The Sixers are SCREWED…

The Sixers are SCREWED…

the mandates of the NBA offseason is officially here and it is not good news for your Philadelphia 76ers we were awakened by a shocking W bomb saying that breaking news the Brooklyn Nets have agreed in principle on a trade to send forward Mel Bridges to the New York next for Bohan bogdanovich four unprotected first round picks a protected first round pick via the Bucks an unprotected pick Swap and a second round pick sources tell ESPN so this is the type of Blockbuster deal that will be the Domino that starts thing across the league and one in which the Sixers on the back of and what does this prove that the Villanova Knicks have come together and if we can have one takeaway from this trade as a whole is that Villanova is absolutely not a Philadelphia school now in all seriousness this is a massive trade that has some really negative implications on the Sixers I do want to dive in it to it from the Sixers angle the Knicks angle and touch a little bit on the Net’s angle as well and I’m going to start right here with the Knicks they absolutely overpaid that is a ton to give up for a guy who while he is a great a malleable player a guy that can fit in any system he still does have flaws and to dive into what Bridges brought to the table this year 19.6 points per game 4.5 rebounds 3.6 assists shot 37.2% from three 43.6% from the field he did have one steal per game he also shot 40.5% from the corner 88.2% of his threes are assisted so just 27 years old about to turn 28 a really team-friendly cap hit sitting around the $22 million range and I do think it’s important to take the wider view of bridges is he is a guy who’s seen his role change pretty drastically that we know in Phoenix he essentially was a three and D type role player then he was thrown to the Brooklyn Nets in that trade that massive blockbuster trade in those first 27 games he played there and really like the first 17 15ish he was particularly Elite but during the beginning of that season that small sample size averaged 26.1 points per game 4.5 rebounds 2.7 assists shot the ball pretty well 37.6% from three on 6.7 attempts per game he’s a guy that looked to have that potential star potential a little bit above what he was given credit for to that point things regressed a little bit this year and we got a little bit clearer picture of who he is but who he is is exact exactly what this Knick team need now to speak about the Knicks for a second we obviously know that they bounced these Sixers out of the playoffs we had plenty of back and forth on here about that and while you have to tip the cap give the respect there I still think there was something just a bit not quite legitimate about this next team that I still think they were short on that top end town that Jaylen Bronson is terrific he’s incredible player but when you look beyond that you know the Dante D Chens of the world the Josh Harts of the world the Isaiah Harden scenes of the world are those repeatable performances that you feel confident going into them next season they can still produce at that level I personally did not feel that was the case and that is why you go out and get a male bridges that we know there is the relationship there the Villanova Knicks we’re going to hear a thousand times this year throughout the season and he is a guy that fits stylistically too that what Bridges is and what I think the best version of him as a basketball player is he’s going to be a guy that is a essentially a 3 and D player with a little more that he can create a little bit he can put the ball on the floor attack a close out drive to the rim and defensively is where he’s going to shine that this Nick team is going to be a nightmare to play against that their perimeter defense is going to be unbelievable the way that they’re going to buy into the Tom thibo system it is some scary stuff with the nixer building and you do have to tip the cap here and that is why it is bad from a Sixers perspective is you have to sit back and say how can we be better than that team not never mind the fact that the Boston Celtics just had one of the most statistically dominant seasons of all time and won the NBA Championship and the Sixers are sitting here with just Joell embi on roster and a ton of cap space trying to figure it out from here now in defense of Daryl Mory a little bit again this is a ton the price tag that they are playing paying we’re talking five first round picks a swap some more in the mix there and it also should be noted that there really was not a route in which Bridges could get to the Sixers that there was a little bit of respect here and just chime in specifically these reports from Ian Bagley here he first tweets out that the Mel Bridges deal came together quickly after Bridges informed the Nets that he wanted to be a Nick Bridges prepared to sign with New York Knicks and his side was prepared to use that leverage to keep teams other teams from Trading him for him per SNY sources and he elaborates to say net surely didn’t want to trade Mel Bridges to the New York Knicks but Bridges side was prepared to force the issue by telling teams he wanted to be with New York per SNY sources Bridges side made it clear to Brooklyn that he wanted to be with New York reunite with Villanova teammates teammates Brunson Hart and d venzo and to add on to the fact that I realistically don’t even think the Sixers could come up with a package to compete with what the Knicks just offered you do just kind of got to hold the L here but these Sixers do have to find a way to get better and for a quick second as far as the Brooklyn Nets it certainly hurts having to trade your star player to a cross town rival a team that certainly has had far more success as a franchise than yourself but I’m very happy for them for actually choosing a direction and they also went on to have another trade here saying W tweets out another massive deal the Brooklyn Nets has a deal with Houston to return the Net’s 2026 first round pick for a 2027 Phoenix Suns first round pick sources tell ESPN the Rockets also acquired 2025 right to swap with Houston OKC for the first 2025 Suns first round pick more details or picks coming so a lot of this it seems like the Rockets are making a posturing move at Kevin Durant out there in Phoenix as I mentioned this is the first Domino that there’s a lot more to go down and that’s where these Sixers need to get in on the action but I do just want to recognize that I do respect and think it is the best choice for the Nets to actually commit to this rebuild and choose a Direction as a franchise and now when we’re speaking about a franchise being in limbo we unfortunately got to look right back in the mirror at the Philadelphia 76ers because this is not a great sign now if I got to take one positive from