Speaker 1: It's time to talk Sixers. Simmons off balance in an
Speaker 1: incredible bank shot is good here on the broadcast the
Speaker 1: official podcast of Sixers dot Com If Drive, he goes
Speaker 1: in that slabs and oh man, what a play by
Speaker 1: it be. Now here's today's episode. An amazing end of
Speaker 1: season stretch just keeps on rolling on for the seventy Sixers,
Speaker 1: picking up a franchise record fifteenth fifteenth consecutive victory Tuesday
Speaker 1: night in Atlanta, holding off the Hawks by the final
Speaker 1: score of one twenty one to one thirteen. Brian Seltzer
Speaker 1: with you from Sixers dot Com. Thank you, it's always
Speaker 1: for checking out the podcast on this the final day
Speaker 1: of the regular season. We know there is plenty more
Speaker 1: basketball to come for the seventy Sixers. In the way
Speaker 1: they're playing, that can't be anything but a very promising
Speaker 1: and good thing. Last game of the year later on
Speaker 1: tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks at eight o'clock at this
Speaker 1: Center on fan Appreciation Night, a great way for the
Speaker 1: Sixers to wrap things up and what could actually be
Speaker 1: a playoff preview for the Sixers in the opening round
Speaker 1: for the Eastern Conference quarterfinals if the current seatings hold
Speaker 1: it'll be the Sixers at the three spot and the
Speaker 1: Bucks at six, so this could be a preview somewhat
Speaker 1: of things to come for the opening round playoff series
Speaker 1: for these seventy sixers. All that will be sorted out
Speaker 1: later on tonight once regular season action in the Association
Speaker 1: wraps up. On this episode of the podcast, we're going
Speaker 1: to talk with the man who knows his front office
Speaker 1: stuff from ESPN. It is Bobby Mark's front office NBA
Speaker 1: insider and will get on the phone with him in
Speaker 1: just a moment. A reminder that to subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker 1: you can do a couple of things. You can go
Speaker 1: to iTunes, you can go to Google Play, you can
Speaker 1: go to Stitcher, and you can type in Sixers podcast
Speaker 1: network roles on SoundCloud at SoundCloud dot com, backslash Sixers.
Speaker 1: If you are like me, you really enjoy and dig
Speaker 1: everything that Bobby Marks does for ESPN, you can follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at Bobby Marks forty two. He is
Speaker 1: also the front office insider for ESPN, which has to
Speaker 1: night's game between the seventy Sixers and the Bucks at
Speaker 1: eight o'clock. Bobby, a longtime executive, spent two decades with
Speaker 1: the new Jersey and Brooklyn Nets rising all the way
Speaker 1: to vice president of basketball and assistant general manager has
Speaker 1: plenty of contacts throughout the league, so we thought it'd
Speaker 1: be a good time to touch base with Bobby and
Speaker 1: get the word from him about what people are saying
Speaker 1: about the seventy Sixers around the rest of the league
Speaker 1: and get his opinions and thoughts on the team and
Speaker 1: its progress as well. Bobby, thanks so much for taking
Speaker 1: the time man to talk. And I guess why don't
Speaker 1: we start with this? On your original list of expectations
Speaker 1: for this season, where did the seventy Sixers at fifty wins,
Speaker 1: a top four seed in the East, and a monster
Speaker 1: a winning streak rank on your lists? I don't think
Speaker 1: that was even on my list. I list when I
Speaker 1: and I do this for all the teams, um I
Speaker 1: put notes down for each team. My notes for Philadelphia
Speaker 1: entering the season was U Joe ellenbad, healthy, and play
Speaker 1: meaningful games in March and April. That's that those are
Speaker 1: the two things that I had my list in regards
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. And what I mean meanful games, I just
Speaker 1: that you know in the past and you know and
Speaker 1: following this team and working for the team is that
Speaker 1: you get to a point past the All Star breaking,
Speaker 1: you start playing out the string of games and you
Speaker 1: look towards the you know, the postseason and the lottery. Um,
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to philt Olphia team to start
Speaker 1: playing games that meant something where you're trying to fight
Speaker 1: for a playoff spot. Um, and give these guys some
Speaker 1: some experience here. So um, yeah, I think, um, I
Speaker 1: think this probably caught us all off a little bit
Speaker 1: off guard here, safe to say, it's happened more quickly
Speaker 1: than you would have thought. Yeah, I think. Um. I
Speaker 1: think if they had not made up the playoffs this year,
Speaker 1: I think it would have been, you know, certainly a disappointment.
