How Upped Are You The Lakers Kept Pick?

No way I do that deal. And its not even close.

 

given Okafors off court stuff last year and his lack of defense and rebounding...i don't want him. Regardless of extras.

 

Yep. He could be a very good Horford replacement and it gives Philly the PG they desperately need.

I love the post game Jahlil possesses. It's an obsession of mine, but he's not a fit for what the FO has built at this point.

Then we can have Al and pay some big stiff to play behind him like Mahinmi!

 

It does make sense, but Ish Smith isn't bad. I think they need wings more. It's why I don't think Simmons to Philly is a forgone conclusion. As much as we talk about Ingram being a great fit here, Philly has the same "fit" issues. Dario Saric is coming apparently which gives them a pf. We all know about their center logjam. They could really use a player with Ingram's talents. I will say that Atlanta is putting a lot of faith in Schroder. I mean, he's a nice player, but Teague is an all-star caliber pg who is only 27 years old.

Regarding the #2 for Okafor trade...HELL TO THE NO! I think one of the big reasons we took Russell over Okafor last season was the really bad spacing we would have in the frontcourt with Randle and Okafor. Nothing Randle or Okafor did this season alleviated those concerns. It actually intensified them. I'd take Okafor for Clarkson and Nance, and even that would be to likely flip Okafor later. Simmons and Ingram are regarded as two of the best prospects in the last 10 years. Okafor is a center who the game has passed by. I mean, we just signed Luke as coach. Is this rumor actually coming from "sources" or is this speculation by some writer?

 

At this point I'd be pretty shocked if Philadelphia took Ingram over Simmons. Sure there's fit issues there, but what they need more than anything is transcendent talent. There's no one in this draft that has a higher ceiling than Simmons (even if I have my doubts he reaches that ceiling). They have two people in the organization close to his family. I think at this point they do the Jahlil and they take the kid who could end up being a star. Ingram is a tremendous star, but his path to being a transcendent talent is even longer than Simmons'.

I have a preference for Ingram, but if Philly made the mistake of choosing fit over potential (which is more important in their situation), then I'd be glad to "settle" for Simmons.

 

Totally agree. Barring a bad injury, we can't lose here.

 

Philly coach was on ESPN yesterday and he really likes Bender. He coached his dad for 10 years over seas.

If they really like him, expect a trade with Boston to move out of the top 2 and get the guy they want while acquiring more pieces. And if Boston has one thing, it's pieces to move into the top spot.

 

Me too. Been a long time since we've had a great SF.

What are your thoughts on his 5000 calorie diet? Too much too soon?

Also, I'm sorry for bringing the original Philly trade into this thread. I wanted it in the Trade Rumor thread and screwed up. And 20 trade ideas later, here we are.

 

Philly coach also coached Simmons' father and has known Ben almost all his life. There's also another scout I think they have connected to Simmons. I think it's all posturing in some form or another.

I can't imagine Philly screwing this up somehow to go get Bender.

 

It's a good move. His metabolism is probably off the charts and I expect he's still growing a bit. It's important for him to put on muscle and if he's burning 2000 calories a day easily, then he's got to push that caloric intake up. It sounds crazy to us who aren't dedicating every moment to this, but it's not an unreasonable sum at all.

 

If I had to guess, maybe they're going to move Okafor to Boston (rumored at the trade deadline last year) or Embiid in exchange for the 3rd pick = Bender. Boston wants a center. Maybe they take a chance and go for Embiid with the 3rd pick so they can finally turn all these mid level assets into an actual franchise player. If Embiid ends up being healthy, he's PERFECT for that Boston team.

 

I don't think he's doing swimmer numbers, but I'm sure he's burning between 2-2.5 thousand calories a day in workouts and he probably eats like a normal kid. Right now 5000 sounds right for what he's doing. I'm not sure he's working out every day since he's got to do so much media stuff and running around.