Nick Nurse REVEALS Sixers Master Plan…

Nick Nurse REVEALS Sixers Master Plan…

things have been a bit quiet in the Sixers world as we wait for the Avalanche of news of the offseason and have an idea of what this Sixers team turns out to be well Nick nuris tipped his hand and spoke to Colin coward talking a little bit about the process these sixes are going on their evaluation stage and what they’re looking for at this point before free agency truly tips off so I want to dive into a couple notable quotes here kind of speak how this reflects on a similar message to what Joel em beid was speaking on as well as look at these Sixers roster to think about what this could mean to the team so let’s start off with there’s two notable quotes that I do want to pull up from the coward interview I want to start off with this one here in which Colin asked Nick nurse discussed the Sixers offseason plans with Colin coward and Colin asked quote have you decided your direction do you today know do you and Daryl know where you’re going to go how much of these Foundation moves do you know when does it all start and Nick nurse replied quote I think it starts about 24 hours after our final buzzer Daryl is really good at his job I really got a lot of trust in him and Alton brand and our owners they really want to get this right and I think exploring every option right now but then being ready for plan b c d e f and g cuz I think there’s a whole lot of things that can happen with free agency with the draft with trades I think it’ll be an active summer certainly will be for us it has to be so I do like the overall message here the optimism there has to be some activity that we know there’s a lot of roster still to be overhauled and there was one more point that he kind of talked about with the roster that I did think was noteworthy here so to give that quote here and I want to pull up this one specifically it says Nick nurse and Daryl Mo are discussing the importance of Team chemistry a lot this offseason as this team prepares for uh free agency nurse told Colin coward quote we talk about it a lot obviously we’ve got a lot of cap space and a lot of roster to fill finding the right pieces that are going to be able to space and shoot defend and rebound have some IQ have some late game Moxy and guts and and the things that it takes is really the key for us to get where we want to go so this was phrased in a question in kind of respect to the New York decks talking about how that was a team that may not have the topend talent of some of these other contending teams but just know their identity know their roles have the chemistry within each other and play together incredibly well so C Colin asked like what do you take away from that is that something you’re looking to apply to the Sixers and continuity has been such an interesting word this was something that where Joel embiid used in the post uh right following elimination and to give the embiid quote here which I do think mirrors a good portion of what nurse and mor are discussing which is a good thing in the Long Haul here I did want to play this here so this quote from Joel embiid here it says on the flip side embiid and Tyrese Maxi were able to grow as a pair and that continuity is something that the big big fow hopes hopes he can keep quote like I said all of them lasted one year and beid said after the round one loss to the New York Knicks that’s the problem who won last year Denver Jamal Nola they’ve been together for eight years or something like that seven you look at some of the other teams that won Golden State Warriors they’ve been together for a long time I don’t remember you just put a team together and hope that it worked out for one year and I do think this is a very valuable and valid point that Joel embiid hits on in fact that’s been one of my greater takeaways of these playoffs as a whole you find your plan and you stick to it even when it doesn’t always look like it is working that I do think that’s important at the NBA level I know he used the nuggets as an example but that’s absolutely true with them same point with the Warriors and I think there’s even some better ones with this year’s NBA for example the Dallas Mavericks with Luca donic and Kyrie Irving didn’t even make the playoffs last year and I know they didn’t make that push for the playing at the end ultimately landed Derek Lively which was a massive success and a huge reason why they are where they are today but the point being you laid your foundation you kept finding pieces to add to it and you kind of got to a spot where you should be pretty happy for the Boston Celtics people have threatened to break up Jason Tatum break up Jaylen Brown are their games too similar well they stuck with it they found the right pieces around those two that they have their foundation in place and now it looks like they’re going to end up with a championship because of it a team like the Minnesota timber wolves it looked atrocious the fit of Rudy goar and Carl Anthony towns last year but you know what worked pretty well this year and they found a way to embrace that identity find a way to play together it took more than just one season for things to kick in and that is a level where these Sixers have not been able to do that we had half a season with Jimmy Butler we had one and a half years with James Harden we tried out the Ben Simmons message but we saw the way that that got thrilled or trying to make that fit work the Sixers have yet to fully Embrace this second identity really since the Ben Simmons and Joel embiid era that there has not been that secondary star to work with Joel embiid and thankfully Tyrese Maxi looks to be that piece but the other problem here is with all this chatter about continuity the importance of that the Sixers have one player officially under contract for next year to dive into the specific cap hit here that being Joel embi the man that was just speaking with his $ 51.4 million cap hit right below him it is Paul Reed on a non-guaranteed $7.7 million deal Jeff D on a $2.1 n6 million team option there and Ricky counil on a non-guaranteed $1.89 one million deal there now while I believe in continuity and how important that is you know what’s a little bit more important than continuity it’s talent