Speaker 1: But the expectation level now and is, you know, we're
Speaker 1: not just looking at this team just to get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I think you know, um, you know, certainly
Speaker 1: to win an advanced based on who they play in
Speaker 1: the in the first round. So yeah, I think there.
Speaker 1: I think there's certainly ahead of the curve here when
Speaker 1: it goes to how this has been built and how
Speaker 1: from a winning standpoint, I think the culture from a
Speaker 1: winning standpoint is that they've got a pretty good taste
Speaker 1: of success right now, and they're not really willing to
Speaker 1: give that up. Why don't we go into the layers
Speaker 1: of the sixers turnaround a little bit more. I suppose
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of different ways you can assess the
Speaker 1: way things have gone for them this season. There's obviously
Speaker 1: young individual talents, some veterans sprinkled in that have made
Speaker 1: a difference as well. Collectively, this is a team that
Speaker 1: is a top four net rating going into the final
Speaker 1: game of the regular season. Their style is something that
Speaker 1: the head coach, Brett Brown, has talked about since his
Speaker 1: very first day on the job. Where did this all
Speaker 1: start and seem to get rolling and pick up this
Speaker 1: year and accelerate? Do you feel well? I think a
Speaker 1: lot of it had to do with a health you know,
Speaker 1: we all you know, that's kind of the under under
Speaker 1: statement of the year as far as what you know,
Speaker 1: getting Joey out there healthy. Um, it's keeping him healthy, um,
Speaker 1: extending his minutes and then kind of just building around
Speaker 1: that in that base there. Um. The big thing too,
Speaker 1: is is that, um, you know, this is although they
Speaker 1: are top ten in the league and average aged, they
Speaker 1: have built this with veterans on the outside as an
Speaker 1: outside layer here when you look at the JJ Reddick
Speaker 1: signing and the Emir Johnson signing this summer, and then
Speaker 1: to be able to add Bell and Ellie and Nili
Speaker 1: Silva um after the trade deadline, that those two those
Speaker 1: four players themselves and and and I think if we're
Speaker 1: looking at don Elli and Nili Silva, I can't make
Speaker 1: the case that the Sixers team would be would be
Speaker 1: able to get out of the first round if those
Speaker 1: two players were there and they had stayed pat right
Speaker 1: now just because it gives them a I don't want
Speaker 1: to say, an insurance policy if the bright eyes of
Speaker 1: the of the playoffs gets a little bit too big
Speaker 1: for some of these young players. But there is a
Speaker 1: fallback there for for the veterans. So um it you know,
Speaker 1: it's it has always started with health. We always thought
Speaker 1: if the team could could stay healthy, um, there could
Speaker 1: be something there. But when you added you know, the
Speaker 1: two in the summer, the two veterans in the summer,
Speaker 1: and then you get the two two players post deadline,
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of where you started. Really things
Speaker 1: picked up here. We'll talk about some of the young
Speaker 1: members of the Sixers nucleus in just a moment, But
Speaker 1: in continuing along with some of the veterans, I know
Speaker 1: that a couple weeks ago, you put a tweet out
Speaker 1: there during I think the Sixers game in Atlanta that
Speaker 1: all signs are pointing towards the Sixers recently making a
Speaker 1: run towards the playoffs, but guys like Bellinelli and Ilyasova
Speaker 1: put them over the tops. I mean, is that a
Speaker 1: sign of change in perception that a guy like a
Speaker 1: Bellonelli or an ilias Silver or even dating back to
Speaker 1: July with JJ Raddick and Amir Johnson, that this was
Speaker 1: a destination in the seventy sixers that they were not
Speaker 1: only willing to entertain, but ultimately sign with and jump
Speaker 1: on board with. I think certainly. I think the you know,
Speaker 1: when you go through the March one way buyout period,
Speaker 1: those players have basically they can pick any team they
Speaker 1: want to go to. You know, most of the time
Speaker 1: it's not on a team that's heading to the lottery.
