he's successful while having a high-top fade, we can see more players with high-top fades, which would be awesome for the league.
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