The first day of NBA Free Agency is 24 hours old and the Philadelphia 76ers are winners for one day! The Sixers acquired Paul George,Andre Drummond,Eric Gordon and resign Kelly Oubre.George was definitely the best free agent available,after Lebron James. He is a perennial All Star and an upgrade over the likable but underachieving Tobias Harris. George's playoff scoring average is approximately 19 points a game. Harris playoff average over his career is 16,3. Harris did not score in the Sixers final playoff game in 2024.
The excitement of signing George had his name trending on Twitter/X. The odds for the Sixers to win the NBA Title improved as well. There were 7 teams ahead of the Sixers on BetMGM prior to the signing. The Sixers have vaulted those teams and are now near the top,trailing the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets.The Sixers odds are +800.
The addition of Drummond solidifys the backup center position.When the Sixers subtittute Joel Embiid for a rest,load management or injury,they will be cohensive on defense and with rebounding.Gordon id s proven 3 point shooter and will spread the floor. He averages 37.1 for his career. The resiging of Oubre allows Head Coach Nick Nurse the flexibility to start him or make him the 6th man off the bench.
While decisions will be made regarding some of the free agents that the Sixers have on the roster,this team is an improvement over the 2023-24 team. That team was 31-8 with Embiid. Tyrese Maxey will get a max deal after the margibal free agents are addressed.The Sixers win on Day One!
Here is my video reaction to the Paul Goerge acquisition.
Since the advent of Sports Betting the coverage of the New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia markets are essential to prognosticators. So I will expand with my Gaming Guy News minutes into the 3 top cities on the East Coast.
The Sixers are leading the Eastern Conference with a 13-6 record. They defeated the Lakers on Wednesday 107-106. The Sixers got the test they needed to pass to show they are legitimate contenders for the championship. The wins over Boston earlier in the season were good but Jayson Tatum did not play in either game. Joel Embiid is one of the names mentioned as a top candidate for MVP along with Lebron James. Doc Rivers should receive some consideration for Coach of the Year if the Sixers win more than 50 games. In games that Embiid does not play, the Sixers are 0-4. Embiid is listed as questionable against the Timberwolves. The Sixers are favored by 7 and the total is 224. The Timberwolves are one of the worst teams in the league so the Sixers should handle them.
The Brooklyn Nets have a record of 12-8. They have won 3 straight and are 7 -3 over the their last 10 games. Kevin Durant is leading the league in scoring while James Harden is leading in assists. The Big Three is working at an optimum level offensively. They lead the league in scoring with 119.8 per game. They are also number one in field goal percentage. They are a work in progress defensively. They are 26th in points allowed. Most of their games trend over. The Nets play the Thunder tonight and they are -9.5 with the total set at 231.5.
The Washington Wizards are continuing to struggle with a 3-11 record. They are last in defense. The Wizards are 4th in points per game. So a change in defensive philosophy is required. They may have to become more creative by trapping the opposing team's top scorer or play a zone to force the opponent to shoot from outside. The Bradley Beal trade rumors continue. I would like to see him and Russell Westbrook stay put. The Wizards have missed several games due to Covid protocols and not having enough players available to dress for the games. This indicates that guidelines were not adhered to. The Wizards are at home tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. They are getting 4 and the total is 234.
The New York Knicks have a record of 8-11. They are 4th in the league in rebounding. They allow the fewest points to be scored against them. However, they struggle to score over 100 points a game. That equates to 47% of their 19 games. When they play a team that is ranked in the top 15 defensively this is a trending under play on how many the Knicks will score as a team. The Knicks play the Cavaliers tonight and they are +1.0. The total is 208.0.
My Sports Betting Minute Tip of the day is for NBA action and in game wagering.
The Eagles have selected Nick Sirianni as their new head coach. Sirianni most recently served as offensive coordinator for the past three seasons in Indianapolis under Frank Reich, who became the Colts' head coach after helping the Eagles win Super Bowl LII. In that role, the up-and-coming NFL coach played a major part in helping Indianapolis reach the postseason in 2018 and 2020. This week Duce Staley decided to to go to the Detroit Lions as their running back coach. This disappointed some Eagles fans who wanted to see him as the coach to replace Doug Pederson. The Eagles have the 6th pick in the NFL Draft and are projected to pick Jaylen Waddle from Alabama.
The Sports Betting Business in Philadelphia is getting a new member. Live Casino is joining the action with Fan Duel as the sports platform provider. Since most of the wagers from competitors are coming from the online betting via mobile and tablet apps, it will be interesting to see who does the best job regionally marketing their retail location. Competition bring creativity. The existing Casino Operators include Rivers Casino Philadelphia, Parx Casino, Valley Forge Resort and Casino and Harrah Philadelphia.
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The NBA continues to be the most innovative of each of the major sports leagues. It was a stroke of genius to have each of the awards for the 2017 season issued on the same night. In past seasons ,he awards were given during the playoffs. The playoffs are news worthy enough without the announcement of Defensive Player of the year and the Most Improved Player. When you add the star power of Drake as the host, make these announcements 2 hours in prime time on TNT, you have a memorable event. Nicki Minaj did not disappoint with her performance.
The highlight of the night was the MVP award and the acceptance speech by Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook showed his humility in thanking his teammates and his family. Here is a glimpse of what he said to his younger brother.
The surprise of the night was the Rookie of the Year award. While the Sixers Joel Embiid
and Dario Saric won the Rookie of the Month award 5 times during the season, the voters
choose Malcolm Brogdon from the Milwaukee Bucks.
Malcolm Brogdon
Draymond Green won Defensive Player of the Year. Giannis Antetokounmpo won Most Improved Player.
We decided to look at the Sixers and the last 20 games of this season. This team has went from a low level of expectations to start the season and progress to a unit that was within striking distance of the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. They are now spending the last 20 odd games developing players and brought in a player from the D League.
At the All Star break, the Sixers were looking at moving Jahlil Okafor. They have a quality player in him that does not fit for them defensively.They did not play him at the end of games last year and that did not change this season. He is offensively sound and will average 16-20 points with 8 boards every night.
They instead decided to move Nerlens Noel, who did fit defensively and could have played a back up role. They also moved their best outside shooter, Ersen Ilyasova and did not receive anything close in value for either player.
We left ourselves with question mark at the 5 position because of the injury to Joel Embiid. 31 games over 3 years is the reality of Joel. Is that what we want to hang our future on? While he is exceptional and likable can we count on him?
More of this!
Less of this!
Is Holmes the back up that you want to go to war with every night? He does give his all but is a center in a forward's body.
Brett Brown does have the team playing at a high level that will compete and share the ball. They press and make strong defensive rotations. The Sixers should build their team by establishing a bench that they can count on. They has that with Noel and Ilya. Now they have to develop it again. Just look at the Spurs for the blueprint of how to compose a roster. When the Sixers were winning the people were supporting the team and coming to the games. We need to get back to that!
Noel returns with his new team, the Dallas Mavericks on 3/17. #Sixerstalk
Here are the top selections for this week's season opening favorite 5 for the NBA DFS players and fans. This feature will post every Monday.
We will go with Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Joel Embiid, Al Horford and Chris Paul. We will give reviews of how they are doing.
Joel Embiid
Paul George
Chris Paul
This is our 5 all week. Next week, we will substitute at least 3 of them. As the season goes on, we will use data based on recent performances to determine selections.
