2020 76ers Preseason presser

[ballsohard]

Balls O’Hard:Last season was a hell of a ride for us. We put together a great squad who really showed up for the playoffs, ultimately losing in the finals the the Suns. Big congrats to them, it was a great series of moves back and forth and we tip our hates to them. During our run, we came back from two 1-3 deficits and shows the never give up attitude the city and the fans of Philly deserve. With the loss, the end of phase 1 of our rebuild ended. Which marked the departure of Enes Kanter and Gordon Hayward. Ultimately, we were very sad to send Gordon out, but the time was right for both parties.

Balls O’Hard:Gordon finished with he 76ers with 7 seasons played. He embodied what we expect out of a 76ers. Versatility , growth, and a high level of play. Gordon, came to us from Chicago averaging 8/3/2 and turned himself into an All Star. His best season here he averaged 20/8/6. Gordon was a selfless player, who never let ego get in the way. We drafted Ben Simmons, and he didn’t show any hesitation to mentor him, and we can now see that in Ben’s versatility now. We wanted to wish Gordon a farewell, and thank you for all he’s done for us.



Gordon Hayward all time ranks all time for the 76ers

#1 Scoring
#1 Offensive Rebounding
#3 Rebounding
#3 Assist
#3 Steals



Balls O’Hard: Now I’d like to talk about free agency. In RFA our biggest goal of course was to bring in the base of our team. We had rights to Ben, but Ben has been very happy with the organization since day one. We had disagreements with his first year red shirt, but ultimately it worked. Ben signed with our franchise for the 5 year max and we’re excited to have him. Ben kind of threw us for a loops the past couple of years and took over leadership of the team way before we expect him to. So now it’s official, the keys are his.



Balls O’Hard:Another guy who was on the team last year that decided to come back was Harrison Barnes. He had bigger deals elsewhere but since joining our culture, Harrison has really engrained himself with the franchise. One of the things we love most about Harrison, is his versatility. Since joining the team, hes spent time at the 2,3,4, he’s come off the bench as a 6th man, he started for us. He’s needed to score, and at times hes had to be our lockdown defender. Harrison’s contribution to us is something that doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but we always see it.

Balls O’Hard:We’re also excited to announce that we’ve signed Boyd Cox. Boyd is an amazing case of, if you want to work for things, you can get it. Boyd fills a huge void for us left by Enes’ departure with ancillary scoring, rebounding and defense. He also brings something we were sorely lacking last year, shot blocking. Boyd gives us versatility on the inside and the outside on the defensive end being a guy who can defend the 3 ball, the pick and roll on the roll man or the ball handler. He’s a guy we can just plug in and not worry about. He and Charles Blow are guys we think can play very important minutes and provide support to Ben, Grim and Markelle.



Balls O’Hard:So that leads us to this upcoming season. What are expectations ? We expect to make the playoffs and we’re going to try to win the division, but I don’t think that’s a lock. We’re going to let Markelle, Sim and Grim Reaper show off what they’re about. Grim has really stepped up since being drafted and we think he’s going to show who he is this season. Now I’ll allow for some questions and answer them the best way possible.

[JNR]

GWR: Talk about the Atlantic division and which teams you have your eye on as you try to win the division again.

[ballsohard]

GWR: Talk about the Atlantic division and which teams you have your eye on as you try to win the division again.

It’s a tough division. In the last 3 years, 3 different teams have won and when you look down at those three team, i think youre going to see the people vying for it again.

The Celts improved a bit but im not sure they’re ready. They looked primed to make a great run at it soon.

The Raptors are an interesting case of win now talent and future talent. We really have to see how it all comes together for them. They also don’t look ready yet.

The Nets are loaded with talent, but they were last year as well and didn’t even make the playoffs. On paper they look like the favorite, but i think the league will be skeptical until they produce like last year.

The Knicks have 3 great players in their primes along with some great supplementary players. I think they’re the favorites.

I think we could win it, but the season would have to go perfect. Right now, we would be probably be projected to finish 2 or 3, but i believe in these guys. I’d like to make a push deep into the season.


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[Wombataholic]

Do you feel you got enough assets in return for Kanter and Hayward?

[ballsohard]

Do you feel you got enough assets in return for Kanter and Hayward?

I’m not sure you can get 1 for one value for guys like that in terms of talent. You really have to frame this answer though. The big thing we went into those trade knowing is, if we wanted great talent back, we needed to take salary; and that’s not the direction we were headed. So it came back to getting future guys and future picks and basically offloading 70 million in salary so we can let the next era of 76ers basketball begin. This has been a plan in motion for years, and we were prepared that if we got nothing back and just shed salary, we’d be ok. The thing is, we didn’t want to just leave it to our big 3, so luckily we’ve got some surrounding talent to help out.


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[garbageman]

You have a lot of great young talent on your team, but it's unclear to me who is best suited to run the offense at point guard or serve as the C. Any clues as to what the plan is to address those spots with your current roster?

[ballsohard]

You have a lot of great young talent on your team, but it's unclear to me who is best suited to run the offense at point guard or serve as the C. Any clues as to what the plan is to address those spots with your current roster?

