Now that the Sixers hold the No. 2 pick in the draft, they have all kinds of options. Maybe Ed Stefanski will cash in on the pick’s value now, trade it, and get back a proven commodity that can make an immediate impact while dumping Elton Brand’s salary. Maybe Stefanski sees Turner as a franchise treasure, and will attempt to retool his roster to build around Evan as the Sixer of the Future alongside Jrue Holiday. Maybe Andre Iguodala could play shooting guard with Turner starting his rookie season coming off the bench, or maybe Stefanski will trade Iguodala in order to give Turner all the elbow room he desires.
Or, Stefanski and the Sixers could do something absolutely revolutionary: nothing.
Well, let me clarify. Philadelphia needs to do a lot of something to figure out their troubles on offense and defense, and hopefully that introspection has begun with the ongoing head coach search. That something involves creating roster flexibility, infusing more talent, getting more consistent shooting, and solidifying the middle. There’s a lot of work to be done, and Philly’s current roster makes it very difficult.
Trading Iguodala at this point, a topic that our own Matt Moore tossed around yesterday, just seems to make it even more difficult.
For now, Iggy is the best that the Sixers have. He was tops on the team in points (17.1), assists (5.8), and steals per game (1.7), second behind only Samuel Dalembert in rebounds per game (6.5), and tied for the top spot in three-pointers made (1.1) per game. He was second on the team in PER (17.8), first in win shares (6.7), and remains an elite defensive wing.
He happened to start at shooting guard for this team in quite a few games, but is that really a compelling reason to move the top talent on the roster, especially when doing so is so unlikely to get good return value? Despite Iguodala’s talent, he’ll make $56.5 million over the next four seasons, with an average salary of over $14 million a year. That’s a long-term commitment with a big price tag, one that a lot of teams will be reluctant to take on in any circumstances, much less with the new CBA likely to change the salary structure in 2011-2012.
If Philadelphia looks to move Iguodala, they may be able to get salary relief in return, or maybe a young player packaged with a burdensome contract. They will not get anyone that’s as skilled on both ends of the court, and while that doesn’t necessarily justify paying Andre’s ridiculous salary, it’s a concrete reason why Stefanski may be wise not to part with him. The mistake was signing Iggy to such a deal in the first place, but to deal him now, when the Sixers would likely get little in return? That’s an even bigger mistake.
Instead, Philly should take a long look at what could be an interesting three-man core of Holiday, Turner, and Iguodala. All are unselfish, all can create for others, and…none of the three has a consistent three-point stroke. Some things just never change in Philadelphia. Still, all three players can be considered works in progress, so their perimeter shooting could technically improve. In the meantime, the Sixers will have three long, talented players that can both score and defend at a number of different positions.
Is there really any reason to compromise that? Turner has the ability to be a very good defensive player in the pros, and when paired with Iguodala, could make one of the best defensive tandems on the wing in the entire league. If the Sixers can resuscitate the defensive tenacity that made them so fun to watch at the tail end of the ’08-’09 season — and Turner and Iggy both would be an important part of that — you’re looking at a team that could be pretty fantastic at getting out into the open court.
Even with Turner in the mix, the Sixers’ future isn’t bright. Holiday came on strong to close his rookie year, but the mammoth salaries of Iguodala and Elton Brand will continue to gum up the works for Philadelphia. Ditching both of those contracts would obviously be in the Sixers’ best interest, but they can’t truly rebuild unless they can ditch both, not just one. Brand’s deal is just too big and too damaging on its own (he’ll make almost $16 million this season), and right now he’s as close to unmovable as any player in the league.
It’s going to be a long rebuild for Philly, so what’s the rush? Find out of Turner and Iguodala can play well together first, and if there’s nothing there, then move on. Stefanski should take the Kings of last season as a perfect example. Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin didn’t play all that well together, but the important thing is that Geoff Petrie and the Kings knew for sure. The satisfaction of trying and knowing is what the Sixers should strive for should they select Turner, even if he and Iguodala turn out to be a less-than-perfect fit.
