The 76ers need to draft Derrick Favors
Derrick Favors
As much as John Wall appears to be a lock for the Washington Wizards with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Evan Turner has been penciled into the Philadelphia 76ers lineup by almost everybody since the night Philly landed the No. 2 pick in the Lottery.
Not so fast. Soon after the Sixers hired Doug Collins as head coach, talk around the organization was that Collins is a big fan of Derrick Favors, and would seriously consider taking the Georgia Tech freshman over Turner. Then in Chad Ford’s most recent NBA mock draft, he had Favors going to the Sixers, with Turner falling to the New Jersey Nets at the No. 3 spot.
So who would really be the better fit in Philly?
Having not even turned 19 years old yet, Favors has a lot of upside as a star PF in the League, and the Sixers badly need help up front. Currently occupying the four in Philly is Elton Brand, backed up by Jason Smith. Brand is injured constantly and looked lost and ineffective last year. Smith also has injury problems and hasn’t impressed in his action on the floor. (Not to mention starting center Sam Dalembert is a constant source of frustration for every coach he’s ever had.) Adding Favors allows the Sixers to slowly phase Brand out, and by the time Brand’s contract expires in three years Favors will be ready to take over. Favors is also an immediate upgrade over Smith behind Brand, so it provides Philly with needed front-court depth. Also, a future lineup of Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Favors and Marreese Speights could be a very formidable starting five.
Favors fills a need for Philly and allows them to slowly move away from the Elton Brand experiment. Turner, meanwhile, may not be a good fit alongside Andre Iguodala. Turner and Iguodala are very similar players. Both guys are point-forward types who can shoot, distribute, and rebound. By adding Turner, the Sixers are adding essentially another A.I.2 to their team, and why do that when when you can bring something new to the team with Favors?
To a lot of draft analysts and fans, Turner seems like the obvious pick after Wall. But if Sixers GM Ed Stefanski really examines his roster, he’ll see Favors is the better fit.
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June 9th, 2010 at 10:02 am
cru_thik305 says:
good point, but aren’t you supposed to draft talent over need?
June 9th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Chaos says:
this is a point where need and talent are being filled
June 9th, 2010 at 10:33 am
GM says:
I see the points that are being made here but if I were the Sixers I would still go with Turner. I think the kid is just too good to pass up.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Brown says:
With Turner, you know you’re getting a great player. With Favors, you’re picking based more on potential. I’ve never been a proponent of picking potential talent over actual talent. I just don’t see how you pass up a talent like Turner.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:43 am
AL says:
Riots on Broad Street if the Sixers don’t draft Evan Turner. Well, riots by the 76 or so Philly hoops fans left….
June 9th, 2010 at 11:10 am
sh!tfaced says:
It might not be at that level of greatness it was in ’84 but…
Wasn’t MJ the obvious pick after Olajuwon back then? But the Blazers thought Sam Bowie was “the better fit” in Portland since they already had Clyde…
June 9th, 2010 at 11:18 am
karizmatic says:
I would agree, if this didn’t contradict with my first rule of drafting, when picking high, never draft for position, draft best available talent period. Who cares if Favors is a better fit if Turner is the better player…what if Turner turns out to be just as good or better the Iguodala? Draft best available talent and if it comes down to it trade Iguodala for some pieces to build around Turner, if Turner is that good. Personally, just for really no reason at all I think Favors will end up being better than Turner, so my hunch would have them drafting Favors anyway…but if it is somewhat clear that Turner is going to be the better player you draft him. Who cares who is on the roster right now you weren’t winning with them anyway.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Bobb23 says:
This is a stupid article. It is widley known by people who watch the Sixers that Iguodala is more effective at the 3 and Thad at the 4. Favors may have potential to be the best player from this draft, but they need to draft for now. Right now they need someone to come in and play at the 2. They dont have depth at the 5, but you dont look for a backup big man with the number 2 pick in a strong draft. Sixers need a player that will come in now and be a reliant scorer, defend the perimiter with Jrue and Dre, and not require much time.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Heckler says:
no team in the NBA is in desperate need of a STAR more than PHILLY. not even the punk ass knicks in ny.
when the draft comes, you draft based on need. if the need cannot be filled, then you draft the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE (or, so I thought was the war room formula).
i dont think Philly can go wrong either way.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:29 am
derik says:
how about… draft Evan Turner, and trade Iggy for a frontcourt player, problem solved, i’m a genius
June 9th, 2010 at 11:32 am
haslem says:
great point. @dime what about the Twolves? who do we get?