that you got to find a way to improve these pieces while keeping some sort of pattern or figuring out how all these guys can play together fit together and every other topic that you want to have there and I did want to take take a look at the active roster kind of piece through some of these guys that I think could be back when trying to keep this continuity and I did want to make a note about the cap hold and what that specific means so looking at the active roster you can see the cap hit that there is already set there’s obviously some that these Sixers are going to want no part of such as Tobias Harris 40 over $45 million cap hit there crazy number buddy heel $28 million cap hit and to put into perspective What specifically that means the cap hold the cap cap hit so in this current situation obviously these Sixers have no one on roster it’s Joel embiid and blank space and the non- guaranteed at this point so that cap hit number if you want to resign a player into bird rights that you use that c pit so an example in which these Sixers will absolutely do that Tyrese Maxi here so looking at his capit $13 million he’s obviously going to make more than that he’s going to sign his max contract and deservingly so this off season these Sixers will take that cap hit because then they can sign him into his bird rights because he’s been here if they want to revoke these bird rights or rever to revoke the cap hit to get that number off the salary cap you have to revoke the birds rights meaning you can’t go above the salary cap to resign him you have to keep that number there for that to be the case so flexibility has been one of the biggest words of the off season the reason that these Sixers have this flexibility is none of these guys are officially they’re accepting or keeping the C pits right now those are decisions that still need to be made and each one is a little different again I’ll use a couple other examples here like for example um I use Robert Covington I think there’s a chance these Sixers do resign Robert Covington it will not be for $17 million so that will be a situation in which they do revoke his cap hit his cap hold there and look to sign him in another Direction that’s much more of a veterans minimum type range that I think he will be in especially following the injuries last year but even if they do intend on bringing back Covington that’s not going to be a number they want to keep because they can get more value freeing up that space looking to sign others and it’s not the ultimate risk you know if Robert Covington ends up getting a nice offer elsewhere I think these Sixers can still sleep at night even though he is a guy that I would prefer to be around I think would have impacted this team in a pretty significant way if he was able to play in that playoff R which obviously was not the case so I did want to note that specifically but as far as players that I do think could be back there are a couple guys I want to dive into for starters the guy that absolutely should not be back that being Tobias Harris and of course I know the 17.2 points per game this season 6.5 assists 3 point or 6.5 rebounds 3.1 assists somehow shot 48.7% from the field and 35.3% it blew me away he was assisted on 95.6% of his three pointers I know that’s kind of his game but it just does not feel like the catch and shoot and the 27.1% of his shot attempts being three-pointers just far too low there that is a number that screams to me while Tobias Harris is the ultimate piece of continuity here we’ve seen the way this story is written and once again this is where the Sixers have to sacrifice continuity for talent and I really do feel I can make the argument that that contract as a whole is per capita one of the worst contracts in NBA history and what especially blows my mind about it is it’s not like he got hurt it’s not like he missed games and when you compare it to the other bad contracts that’s a lot of the stories of like well he was not around or was incapable of suiting up for this amount of games Tobias was always there he just always was exactly who he is and for the Sixers that is not who they needed him to be it is not fully Tobias Harris’s fault and frankly I think he wants no part of coming back and rightfully so that is a mutual feeling it is not fully Tobias Harris’s fault that he was offered a contract that his talent level could never live up to but the reality is these Sixers have been handcuffed from a sder cap perspective in a way that it is just nearly impossible to build a true Contender around and that is why they have to be so careful in where these funds are allocated now there are two guys that I do believe will be back and will be important for continuity number one Kelly UB 15.4 points per game last year 5.0 rebounds 1.5 assists which is a career high there 1.1 steals per game shot 44.1% from the field 31.1% from three he shoots 3 3% on Corner threes 85.1% of his threes are assisted uh and 37% of his shots are threes so I’ll say I’ve never seen a more confident below average shooter than Kelly UB but there’s a lot of good that he did bring to the game and I do want to give him credit for that that I think Kelly UB went a far away for breaking the narrative or the stigma in his games that he played basketball that is conducive to winning more last year than he has at any other point in his career and he does deserve his respect for that now for Kelly for sure the outlook for him going into last year was to take that minimum contract rebuild his value and cash out this off season I’m very curious what the market value is for UB but I think there’s a real world where he’s more valuable to the Sixers than he is to a team on the open market that I don’t know if I see a team backing up the the brink truck with a massive ton of cash ready to offer Kelly U I still think that people are a little bit nervous from some of the past Kelly UB you know experiences where he he certainly has not been a model citizen or a model basketball player in some other location but that’s not the version of UB that was in Philadelphia frankly he proved a lot to me that he defends hard he’s good in transition he’s a team player guys seem to like him and he stepped up in some massive moments I do see the fit next to Joel embiid I