Speaker 1: But they had the choice of picking sixteen or seventeen
Speaker 1: other teams that were sixteen teams that were heading towards
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And it took Philadelphia, And it wasn't just one.
Speaker 1: It was two of them. I mean the two guys.
Speaker 1: You know, Arison certainly held being there before, but a
Speaker 1: guy in marcol Bellonelli because he felt like there would
Speaker 1: be a role for him and he felt like this
Speaker 1: team was a playoff team and it was a two
Speaker 1: way street. You know. He kind of used the team
Speaker 1: to help him next year in free agency and then
Speaker 1: they relied on him to to you know, not just
Speaker 1: be a six or seven seed. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: it's it's hard in UM in March when you go
Speaker 1: through that process and you kind of and it's really
Speaker 1: not about finances because both guys signed for the pro
Speaker 1: rated minimum, but to be able to UM, to be
Speaker 1: able to you know, sign both players is a huge
Speaker 1: father in your cap and in the same thing to
Speaker 1: be said about UM. You know JJ and this the summer,
Speaker 1: I mean, JJ Roddick had his pick a team. You know,
Speaker 1: he probably could have gotten gotten to Brooklyn on maybe
Speaker 1: not it's probably not as much money, but in length
Speaker 1: and contracts and security, but he took Philadelphia. He kind
Speaker 1: of bet on himself a little bit. UM certainly came
Speaker 1: in at a pretty high number there, but it was
Speaker 1: it was certainly worth it and it's helped both out.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the culture factor at the start of the interview.
Speaker 1: Just what have you been hearing about what the rest
Speaker 1: of the league thinks of the culture that the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers have built and that's really taken shape, um,
Speaker 1: I guess more exponentially the last couple of years as
Speaker 1: things have started to move in a different direction. Well,
Speaker 1: if I'm just talking with people that they've only scratched
Speaker 1: the service here, I mean, we're only we're only seeing
Speaker 1: the first foundation of things that are going to happen.
Speaker 1: And the beauty of this all is that they have
Speaker 1: so much flexibility going into into the summer and possibly
Speaker 1: in the summer of twenty nineteen how they really want
Speaker 1: to shape their team. And you add, you know, a
Speaker 1: lottery pick, likely lottery picks from the Lakers in your
Speaker 1: own pick, and then you have possibly twenty five or
Speaker 1: thirty million dollar cast space. You can go in so
Speaker 1: many different directions, either retain these this current group or
Speaker 1: go out free agent shopping. So there is a and
Speaker 1: it's a good time to be uh, you know, a
Speaker 1: team in the market from a free agent perspective and
Speaker 1: being on a national stage in the playoffs, Uh, playing
Speaker 1: on ABC or ESPN or T and T is there's
Speaker 1: no better selling point from a recruiting tool than doing that.
Speaker 1: The identity for the Sixers, it seems like first and
Speaker 1: foremost is what they've been able to do with young talent. Um.
Speaker 1: There are a couple guys to who analyze on that list.
Speaker 1: You've mentioned Joel Embiid kind of a freak injury that
Speaker 1: he suffered colliding with mark El Faults in the game
Speaker 1: a few weeks back against the New York Knicks. Before
Speaker 1: that point, what were you making of what Embiid had
Speaker 1: shown over the course of this season. Well, I mean
Speaker 1: as dominant as as a center out there. Um. I
Speaker 1: think if if Demurcas Cousins hadn't got hurt, then we
Speaker 1: would probably be talking about Joel Embiid for first Team
Speaker 1: All NBA. I think Danthony Davis getting votes there will
Speaker 1: probably take that away from him. Even even with mbad Um.
Speaker 1: You know the game lands he put sixty games this year,
Speaker 1: not playing seven plus, I think we would be talking
Speaker 1: about about him and Cousins of healthy as all MBA.
Speaker 1: But one thing I'm marvel about Joel is really is
Speaker 1: his footwork. I mean, I've never seen a footwork for
Speaker 1: a big player that size, as fluid as he is.
Speaker 1: M can go out and stretch the floor, can play
Speaker 1: down low if you if you, if you want to.