June 9th, 2010 at 11:49 am
My Favorite Superhero says:
I disagree with this article 100%…
Philly NEEDS Turner, they could USE Favors…
And everyone is basing last season as an example of Elton Brand being washed up…if you watched a good majority of the games (as I unfortunately did out of faith…sigh…) you’d see that Brand and everyone else on that team, was a product of horrible, horrible coaching. Brand actually lasted last season…
Here’s my logic, you draft Favors, but you already have Brand, Smith, Speights, Young and Dalembum…with no shooters, AT ALL, no true one-on-one players, and no go-to player and that team is supposed to be better???
You take Turner and being the rebuilding phase…just like OKC, SAC, the Bucks, etc…you don’t draft a guy who fits in your already crappy system and expect to be better…you choose talent, not potential…
Besides, we all remembers what happens when the Sixers draft potential…i.e. Shawn Bradley……nuff said.
June 9th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
jace says:
i have no doubt in my mind that derrick favors would be a great pick.
but wut ur saying is.. lets be less than mediocre these next 3 years until derrick favors comes around. so our starting team can be holiday, ai, young, favors, and speights.
u say formidable.. but i say… still aint winnin any championships. i love speights.. but theres no way i think he should be a starting center. i see him as being a great role player. hes skinny and will never be able to handle guarding the dwight howards or even the andrew boguts of the game. and there still wouldnt be any real scorer on the team. we can hope that ai learns to shoot.. but lets face it.. thats most likely not going to happen.
right now.. the sixers need to have a plan A, B, and C. A: get rid of elton brand. B: get rid of dalembert. C: get rid of iggy. now i like iggy… but i think hes getting overpaid right now. so if we’re gonna suck.. we might as well suck while saving money… i think they said sixers are in the bottom 5 of arena attendance for games.. its obvious philly doesnt think hes a star worth paying to watch.
if we cant get anything for brand or dalembert (which i think is very possible… although dalembert is more likely to get moved than brand becuz he has less of a contract burden and hes younger). iggy is the next in line for most valuable trading commodity… mainly becuz iggy still has potential… and hes about to be in the prime of his career. if you find the right team.. he could be great.. i just dont think he can be great on this team.. not as a number one option.
if you draft turner… you can have the iggy/turner experiment. and you have holiday, turner, iggy, brand, dalembert. better than last years starting lineup. if the experiment goes bad.. HEY! you got a cheaper andre iguodala in turner.. and im sure you can find a taker for the real iggy. congrats! you just unloaded 12 million a year (im guessing at his salary cuz i couldnt find it online). and you also kept a younger iggy! now that iggy is gone you can finally start starting thad young now too. hes undersized at the pf.. so its ok if you wanna play small but its not smart to play small all the time.
so thats y i think turner is still the better option… u cant go wrong with either.. cuz both seem like theyre gonna be great players.. but turner gives you more options.. whereas favors gives you a wait and see scenario.
June 9th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
jace says:
damnnn.. i thought i cut my post short.. hahah my bad.. sorry to take too much space.. i could prolly write a whole article. lol
June 9th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Celts Fan says:
I completely disagree on your assessment of Turner. He seems like another BRoy, not Iggy. If I’m a Philly fan, I’d much rather role w/ Brand and hope Speights develops than withstand another year of Willie Green/Jason Kapono at the 2.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
K Dizzle says:
This is gonna come down to:
Do the Sixers want the next Brandon Roy?
or
Do the Sixers want the next Al Horford?
If Elton Band can recover from the Achilles tear, this becomes a lot easier. Progress is better a year removed from surgery so it’s now or never for EB.
