The Sixers need a scorer. It seems like a pretty simple sentiment.
In fact, there will be those that criticize this post as being too simplistic.
“Of course, every team could use a scorer.”
“We want a name!”
The point of this post isn’t to postulate about potential players, but rather to point out a decade long problem.
The Sixers have not had a legitimate go-to-guy since Allen Iverson
was shipped to Denver, which happens to be about the same time that the
franchise’s success stalled.
This is not a coincidence.
Every team that has found extreme success in the NBA over the past
decade plus (Heat, Mavs, Lakers, Spurs, Celtics) have a clearly defined
go-to-guy. This is also not a coincidence. The best NBA teams are
well-structured and well-rounded, as a one man show rarely makes it very
far (save for an ’01 Iverson and an ’07 LeBron James).
However, in the final minutes of a close game these teams know who to
turn to. For such squads it is no mystery who is going to get the ball
in the game’s final minutes; this has been a guessing game for the
Sixers over the past several seasons.
The Sixers are facing an extremely uncertain future, and need to make
signing legitimate scorers a priority. Enough of the hybrid position
players like Iguodala, Young, Turner, who are great fits for
already-established teams, but not ideal for a team without an identity.
Sure, signing a high-caliber scorer is easier said than done, but it
is not impossible. The player does not have to be a “superstar,” just
someone who can consistently put the ball in the basket. J.R. Smith, an
upcoming free agent, is an example of a strong scorer who has not
achieved superstar status; so yes they exist.
Snagging a scorer through the draft may be the team’s best option.
That could mean taking a chance in 2013 on LeHigh’s C.J. McCollum, who
was an explosive college scorer. Or it could mean playing well below
.500 ball for another season and trying to capitalize on an impressive
2014 draft class, which contains some potentially franchise-changing
faces.
While the Sixers have a lot of issues to address this off-season,
securing a solid scorer, who is unafraid of crunch time, should be a top
priority.
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Originally published on Philadunkia.
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