this my mind goes to OG an anobi that we know that the Knicks made their all-in push to bring in OG midseason that they gave up Aon to bring him in a trade and as of now he’s officially a free agent that he did opt out of his player option that was the expectation as a whole that he was going to get a bigger contract than that just over $19 million number indicated and for what it’s worth per Ian Bagley that the the Knicks still have interest that he said he tweets quote told the Knicks trade from the kale bridges does not change their hopes that they can resign free agent ogn anobi that REM Remains the priority for the club and while that is great to hear in theory it’s a different story we want to talk about where is that money coming from or where is your fit on the team that even if OG an anobi is to return to the New York Knicks this year he’s going to have a little bit different Ro than was the case for that half a season that he did spend there and to dive into what he does bring to the table during his time with the Knicks he averaged 14.7 points per game 4.2 rebounds 2.1 assist shot 38.2% from the three 45.7% on Corner threes still just 26 year old he is a guy that is coming into the best years of his NBA career I’m I’m personally if you’re going to make me choose would I rather male Bridges or ogan adobi I’m taking Mel Bridges 10 times out of 10 OG is the better Defender but I just have some concerns about him being an actual guy that you can rely on for Reliable offense a guy that can create on his own and even if you want to dive into these Knicks numbers again 96.1% of his threes are assisted and he’s not a guy that I expect to you know take threes off the dribble often but that’s still a number that’s a little bit higher than I’m comfortable with and to compare it directly to Bridges there 88.2% of his three is assisted so still a pretty high figure a guy that’s not going to be known as a self Creator a shot Creator but they’re certainly more in Bridge’s bag than is the case with OG and the biggest Fe fa for the Sixers is absolutely paying a guy a near Max contract and him not being able to deliver on the production that is expected as Tobi Harris has sucked up from this franchise for the past five years so for the Sixers here you truly got to get in the lab that you need to take a hard look in the mirror and actually factor in how do you beat these teams that the calculus should absolutely change after this deal that you no longer have to think about just building the best version of the Sixers you have to factor in how are we going to be be better than these teams and now when you look at the Eastern Conference the teams that are having success we’re just going to use the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks as an example right here what do those teams have in common number one they figured out their identity for the Celtics they’re more of a team that wants to Pace In Space drive to the basket and kick out for threes as well as committing on the defensive end play a ton of five out basketball then you look at the Knicks and they’re a team that is absolutely leaning into this hard-nosed defensive identity and for both teams they now have this flourish of perimeter Defenders these big time wings and what do the Sixers have they been lacking in that specific category forever so for Daryl Mory here it is draft night tomorrow you have to find a way to improve this team by the end of the night I know that he will face the music and talk to the Press I will be breaking all that down right here on Sixers D just so stay tuned for that tomorrow night as well but the bottom line is he’s got to find a way to make this team better I don’t know if that is guys like Zack LaVine I don’t know if that is guys like LeBron James who I think is pretty much certainly out of play at this point in time could there be a Brandon Ingram there’s a lot of growing smoke about that being the case but then how does Brandon Ingram stack up to the Mel Bridges the OG anobi even guys like Jimmy Butler could be in play uh when talking about these potential additions but Daryl Morty has to do something that now everything is open the floodgates have opened for the NBA transaction season we know that Daryl is a guy that wants to be you know a big time player in that field but if we’re going to call a spade a spade here we have not quite seen the level of aggression that is necessary for the franchise that all of this for Daryl Mory was building to this particular off season that you cleared all the cap space that you possibly could clear you undid all the contracts you possibly could undo there’s no more Al Horford contract looming there’s no more Ben Simmons situation no more James Harden situation no more Tobias Harris contract on the books this is about building a championship contending a roster around the pieces that you do have that being Joel emid and Tyrese Maxi it’s a pretty damn good starting point but it means nothing if you cannot find the right players around him as has continued to be the case for the entirety of each of their careers to this point so for Daryl mury this should be a moment of reflection that you see what a successful franchise is doing you see what the Knicks saw a little bit little bit of success we’re not content with that and found a way to get better you got to look yourself in the mirror and find a way to how to get this team out of it so for now we will see what happens it is draft day tomorrow and I’m very excited about it I do think these Sixers at the minimum will do something tomorrow we’ll have some sort of new move to break down make sure you hit that subscri subscribe button so you’re tapped in for all that got plenty of content flowing out this weekend as it is a big week for the Sixers I am frustrated I do think that the Knicks did win the Night by getting the steal on I think both teams made the right choice both the Nets and the Knicks and the team that didn’t is the one sitting on the sideline with your Philadelphia 76ers so I will get a little more in depth talking about the ogan noi situation how this impacts thing and how I think Go From Here moving forward I want to let the dust settled so this just kind of my immediate takeaways for this specific deal but once again make sure you’re dropping any comments that you do have liking this video and subscribing if you haven’t already I’ll talk with you next time right here at Sixers digest peace

The Sixers are SCREWED…

The NBA Offseason is off to the races as the New York Knicks broke things open with a blockbuster trade to bring in Mikal Bridges. Sean Barnard breaks down what this means for the Sixers, if OG Anunoby could be a more realistic opinion following this move, and if there is any way to build their roster to a higher level.

#nba #sixers #mikalbridges