I’m stickin with my original premise on this. Elton and the 2nd pick to T-Dot for CB4 and the 13rd pick. Just gotta convince Bosh that Philly where he wanna be…
June 9th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
GayforRudy says:
This article is why I stopped coming to Dime regularly. Daniel Marks sucks. His articles are garbage.
HERE IS MY DIME ARTICLE “The 76ers Need To Draft Evan Turner”
The Sixers start Willie Green at SG…
June 9th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
GayforRudy says:
PS: If the Sixers keep rolling out the shit lineup that you suggest for the next three years until Favor’s develops then they will not be using the future lineup of: Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Favors and Marreese Speights. They would, however, be horrible and have many high lottery picks for the next few seasons so that Thaddeus & Marreese probably are coming off the bench… not forming a “formidable” lineup.
PPS: Blow Me!
June 9th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
daddy dolalrs says:
I like the sixers to draft D. Favors and trade Elton Brand to the Pistons for Rip and Chris Wilcox. Pistons can then trade Tayshaun and the #7 to the Twolves for the #4. Pistons draft Cousins, Wolves draft Udoh. Each team gets better without further mortaging their futures.
Pistons
Stuckey
BG
Jerebko
Brand
Cousins
Sixers
Holiday
Rip
AI2
Favors
Dalemburt
TWolves
Flynn
Brewer
Tay
Love – Udoh
Jefferson
June 9th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
jm says:
Celts fan is right in that Turner is more Brandon Roy than Iggy. I’m not even sure I would call Iggy a point forward. He is not that good of a ball handler. He is also it not a good shooter/scorer. Bottom line is he is not a legit 2. He is a 3 man. Turner would play the 2 spot. He is also more of an alpha dog which the Sixers need. Iggy can be a great 2nd or 3rd option. Especially because he is long, athletic, and ability to be good defender.
This no indictment on Favors, but if I was in Philly I would pick Turner and look to package Young (who I like) and a big contract of Brand or Sammy to get help inside. People around the league like Young a lot, unfortunately for the Sixers they can’t dump Iggy’s contract. Only way you get rid of Brand or Sammy is to sweeten the pot with Young. Hell, if they pick Turner and hold on to Young you could even play Turner, Iggy, and Young for stretches because Turner handles the ball well.
Either way you end up with a natural scorer on the squad in Turner who likes the ball in his hands and is used to that role. He has a good NBA body and size. He is tough player too…remember this kid broke his back and still came back to finish as National POY.
Otherwise, in taking Favors you have Iggy once again as your main option on offense…that is recipe for lottery again or maybe a 7th or 8th seed.
Philly unless pull off great draft day trade to get big time scorer and land Favors as well and dump a contract you need to take Turner.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
sxrs says:
as most here pointed out, this is total bs
iguodala and turner are not the same type of player
turner has the talent to score the basketball. He has the bodycontrol and instincts to be a great scorer.
Iguodala, who is still a good player imo, lacks that natural ability. He’s athletic, but does not finish his drives well and lacks the shooting to be a great offensive player.
other than that, there’s probably another 1000 reasons to draft turner over favors, some of which are already posted here
June 9th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Dennis Castro says:
What the Sixers need to do is trade/demote Iguodala and draft Turner. I feel like some of these writers that offer recommendations for franchises don’t even watch the franchises they’re writing about. Iguodala is almost comically overrated. He has all the athleticism in the world, but possibly the worst footwork. That equates to off balance fadeaways, charges in the lane when he should be drawing or evading contact.
His jumper has been a work in progress since he was drafted and if he hasn’t developed it yet, he won’t. He essentially gave up on the season, which when you’re in the position of leadership, or perceived leadership, you NEVER do. The only times he looked like he cared and tried was when he played Lebron/Kobe/Melo/Wade.
Also, I’m tired of this “upside” bullsh!t. Turner is ready to contribute now and in a year or two will surpass Iguodala.
This pick is so easy for Stefanski, yet he is complicating it more than it ever should be.
