The space in between summer leagues and preseason is a dead time. Imagine the folk singer in Frank's bar during the second season of True Detective playing a slow brooding song to no one other than that one passed out, possibly dead, guy at the bar (is that Stan??? STAN!!!).
If you haven't seen the second season of True Detective (I envy you), just imagine tumbleweed, or quietly waiting, staring at the corner of the room where two walls meet while on timeout as a kid. A long stretch where time mostly sits still and it's almost always fairly dull. It's no man's land is what I'm getting at.
And a lot of nothing has happened since the Sixers signed Richaun Holmes, a whoooole lot of nothing. I am now going to comment on some aspects of the nothingness.
If you haven't seen the second season of True Detective (I envy you), just imagine tumbleweed, or quietly waiting, staring at the corner of the room where two walls meet while on timeout as a kid. A long stretch where time mostly sits still and it's almost always fairly dull. It's no man's land is what I'm getting at.
And a lot of nothing has happened since the Sixers signed Richaun Holmes, a whoooole lot of nothing. I am now going to comment on some aspects of the nothingness.
After Sixers management stated on July 11th that Joel Embiid would have foot surgery in 7-10 days to repair a bone in his foot that wasn't properly healing, he finally went under the knife yesterday. The surgery was deemed a "success" although we won't know just how successful it was until Joel is back on the court and we see that his foot can maintain the stress of holding up a 7 foot center for an 82 game season. I suppose it was successful in that no one died during the surgery (unconfirmed) and they let Joel keep his foot (confirmed).
It seems noteworthy that it took so long for the surgery to occur after the Sixers initial report and their self-imposed 7-10 day time frame. But I'm not positive what to make of this. There were reports that Joel broke the same foot again, but all the Sixers have stated is that it was not healing properly. If we take the Sixers at their word, it's possible Joel wanted to seek outside counsel to confirm the necessity of the surgery.
It's also possible the Sixers stalled the surgery in order to try (it appears unsuccessfully) to get the league to reimburse them for 60% of Joel's contract (when a player misses time, the league will reimburse the team for part of the player's salary as long as the injury is not preexisting [underline, underline, italicize the word preexisting]). It's also possible that this is a moot point and we're wasting brain cells concerning ourselves with it.
The Sixers traded local product Jason Thompson to the Warriors for Gerald Wallace and the right to swap the lesser of the first round picks from the Heat and the Thunder for Golden State's first rounder. This is basically a salary swap move. Wallace gets paid more this year but his contract is up at the end of the season while Thompson has two years left on his contract. Also there's a possibility that the Thunder finish better than the Warriors and the Sixers get to move up a spot or two in the draft.
I find the trade mildly depressing for a couple reasons. One, Jason Thompson is a Camden guy who was excited to play in familiar territory, but was traded before he could do the obligatory holding of a Sixers jersey in front of the media cameras. The second reason being that Gerald Wallace, who was one of my favorite players in his prime, is likely to suffer the same fate as Thompson. Wallace, who is 33, is a high flyer who can't fly all that high anymore due in large part to his age and what his nickname "Crash" indicates. It doesn't seem all that likely that he'll make it past training camp.
Speaking of training camp, there were reports that JP Tokoto, the Sixers selection at 58th overall, wouldn't sign with the Sixers this year. Later that same day, there were reports that he would, then that he wouldn't, so forth and so on ad infinitum. Still not sure whether he'll be at training camp or not. If he is, the Sixers will have to sign him or else release him. If he isn't and plays a season overseas or in the D League, the Sixers retain his rights without having to use a roster spot on him. The latter I'm sure is what the Sixers are hoping for as his half court offensive game is non existent. He is an exciting prospect on the defensive side and his athleticism is impressive.
Asuming that Tokoto does show up to training camp, the Sixers will have 19 players under contract, 4 of whom will be cut. Players that will be on the bubble to make the roster include Pierre Jackson, Isaiah Canaan, TJ McConnell, Jakarr Sampson, JP Tokoto, Carl Landry, Gerald Wallace, Jordan McRae, and Scottie Wilbekin. As you can see that's about half of the roster. Training camp and preseason for the Sixers will be a bunch of players playing for their NBA lives, which should be interesting.
Lastly, color commentator Malik Rose will leave the booth as he has accepted a position in the Hawks' front office. I was always a fan of Malik's one liners ("Get that Sugar Honey Iced Tea outta here!") and he seemed to have decent chemistry with Marc "No, I will not be smiling for this picture" Zumoff . No news on a new hire yet.
That's all I got!
By: Leo Porth
Follow us on twitter @BroadStBeat
It seems noteworthy that it took so long for the surgery to occur after the Sixers initial report and their self-imposed 7-10 day time frame. But I'm not positive what to make of this. There were reports that Joel broke the same foot again, but all the Sixers have stated is that it was not healing properly. If we take the Sixers at their word, it's possible Joel wanted to seek outside counsel to confirm the necessity of the surgery.
It's also possible the Sixers stalled the surgery in order to try (it appears unsuccessfully) to get the league to reimburse them for 60% of Joel's contract (when a player misses time, the league will reimburse the team for part of the player's salary as long as the injury is not preexisting [underline, underline, italicize the word preexisting]). It's also possible that this is a moot point and we're wasting brain cells concerning ourselves with it.
The Sixers traded local product Jason Thompson to the Warriors for Gerald Wallace and the right to swap the lesser of the first round picks from the Heat and the Thunder for Golden State's first rounder. This is basically a salary swap move. Wallace gets paid more this year but his contract is up at the end of the season while Thompson has two years left on his contract. Also there's a possibility that the Thunder finish better than the Warriors and the Sixers get to move up a spot or two in the draft.
I find the trade mildly depressing for a couple reasons. One, Jason Thompson is a Camden guy who was excited to play in familiar territory, but was traded before he could do the obligatory holding of a Sixers jersey in front of the media cameras. The second reason being that Gerald Wallace, who was one of my favorite players in his prime, is likely to suffer the same fate as Thompson. Wallace, who is 33, is a high flyer who can't fly all that high anymore due in large part to his age and what his nickname "Crash" indicates. It doesn't seem all that likely that he'll make it past training camp.
Speaking of training camp, there were reports that JP Tokoto, the Sixers selection at 58th overall, wouldn't sign with the Sixers this year. Later that same day, there were reports that he would, then that he wouldn't, so forth and so on ad infinitum. Still not sure whether he'll be at training camp or not. If he is, the Sixers will have to sign him or else release him. If he isn't and plays a season overseas or in the D League, the Sixers retain his rights without having to use a roster spot on him. The latter I'm sure is what the Sixers are hoping for as his half court offensive game is non existent. He is an exciting prospect on the defensive side and his athleticism is impressive.
Asuming that Tokoto does show up to training camp, the Sixers will have 19 players under contract, 4 of whom will be cut. Players that will be on the bubble to make the roster include Pierre Jackson, Isaiah Canaan, TJ McConnell, Jakarr Sampson, JP Tokoto, Carl Landry, Gerald Wallace, Jordan McRae, and Scottie Wilbekin. As you can see that's about half of the roster. Training camp and preseason for the Sixers will be a bunch of players playing for their NBA lives, which should be interesting.
Lastly, color commentator Malik Rose will leave the booth as he has accepted a position in the Hawks' front office. I was always a fan of Malik's one liners ("Get that Sugar Honey Iced Tea outta here!") and he seemed to have decent chemistry with Marc "No, I will not be smiling for this picture" Zumoff . No news on a new hire yet.
That's all I got!
By: Leo Porth
Follow us on twitter @BroadStBeat
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