Just want to put out there that if Green struggles at all in his career as a Rocket I am laying down the "NBA is hard card" so he is automatically excused from poor performances and poor shooting.... especially in the playoffs... Thou I don't think Green will need it, because he appears to be one who wants to be in those moments... Not disappear
Don't be ridiculous. The Rockets won 17 games last year and most of the players we're excited about have never played in the NBA. The Sixers had the best record in the East. Sure, the Simmons situation sucks, but let's not pretend like there haven't been comparable situations in the past that ultimately resulted in a ring for that team - Kobe, Hakeem, the Raptors couldn't get by Lebron forever. Like Lowry is now this much beloved sought after "leader"... before the championship it was more a case of can't deal with the pressure. Whether with Simmons, or trading him for something, that's still way more likely right now the Sixers get over the hump way sooner than the Rockets even get close to it.
The 17 game thing is a bit unfair, while Philly clearly is way ahead of Houston The Rockets did tank last year. Our top three players missed a whole lot of games and while they still wouldn't have made the playoffs there is no way they end up the worst team in the league or getting Green..... At least two of those top 3 players will likely not be here for long anyways so who knows how Houston does but there is no way Sixers beat Giannis and The Bucks so none are winning the chip for a while...
For all of his flaws, Ben Simmons is SIGNIFICANTLY better than any player we currently have on the roster. You cannot be serious!
76ers have a better shot but their window is narrow because of Simmons situation. They’re not going to get full value. Portland should look for a swap. Might be the best they can get. Not that Dame is a slouch, but they’re not getting any young talent. and they’ll likely have to shell out draft picks. So if they don’t win in 3 years, then I’d give us a better shot from that point on. Embiid isn’t going to hold up physically and that contract is going to weigh them down considerably when he does.
If Embiid is as good as you say he is how come they got outted by the Hawks? He is a superstar but he isnt so talented he can win singlehandedly and thats a problem cuz the Sixers outside him suck ass and you got other superstars with loaded teams. The reality is Sixers have almost 0 chance to win a ring, doesnt matter how good Embiid is there are lots of other superstars out there like Lebron, KD, Harden, Giannis etc. Curry has a better chance of winning a ring at this point. Rox prob have a better chance at winning a ring since we dont know the environment when Green and co. Peaks. At worst its gonna be next to zero which is Sixer's current chance of winning a ring.
The question, as posited by the OP, was who'd win a championship first, given the current rosters between Houston and Philadelphia. I picked Philadelphia as they have one of the best players in the league and are a solid team, regardless of the Simmons situation. How can you say that the Rockets would have a better chance and then in the same breath, say we don't know the environment when the group peaks? That doesn't make logical sense. If everything turns out great, then great. But Anthony Davis was a legit superstar in New Orleans and couldn't get anywhere. Rose was an MVP at his peak and couldn't beat LeBron. Beal and Wall were a great tandem but couldn't do anything. Lillard is an absolute monster and couldn't do anything. And now Lillard pretty much wants out of POR, even if he's not public about it. Davis wanted out and got out. Rose got injured. Wall got injured and Beal won't get anywhere in Washington. My point is, everything can go right in a player's development, but the situation has to be close to perfect, for a team to win a title. Again, none of the players we want to see succeed the most (Sengun, Christopher, Green, Garuba, etc) have played a minute of legit NBA basketball yet. It's way too early to tell if they're going to be great, and if they are, how great they can truly be.
76ers had a lineup of Embid, Jimmy Butler, Simmons, and Harris which was a super solid lineup and they still couldn't reach the finals. I put my money on the Rockets unless 76ers pull some amazing trade which I simply do not see it happening.
the reason it doesn't happen is because their second and third largest contracts in simmons and Tobias are negative value contracts. They are contracts that would have to be given away with a pick for a team to take on, or they would have to be traded for a low caliber player plus low quality fillers.
It's not a debate who's currently closer that's 76ers. Then the question is do you think this current Embid team can get to and win in the Finals. My initial hunch is NO. A contender but not a favorite. Think the Nets, Bucks and some Western teams are better than them. That said they have a chance; a slim one. Self doubt; I also didn't think the Bucks would put it all together last season, but they did and won. On the topic of who can 'rebuild' faster. Say if 76ers don't think they can win with Embid as a center piece. Or his production starts to dip (but still good). It's possible for Morey to trade Embid and maybe win young pieces; get another borderline all star who's about to bloom. That could possibly still put their rebuild in front of ours.
You think Morey left because he wanted to win a ring? He left because his kids finished school and he's an east coast guy who was living in proverbial hell 5 months a year.
Someone should have made a thread Who is more likely to have a major flood first, Houston or Philadelphia
The thing that will forever be messed up about the Process in Philly is that Hinkie was forced out by the NBA. And then Colangelo came in and started screwing everything up. We will never know what would have been if Hinkie were still in charge.
I appreciate the optimism OP, but this is one of the most homer takes I've seen on CF a while. The Sixers definitely have their issues, but they had the best record in the East and have a top 5 player/perennial MVP candidate in Embiid locked down long-term. I actually think moving Simmons will benefit them in the long run, as they can move on from the drama and put guys around Embiid who fit his game better. And, look, I love what Stone has done to quickly turn around this roster. That was a phenomenal draft by all accounts and a damn good offseason. But that doesn't hide the fact that none of those Rockets rookies have played a minute of NBA basketball, and they had the worst record in the league last season. And as good as their draft was, there's a high likelihood some of those guys are not going to pan out—that's almost a statistical certainty. Plus, we don't even know what the core of this team is yet. Let's let this squad walk before they can run; hell, I'm not even sure they've figured out how to crawl yet.