Lots of experimenting. Simmons has the ability to be a 1 in the future, but hes not there yet. We've got some bigs that can pass too. We feel very confident with Boyd Cox at the 5 even at 6'9". He's as strong as an athlete as they come and can guard the wing, the inside and is an incredible shot blocker.As of now my starting lineup will be something like this:

C: Cox
PF: Simmons
SF: Barnes
SG: Grimaldi
PG: Fultz

[WigNosy]

First Grimaldi, then Simmons, and Fultz is in line for a huge extension next season - how do you cope with the challenge of being fiscally responsible while still managing to compensate your players well enough to keep them in the fold?

[NOLa.]

This isn't a traditional rebuild most teams go through, and just drawing from my own personal experiences, your team's transition reminds me of my own 2003-2004 team that hit the "reset" button to gather itself to another run. How many seasons do you predict your team will be back competing for another championship?

[kucoach7]

Ben Simmons had an underwhelming training camp after signing his big contract. Do you think is lower-than-expected progress keeps keeps you from being a contender or even making the playoffs this year?

[NickMalone77]

With all the talent loaded in the back court, what can you expect from rookie Colin Sexton this season ahead? Will he be able to come in and contribute right away on the 2nd unit?

[Xist2Inspire]

Despite taking a step back in terms of veteran leadership, the majority of last season's Finals roster is still here. Do you still see yourselves as a contender for best in the East, or have expectations been lowered a bit as a result of handing the reins over to the youngsters?

[IamQuailman]

If your team has a slow start to the season, will you look to ship out any of your "older" players like Cox or Barnes in favor of future assets?

[ballsohard]

First Grimaldi, then Simmons, and Fultz is in line for a huge extension next season - how do you cope with the challenge of being fiscally responsible while still managing to compensate your players well enough to keep them in the fold?

Its one of those situations most teams have to deal with if their build goes right. We don’t really have a lot of control what our players get after or rookie deals , so it’s more about managing what they get. I think the big thing is making sure if you keep guys past their rookie deals, you’re ok with losing them or paying them. Fultz , grim and simmons are easy “keeps” and frankly we feel incredibly blessed to have the wealth of talent to have to make the tough decisions .. the alternative is much worse!

[ballsohard]

This isn't a traditional rebuild most teams go through, and just drawing from my own personal experiences, your team's transition reminds me of my own 2003-2004 team that hit the "reset" button to gather itself to another run. How many seasons do you predict your team will be back competing for another championship?

We’re hoping in 2 seasons we’re in the fold , but there are a lot of “uncontrollables” that happen. One is TC and the other is movement by other teams. We always like to say - is this something I can control? If the answer is no, we’re confident and pleased with our best effort. It takes a lot of pressure off.

[ballsohard]

Ben Simmons had an underwhelming training camp after signing his big contract. Do you think is lower-than-expected progress keeps keeps you from being a contender or even making the playoffs this year?

Not really. He had a positive camp despite it not being “optimal”. He was already posting a 26 PER so he’s going to produce. We think this year, we have a little different approach. We’re going to take it slow . Goal 1 is the playoffs, two is division and 3 is making noise in the playoffs. We’re excited but we have our own pick in case things go Poorly.

[ballsohard]

With all the talent loaded in the back court, what can you expect from rookie Colin Sexton this season ahead? Will he be able to come in and contribute right away on the 2nd unit?

That’s what we’re hoping. We just need him to not be a negative factor when he gets on the court. Colin has the making of a solid player and we’re excited to watch him grow into it.

[ballsohard]

Despite taking a step back in terms of veteran leadership, the majority of last season's Finals roster is still here. Do you still see yourselves as a contender for best in the East, or have expectations been lowered a bit as a result of handing the reins over to the youngsters?

I think we have to let the season define expectations. The truth is we don’t know what to expect. We lost maybe the franchises best player ever In Hayward and a hugely underrated guy around the league in Kanter. But with those losses comes opportunities for other guys. My gut tells me we will be fighting for a playoff spot, but I don’t want to put a ceiling or a floor on the team yet.

[ballsohard]

If your team has a slow start to the season, will you look to ship out any of your "older" players like Cox or Barnes in favor of future assets?

I don’t really think so. Both are on very very attractive deals and we don’t really have someone to replace those. Unless we sustain major injuries, I don’t see a situation where we just say .. let’s give up and do as bad as we can for a pick. We have he talent in place and it’s up to the coaching staff to win with it. I think if next year rolls around and we’re struggling then we may look to move around a bit.

[digiskunk]

Grabbing Boyd Cox was huge for you guys. What sort of role should we expect to see him play, and how many minutes? Furthermore, any statline predictions for the young forward?

[RPF]

Mitch Landrieu, nola.com: How do you respond to the rumors of Van Grimaldi "getting clean" from the PEDs having affected him in training camp this year?

[ballsohard]

Grabbing Boyd Cox was huge for you guys. What sort of role should we expect to see him play, and how many minutes? Furthermore, any statline predictions for the young forward?

We have Boyd here to play great defense, rebound a bit and score when the time is right. Ultimately we think a 10-15 pot and 6-8 rebound clip with 2-3 blocks is where he will end up and would be extremely happy with that.

[ballsohard]

Mitch Landrieu, nola.com: How do you respond to the rumors of Van Grimaldi "getting clean" from the PEDs having affected him in training camp this year?

My response is : run from it , dread it, but The grim reaper comes for everyone’s soul.