Embiid has a minor Meniscus tear, not just sore knees. And think Simmons has been advised to sit out by a lot of doctors, foot problems aren't to play with.
Simmons/Rodriguez 1st Round Pick/ Stauskas Covington/Henderson Noel/Saric Embiid/Okafor If they are healthy next year and they draft a solid 2/3 then they will have a nice 10 man rotation. The question is can they be healthy and can they get everyone ready by the start of next season. It's too bad Hinky won't be around to see his process finally come into fruition.
They need to trade one of their bigs for a shooter. My guess is they are trying to get rid of Noel and today's NBA values shooters more than big man play. Plus Noel and Okafor are both idiots. The only big man who will succeed in the post in today's NBA will need to be like Hakeem. They will need every move and need at least a 18-20 foot jumper.
I thought about how Shaq would feast on these centers for days, but he never beat his man by driving past them. He was pure size so he would just back them down and work them in the post. In today's NBA, guys would just flop and he's done, turnover. Hakeem would keep you guessing. Also, they would pursue to kill Shaq by taking threes with these stretch 5s, so he could not defend and clog up the paint.
You severely underestimate how great (and athletic) Shaq was. Against today's lightweights, he would be an ever bigger matchup nightmare and probably would average 30/15.
He probably would. In his Lakers years when he played bully ball and backed it in like Barkley defenders would just flop. We saw Divac start doing it and in his later years he just fell off drastically. Sure he was not in shape, but teams kinda figured out how to stop his bully ball by flopping, doubling, and reaching/fouling. It was a thing to have one 7 footer on your team just for fouls. Young Magic Shaq would still dominate in today's NBA. He would have to stay in shape because I am not sure about Lakers Shaq.
I guess you're too young to remember peak Shaq on the Lakers. He averaged 27/11 for several consecutive years before taking the NBA for granted and falling off. He was ridiculously dominant inside and didn't just back people down either. Teams flopped against him from day 1 and it didn't stop him from destroying them. I'm guessing you think Shaq was like a bigger version of Dwight on offense. Not at all (at least not until he bloated up).
Shaq would be in constant foul trouble today trying to post up and using the chicken wing to nail defenders in the kidneys.
If you mean like the Cleveland or Boston Shaq then sure. But Lakers, Heat shaq was unstoppable. Suns Shaq was on the decline but still an all-star and the best guy on his team most nights. The double team that you need to stop him would open the floor for everyone else to shoot. Basketball is still basketball. The biggest reason why you are seeing teams jacking up so many 3s is because of the defense. Its incredibly hard to be a perimeter defender these days cause you cannot touch anyone. But having a Shaq on your squad who demands double teams all day would open it up for everyone.. BBQ chicken indeed.
I dunno, sometimes the Lakers had to slow the game down in his later years and they played the half court triangle with Shaq backing down guys and it worked. I still think they let a lot more contact slip back then which helped Shaq be aggressive in the post. I know Hakeem would have beenn effective in all of his years until he is old without question in today's NBA. You can't just foul him or guess what he is going to do. He was one step ahead of the flop and if you set up to take it he burned you.
He was scheduled for a mid-March return. He wasnt going to a play a ton of ball anyway. Wise to shut him down even with no injury signs Now he can do the Joel Embiid / Blake Griffin "Rookie" of the Year award thing next season