think as a cutter the way that he was able to run the the dunker Spot Run Baseline cuts and create offense off ball that was all really important to me and those are characteristics that these Sixers should value so I want Kelly UB back in a Sixers uniform I think that is the type of continuity that they should keep again that is going to be a money decision depending on what he gets on the open market but I’ve seen a little bit of Buzz about him being potentially in that mid-level exception type range which is about $8 million per year which they can sign up to three years if we’re talking like a threeyear $24 million contract for Kelly UB I’d be very happy with that that I think that’s a a high value contract a guy that can outplay that number and I do think it’s still a fair conversation to have that even as as good as UB was last year he was in a bit bigger role than should likely be the case for a successful basketball team but if we’re talking about reducing him to like a six-man Kelly UB type roll I think that could be really good for this Sixers team obviously you got to figure out the rest of the piece of the puzzle before that be can be the case but another guy that I did want to mention was Nico Batum here now he’s not a guy that jumps off the page from a stats perspective 5.3 points 4.1 rebounds 2.1 assists shot 39.5% from three this year a th% of his threes are assisted which is hilarious but makes sense there also shoots 43.4% on Corner threes he is 35 years old old and there was a lot of Buzz about him retiring uh this dates back to I saw his wife sent out a tweet indicating that would be the case following the Olympics if Nico Batum is coming back next year I think it is likely he will be in a Sixers uniform I’ve had a tough time putting kind of a price perspective like he’s obviously a guy that is worth more than the minimum I mean he started and played 30 plus minutes in a number of playoff games last year he basically won these Sixers that playing game against the Heat in which he got red hot from Beyond the three-point Arc and hit a ton of shots to help this team he’s worth more than a minimum but I’m also not super comfortable with breaking the bank for him he’s a guy that I think will likely fit the category of maybe a one-year slight overpay if we’re talking about like a oneyear $10 million deal for Nik Batum or something like that and the reality of it is is there’s not really a Batum replacement some of his unique skills the his ability as an entry passer the no dip three the good defense the switch ability the inbounds passing that he can do they’re all just little skills that this team needs and he was super helpful in this like there were games this year where tomb would be effectively not playing that he was listed as questionable on the injury report he’d be suited up and sitting on the bench with the intent of not playing and there were situations where Nick nurse would literally use him just to make an inbounds pass late in games like that is the type of player that he was and kind of the trust that he earned and Joel ID seems to like him that they both speak French to each other they seem friendly so all that stuff is very valuable and the entry passes to Joel are incredibly valued to this team uh especially early on in the season when he first got here the Sixers ran ran a ton of sets where it was Batum coming to the top of the arc kind of throwing an inbounds pass to Joel and Joel going to work in a more effective way and cleaner pass than we’ve seen from just about anyone outside of James Harden there so that was a huge deal for the Sixers team if Batum is ready to play another year which he did seem to really like it in Philadelphia after he was traded here in that Harden deal I do think it could happen and I do hope for that to be the case that’s the type of continuity that I would like and my last piece before I wrap up here is how hard it is to reject with all these other pieces until we know what that big fish is if it is Paul George if it is Jimmy Butler if it is LeBron James or if it’s none of these guys like the supplementary cast or The Supporting Cast around those guys changed drastically depending on what that skill set is of that third star or that big piece or that big splash that making free agent or maybe it isn’t that big big splash maybe it is paying for Mal Monk and Klay Thompson or guys like that but that still changes that then you need rebounding then you need defense like all these pieces of the puzzle shift around when you know what that main kind of Target is brought in so I still think that is the holdup now and that is why we are a little bit stuck on the Sixers end and my fear being a little bit that they could miss out on some of these mid-tier or average type players when going for the big fish because you know you got to show that level of importance that a team could look like cavius calwell Pope is the one missing team or the one missing piece to us having a championship run versus the Sixers need a ton of other stuff to develop in that direction before they can commit to a guy like kabius cwell pop even though he’s one of the more malleable and can kind of fit in just about any lineup so maybe a poor example there but you do understand the point that they’re still focused on this big option before they can round out the small stuff in the bottom of the roster there so let me know what you guys think from Nick nurse’s comments are you intrigued is that good news to you is this something that does not move the meter drop your thoughts below and make sure you are smashing that subscribe button to keep these Sixers digest Family grown we’ll have another live coming this week probably tonight with cliff sorting out the time right now so stay po stay posted for that drop a like if you have not already I’ll be talking with you next time right here on Sixers digest peace

Nick Nurse REVEALS Sixers Master Plan…

The NBA offseason continues on and the Sixers still have many questions to face. Nick Nurse joined Colin Cowherd where he spoke on the team’s outlook, his belief in Daryl Morey, and their direction this offseason. Sean Barnard gives his thoughts as well as dives into the salary cap situation.

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