June 9th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
T.O.M. says:
Sixers should trade iggy for the third pick then you would have
Jholiday
Turner
Thaddeus
Favors
Dalambert soon to be traded
June 9th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
EN FUEGO says:
anybody else have this feeling the sixers gonna blow it again and repeat a shawn bradley?
what the fuck. just draft. dont think. picking second doesnt need a brainstorm. its all plain common sense. thinking too much on the best fit and whatnot brought up second picks such as darko, marvin willaims and shawn bradley.
learn from history, philly. go with obvious. cant remember a team that blew a top 3 pick going for the obvious selection. its thinking too much that brings regrets.
June 9th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
futuristic handgun says:
Marreese Speights is a PF c’mon son
June 9th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Bonez says:
SO what about IVERSON IF THEY DRAFT EVAN TURNER?
June 9th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
H-man says:
@ 17 needs to chill. In general, Marks writes good stuff and besides, as the posts show, Turner v. Favors can be argued either way. And whoever they don’t take, the Nets almost certainly will, so they will be playing against each other the most times possible during the years to come. That will give fans of both Turner and Favors lots of ammo to argue who got the “better” of the picks………
June 9th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
GayforRudy says:
Hey H-Man. Why don’t you and Skeletor go have a nude wrestling match? This writer sucks…But I’m sure you are proud of your son / brother / friend (whatever his relationship is to you doesn’t matter to me).
Austin Burton is the only writer worth two shits on this site.
June 9th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
PhillyFan77 says:
@ EN FUEGO – Amen to that. You couldn’t be more correct.
June 9th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
spike says:
jesus christ what teribble reasoning.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
rj says:
this is a really bad article. and a really bad title at that.
derrick favors is 18 — who knows if he’s a future franchise player.
evan turner is the second coming of brandon roy (or better)… we dont need to ‘rebuild’ for 3 years while elton brand’s contract plays out.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Frank says:
The line-up you propose has Igoudala at the 2. DCollins has already made it known that Iggy is NOT a 2 but can be a defensive star at the 3.
Just trying to help with the stated facts.
June 10th, 2010 at 2:01 am
tron says:
I agree with tom but i dont know if new jersey would do that trade. they really dont have anyone with the salary to match up. besides minnesota with the 4th pick needs a wing and cousins is more skilled than favors. he has better footwork, is quicker, and is 292lbs. he can bang down low and could also gives us a low post scorer. I would trade iggy for cousins. Also Cousins faced Favors in highschool and dominated.
June 10th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
MJ says:
@daddy dolalrs, get the **** outa town. Why the hell would the wolves go for Tay and another PF? Dumbass **** right there.
Wolves may have had a worse record, but we got a LOT of cap, LOT of picks, and a GM who’s not retarded…
Enjoy your limited cap space, bad contracts, aging players and solitary pick!
June 10th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
vaughn says:
This is a dumb article when someone says Iggy can shoot.
Sixers will be busy this off season by making lots of trades. Sammy will be gone. Heres my line up for 2010-2011
Holiday
Rip hamilton
Evan turner
Elton Brand
maurice speights
or
holiday
turner
Turkgolu
thadeus
Sammy
June 11th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Brain says:
This guy Marks obviosly doesn’t watch the Sixers and has no clue what he is talking about. I wonder if he even played basketball. The Sixers have a ton of forwards. Secondly Iggy IS NOT A 2! Anybody who watches them knows he cannot shoot. That isn’t to say I don’t think Iggy has talent but he’s better off at the 3 and is a solid defender. The Sixers are in desperate need of a true shooting gaurd and Turner would be a great compliment for the team. He handles the ball well and is diverse by being able to play 3 positions. Lastly Ed Stafanski needs to knock this pick out of the park bc if he screws this up it could be his job.
June 13th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Dennis says:
Youre an idiot, Daniel Marks. The Sixers can’t afford to miss with this pick. If they take Turner and he doesnt pan out no one will kill them for it. If they pass over Turner and miss it would be devastating. You also said Iguodala can shoot. Id love to watch the tape you have on him because he cant shoot a lick. A backcourt of Jrue Holliday and Evan Turner could rival any back court in the league in a couple years. You dont spend the #2 overall pick on a player you yourself wrote wont start right away. Thats just ridiculous.