With the Sixers summer league about to begin I figure that now is as good a time as any to break down the Sixers SL roster and see who has a real shot be playing with the big boys come wintertime.

I’m going to assume that Yahoo Sports has in fact confirmed the Carney/Booth to Minnesota trade and that both players are off of the roster.  I’m also assuming that since the Sixers didn’t offer qualifying offers to Louis Amundson, Shavlik Randolph, and Herbert Hill, all three are gone as well.   If so, the depth chart as it stands now reads something like this:

Point Guard               Andre Miller

Shooting Guard          Willie Green, Louis Williams

Small Forward            Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young

Power Forward          Reggie Evans, Marreese Speights

Center                      Samuel Dalembert, Jason Smith

Now obviously this is flexible - Thaddeus Young can play the 4, Iguodala should see minutes at the 2, and Louis Williams backs up both guard spots, but those nine players are the players we should assume will be playing at the Wachovia Center starting around Halloween.  Since the Carney/Booth trade looks done, lets assume that the Sixers have also added a big man (right now it looks like that big will be Elton Brand or Josh Smith) and the Sixers have ten guys under contract and real minutes to be won at the guard spots. 

An NBA team can carry 15 players (12 active) and it is unlikely that the 76ers will not add several free agent role players before the season starts, but the team does have more spots open than most teams.  Further, the Sixers use the Summer League.  Last year’s team had seven guys who made the roster (Louis Amundson, Rodney Carney, Herbert Hill, Shavlik Randolph, Jason Smith, Louis Williams, and Thaddeus Young) and another (Bobby Jones) who was part of the Reggie Evans trade.  On top of all that, the Sixers didn’t have a second round pick, so won’t have added pressure to keep someone they don’t like.  It should be open competition at it is best.

I’ll look at the full Summer League team and try to break down who should end up where ATJ

Click For More »

Elton Brand’s LA mansion is officially up for sale.

Elton Brand’s old pool

photo via: berg properti

attn Gladwynne residents: now is a really good time to make amends for the whole Aaron McKie incident and start making nice with potential new neighbors.

That means you, racist Bobbie.

h/t slamonline

future sixer EB?

emptythebench.com

As Marc Stein of ESPN reported yesterday the Sixers have interest in adding free-agent forward Elton Brand to their roster. That much isn’t a surprise; Brand has career averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.  At 29 he’s in the prime of his career and he’s already been a member of two all star teams.  What is a surprise is that the Sixers seem to think that they have a real shot at him.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports, the Sixers just made a move that only makes sense if they’re also bringing in the big man from Duke.

Philadelphia 76ers forwards Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth and a future No. 1 pick have been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to free as much as $2 million in additional salary cap space for the Sixers to offer Elton Brand or Josh Smith, multiple league sources said.

Minnesota sends Philadelphia its $2.8 million trade exception from a 2007 deal of Mark Blount to the Miami Heat.

I feel two ways about this trade:

• First, Ed Stefanski better know what he’s doing.  A future first is often more valuable than a trade exception (although if it is the Utah’s pick that is included that point is probably wrong) and I am one of the few who has not yet given up on Carney.  A team built on hoarding assets should not be giving them away.  If all this means is that the 76ers are going to overpay Josh Smith I’m not going to happy.
• On the other hand, Brand is not only the best free agent available this year, but unless Utah’s stars (Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer) opt out, Brand would be better than anyone the Sixers could throw their money at next year as well.  Further, Brand does fit into the 76er system.  He’s competently athletic, an excellent defender, and unlike Dalembert he gets his blocks on his man, which means that he’s always in good position on the boards.  Plus he can score in the halfcourt set, which is more than you can say about any of the current Sixers.  If his surgically-repaired knee holds up (never good words to have to say) EB would move the Sixers up an entire notch and give them a powerful nucleus to build around.

Brand grew up in upstate New York, which is a lot closer to Philly than it is to LA, if he’s interested in coming home. It should be fun to see how this one plays out.

Morning Roundup: “I sucked” - Adam Eaton

Be Easy, laughing at something

photo via Gunnin for that #1 spot

Three lines on their world:

1. It looks like the CC (now that he’s on Milwaukee it isn’t ‘C.C.’ anymore) Sabathia move is going to jumpstart trade season.
2. Brett Farve wants the spotlight so the spotlight he shall have.
3. And while Summer league famously means nothing (I’ll be the first to repeat an anecdote you’re going to hear a hundred times this off-season: Greg Ostertag gave Tim Duncan work in TD’s first summer league), as a rule it is better to play better than worse. Mike Beasley played so well that he’s started singing at the foul line.  I don’t think we have ever seen a basketball player quite like this guy before.

Three lines on ours:

1. After a wild night, the Mets are back in the NL East race.
2. The Sixers are positioning themselves for Elton Brand
3. And without real cap room to play with, the Flyers decided to spend money where they can, locking up their GM for the next three seasons.

Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and more from the charity stripe after the jump

Click For More »

Straight Cash Homey Dot Net is one of my favorite blogs. They’re dedicated to bringing you pictures of seemingly normal people rocking patently absurd jerseys seriously.

That’s it.

If you walk down a crowded sidewalk wearing a Rock Richmond Washington Bullets jersey, straight cash homey is out there to ensure that you’re going to end up on their site. If you ask me, that is a good thing.

