Philly’s Quest for a Ring

[Marcos_Beck]

Since being named as 76ers’ general manager, former CSL champion Marcos Beck has done everything in his power to give the city of brotherly love its first ring. Starting by trading leading scorer Jabari Parker to create a better team around Lonzo Ball and Mo Wagner to dealing some of the first rounders for talent upgrades such as Marcos Louzada or Kristaps Porzingis, for example.

After losing to the Bucks in 5 in the second round during his first postseason, they failed to even reach that standing this year, not being able to win on the road against the Celtics and ultimately losing in game 7. It was again time for changes as no improvements were shown on the court and the team presented glaring weaknesses. Mid season acquisition Porzingis wasn’t instructed correctly enough to become the leading scorer this team lacked through the whole season, and they also lacked efficient inside and mid range scoring.

In parallel, superstar Isaiah Taylor was leading the Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals, after being 7th in the league in scoring with 25 PPG and boosting that average to 29.2 PPG in the playoffs. With shades of former Bulls’ superstar Derrick Rose, who went on to win a ring with Beck back in Chicago, his combination of inside craftiness, mid range ability and an uncanny ability of drawing fouls was tearing apart defenses with crucial buckets during Brett’s farewell tour in Denver. They ended up eliminated by the Kings, but there was a feeling Taylor could once again lead a team to glory like he did back in Phoenix.

“From the moment we identified the lack of an alpha scorer, to seeing Isaiah perform in the playoffs, and being offered a sign and trade for one of the best scorers in professional basketball, we could only say yes.” Philly GM said to the media after submitting the documents of the trade for league approval. “We absolutely hate to trade both Mikal and Marcos away, two pieces that gave everything they had for this team, but the opportunity of adding a true scorer to our core of Lonzo, Brian and Mo was too good to pass”.

“In fact, keeping Porzingis around would have been the best decision in terms of getting a ring, but also would have been a financial suicide”, added the GM. “We looked at every available financial data, specially 2-4 years ahead, and determined if we didn’t move Porzingis now, we would end up needing to do so next season without any leverage as we would be in serious financial trouble. We thank him for his time in Philly and wish him all the best with an exciting core in Indy.”

Jaxson Hayes, another sign and trade addition for this offseason, has a different skillset than what Porzingis provided: lower usage, more defensive minded, a great rebounder and one of the most dangerous vertical threats in the league. It’s hard to compensate for Porzingis’ ability to stretch the floor from the 5, but Hayes usually puts a lot of pressure at the rim with lobs and offensive putbacks, and should develop into a lethal pick and roll partner for Lonzo Ball.

“We have two ball handlers in Lonzo and Taylor, a versatile wing and elite floor spacer in Bowen, and two bigs who excels at grabbing offensive boards and offers different pick and roll looks, with Wagner being able to pop and Hayes putting a lot of pressure at the rim. With Markus Howard, Otto Porter, Duarte and De Vico, we’re bringing lots of shooting off the bench to help stash Taylor and Lonzo’s on ball duties and keep the floor open for dribble penetration. I’m sure coach Nielsen with his championship pedigree will get the best out of every player we have as we embrace the quest for a ring once again!”

Is this the year they finally become a contender?

[rh0xxy]

Nice read. Not sure Taylor would fit, NAW could be a better fit with his shooting

Hayes was a great addition though, great pick up!

[Flaming Homer]

No one can complain that Marcos leave any stones unturned in the search for the next ring

As always talking all around the league and it paid of from the looks of it.
Adding Taylor and Hayes without mortgaging away the future is first class gm'ing.
On paper that should be one of the top starting fives, I think they compliment each other just fine. I'm not sold on the bench unit yet, with the East so strong a lot of times your bench has to be able to step up and turn a close game into a win.

Good luck to Philly, I like if someone goes for it!

[OneNole]

I think the pairing will be fine as long as Taylor stays at PG. How I look at the roster in comparison to my Denver one.

PG Taylor = Taylor
SG Ball >>> Allen
SF Bowen > Svi
PF Wagner >> Swanigan
C Hayes =<Bolden

His bench probably isn't as deep as mine was but that starting lineup, if it can stay healthy is far superior.

[cb4raptorscb4]

I like the moves, especially with the starters. The bench might be a little questionable, but talent in the starting lineup wins.

[bt]

Great turnaround and just my opinion but there's no way you play Taylor anywhere other than SG with how good Lonzo is at the point.

[andrei]

I am very interested how Lonzo will work with Taylor. Lonzo is theoretically controls the offense through that high Pass rating. Will Taylor be his first option then? I'd think Taylor works best with a low pass rating PG who will just hand over the offense to him. Curious to see how this works

[hardenwithnod]

Love that all in move for Taylor, and I think he will do great next to Lonzo. This starting 5 is very scary, and with your knowledge and skills, I have no doubt this team will make some noises this season.

[TheTwoWallaces]

So fortunate to nab Jaxson Hayes like that. Philly is talented and going to be around for a long time.

[blackice]

Our division is straight nuts right now, but yeah I think if the backcourt works this is a borderline contender. I don't love the spacing and the bench isn't great but in terms of sheer talent it's overwhelming. Should be interesting.

[Stockton12]

go philly ..like others it will be interesting to see where taylor and ball play and if they can co exsist together ..ill be rooting for you to win a ring