Philadelphia 76ers Weekly: Roster Cuts, A Nerlens Noel Update And More

Another week has passed for the Philadelphia 76ers and that means one thing: more losses. Just two of them this week.

76ers weekly results: Cavs 104, Sixers 93; Timberwolves 125, Sixers 102

The first of which was against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, in what must have been an emotional return for swingman Evan Turner. Despite being a mediocre player so far in his NBA career, Turner was a stud at Ohio State and was duly given a warm reception on his return. He had 14 points in what must have been a great night — despite the result — for the Chicago-born player.  On the court, it was all about Kyrie Irving. Uncle Drew poured in 17 points and dished out 12 assists to appease the fans who had turned out. But it’s all about the way in which Irving gets his points. The ball is almost glued to his hand as he dazzles defenders with his lightning quick handle and stutter steps, spin moves and crossovers. There’s no guarding him.

If the Sixers are going to be bad this year — which is a given — the fun part about covering them will be watching everyone else’s star players going off against them. And yes, opening night should be one of those. Just imagine LeBron James and Dwyane Wade against this defense.

Jose Barea had a field day against the Sixers lousy defense.

(NBA.com photo)

The next match saw another point guard torment the desolate Sixers defense. But not the one you would think, with the Sixers lining up against the Timberwolves. Jose Barea had 22 points to lead the playoff-bound Minnesota team past the 76ers. All-Star power forward Kevin Love also chipped in with 19 in what was a very uneven game. Minny looked streets ahead of Philly and if this was a sign of things to come, then double-digit wins are looking unlikely. The Sixers had no inside presence; couldn’t chase or contest any 3-point shots and looked more penetrable than … something that’s very penetrable.

Other notes:

• Nerlens Noel could sit out the entire season, says coach Brett Brown. Noel suffered an ACL tear while playing at Kentucky last season and the plan could be to sit him out all year and let him recover. By let him recover, I mean let the Sixers be bad enough to land the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, but whatever.
• The Sixers have cut Royce White, Vander Blue, Khalif Wyatt and Matt Koshwal. Out of the four, I’m really surprised that the first three are being cut. All of them have some talent and were players I had penciled in for the roster, Vander Blue and Royce White, in particular. While they probably aren’t going to be stars in the league, they are certainly better than some of the players still on the roster. If you didn’t already know, Sam Hinkie is really taking this tanking thing seriously, guys.

Weekly Awards :

Quote of the week: “WE MUST NOT REACH 10 WINS. REPEAT! WE MUST NOT REACH 10 WINS.” – Sam Hinkie, probably.

Player of the Week: Thaddeus Young.

Worst Player of the Week: Spencer Hawes … oh, Hawes had 17 and 12 against Cleveland. So I guess I’ll go for Kwame Brown here, because why the hell not?

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