Anyway, SCHDN recently brought us THIS and THIS from recent Phillies games. Both of the links prominently display Phillies jerseys, and neither of the jerseys are the ones you would expect to see a fan wearing around. They aren’t exactly Chase Utley jerseys, or Jimmy Rollins jerseys, or Ryan Howard jerseys, or Cole Hamels jerseys, or Brad Lidge jerseys, or Pat Burrell jerseys. What they are is awesome.

I applaud the confused fans for wearing said jerseys and SCHDN for bringing us their images.

the bullpen at the bank

about.com

When the Phillies locked up Brad Lidge for three years and 37.5 million I had two immediate thoughts: first; good signing. Second, bad timing.

The contract we gave him makes Lidge the second highest paid reliever in the game (unless we’re counting Myers next year … sigh), I don’t think that its implausible that we would be able to sign him for a figure close to that number towards the end of the season.  That would allow the Phillies the option of both seeing a guy who has alternated between unhittable and, well, hittable throughout his career throw during a stretch run and maybe avoid paying a guy who has been perfect thus far.  

I understand that the team may be trigger happy after missing out on Billy Wagner when he was in a similar situation, but at the same time your performance just can’t get better than perfect, and your compensation tends to reflect your performance.

That said, Lidge has proven that he is not a worry and has led a bullpen that has thus far been pretty lights out.  I say thus far because more and more it looks like the Phils might be coming apart at the seams a little.  I know that he isn’t trusted around these parts, but Tom Gordon has been steady in the 8^th inning this year.  Take him out and suddenly there is more pressure on everyone.  Combine that with the fact that for the first half the season the Phils starters missed no games and an increased workload can point to a logical regression. 

On top of that, nearly every member of the Phils bullpen is putting up stats above their career norms (in a good way) and the second half looks potentially scary.  

UPDATE: Balls, Sticks, and Stuff does the heavy lifting and looks at the bullpen stats.  Definitely worth a read

power-showcase.comT

Major League baseball has officially announced half of the eight sluggers who will compete in the Corporate Sponsored Home Run Derby on All-Star Saturday. The White Half. 

via espn

Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, Chase Utley and Lance Berkman are four of the eight players who will compete in the State Farm Home Run Derby competition the night before the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

Four more players will complete the field for the derby (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET).

Vlad Guerrero also wants in, and as the defending champ he’s earned that.  A-Rod is out, despite the fact that the event is held at Yankee Stadium.  If I had my druthers the remaining three would include some combination of Ryan Howard, future All-Star Pat Burrell, Hanley (so a leadoff guy would have a shot), Rick Ankiel (great backstory, would give pitchers something to brag home about), or the Giambino (NYY should get a rep at their home park). 

Also, if Josh Hamilton wins I think its about time we start making Mini Mantle calls.  Those two are as natural as you get, right down to the life-threatening substance-abuse problems.

Longball inspired youtube, ATJ

Click For More »

Yesterday when the 2008 All-Star rosters were announced I was woefully disappointed that only two of the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies had made the team. 

Most of the snubbery was defensible, if not warrented.  Ryan Howard is leading the league in RBIs and second in Home Runs, but Adrian Gonzolez is just behind him in both categories, hits .60 points higher and has a higher slugging %. Albert Pujols is hitting .350 with an OPS of over 1.000 and 95 less strikeouts.   Both of them deserved to make the team.

Cole Hamels lost out to Aaron Cook despite have better numbers (9-5, 3.22 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 110 Ks to 11-6, 3.66 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP and 64 Ks), but Clint Hurdle earned the right to pick his guy by beating our guy in the playoffs last year. 

Jimmy’s numbers may not have been there, but the man is the reigning MVP and that should count for something, especially when Christian Guzman gets to make the team (I know he’s the lone Nat). 

But the egregious ommission was one Pat Burrell.  Earlier this year I mocked the possibility of the man earning the distinction but the offensive numbers he has put up have been the stuff of contract-year legends.  Burrell leads all national league outfielders in OPS, slugging, and home runs.  He is second in on-base percentage, and top-ten in RBIs even though he hits behind a guy who leads the league in the category and never gets on base for him. 

Luckily, today we as Phillies fans have the chance to do something with our lives and to prove once and for all the Pat Burrell > David Wright.  Meech One over at The Fightins’ is leading this charge so I’ll let him take it away ATJ Click For More »

Morning Roundup: “This is the greatest match I’ve ever seen” - John McEnroe, on the Rafael Nadal Roger Federer Wimbledon final.

maybe one day we can put a Philly flag here

Three lines on their world: Amidst too much hype C.C. Sabathia is a Milwaukee Brewer, the All-Star teams were announced, and as always the story was who didn’t make it, and oh yeah, Nadal and Federer played one of the greatest matches in the history of tennis. 

I hope this doesn’t make the Spanish unbearable ninnies.  I like Spain.

Three lines on ours: The biggest local story may well be a trade between Cleveland and Milwaukee (which really doesn’t make me feel relevant), but it should be the outrage that is the all-star teams (plenty more on this later) or the fact that the Phils have their closer of 2011.

(bonus forth line!) - Phils lost.

Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and more from inside the royal box, after the jump

Click For More »

Sometimes we get it right here

that is all for today.  Enjoy the 4th.