Speaker 1: Is a great teammate. And guys when he's on the court,
Speaker 1: they they they thrive off of And you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's always been about health. I mean, and if Joel
Speaker 1: can stay healthy, you know, he's going to be in
Speaker 1: a lot of All Star Games and this team is
Speaker 1: gonna be in a lot of postseasons for the years
Speaker 1: to come. When you were with the Nets, do you
Speaker 1: remember what people were saying around the time when his
Speaker 1: name first surfaced on scouting radars, that sort of thing
Speaker 1: and what people felt at that period. Well, it's funny.
Speaker 1: I went out and saw him play at um at
Speaker 1: Ohio State they were playing. I went and saw a
Speaker 1: game Dayton and drove to do Columbus because I heard
Speaker 1: about this guy Joel and beat and I didn't know.
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, who is who is this guy?
Speaker 1: And I went out there and uh and uh and
Speaker 1: and saw him and um, you know, I mean that
Speaker 1: that was the you know, the kind of the tip
Speaker 1: of the iceberg. This this seventh seventh plus guy at
Speaker 1: Kansas here, Um, you know who exactly was he? And
Speaker 1: he kind of he kind of stormed onto onto the
Speaker 1: national scene and then you you go through the draft
Speaker 1: process and he you know, he breaks the foot there,
Speaker 1: um and you take a little bit of a risk
Speaker 1: taking him where they did, and then you know he's
Speaker 1: you know, he's out of the picture for you know,
Speaker 1: two years, and he kind of teases you last year
Speaker 1: and now he kind of explodes back onto the scene here.
Speaker 1: So um. But yeah, I mean where he is right
Speaker 1: now compared to where he was two years ago, I
Speaker 1: think it's a it's a great story. Are there certain
Speaker 1: players that you found over the course of your time
Speaker 1: in a front office? Um where scouts, personnel, people they
Speaker 1: just can see and they have a sense they kind
Speaker 1: of know immediately that that could be some type of
Speaker 1: special piece that's capable to be built around. Well, I
Speaker 1: mean I go back all the way back to UM
Speaker 1: to ninety six over ninety seven with Tim Duncan you
Speaker 1: know we had he I think we were picking seven there.
Speaker 1: We wound up going up to two and we made
Speaker 1: that trade was fimilating to Keith dan Horn. But I
Speaker 1: think at the time you knew that Tim, that that
Speaker 1: Tim Duncan was that special type of player that you
Speaker 1: were able to build around. I mean, I think that's
Speaker 1: kind of my you know, maybe not comping to start play,
Speaker 1: but that kind of that foundation piece, that kind of anchor.
Speaker 1: We've gone about ten minutes so far, Bobby, and we
Speaker 1: haven't even mentioned I don't think the name Ben Simmons yet,
Speaker 1: and it's been pretty ridiculous. During the back half of
Speaker 1: the big winning streak the Sixers were on, it's Simmons
Speaker 1: who really elevated his level of play. With Embied being
Speaker 1: on the sideline. Did you see this type of year
Speaker 1: coming from Simmons? No, I didn't. I didn't mean I
Speaker 1: mean where he is now. I mean I saw him
Speaker 1: at at LSU. I love them at LSU because I
Speaker 1: love players at our kind of positionalists that can play
Speaker 1: multiple different positions. You're not kind of pegged one thing, um,
Speaker 1: you know, you know out last year with the with
Speaker 1: the injury. Um, you know, we we thought he would
Speaker 1: be healthy. This year he has been. But to throw
Speaker 1: him out there with this team and be able to
Speaker 1: do things and really, I mean he's peaking at the
Speaker 1: right time. I mean he's really peaked post All Star
Speaker 1: break Rod, No, I did not. I did not think
Speaker 1: we would, you know, I think we would see Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons at this type of level right now, where you know,
Speaker 1: if you had some more time up in the season,
Speaker 1: you could probably make a cage for him getting some
Speaker 1: All Star All NBA votes. I mean, it's certainly where
Speaker 1: you want to put him. But yeah, it is a
Speaker 1: remarkable as far as what he's been able to do.
Speaker 1: He's not a guy that outwardly emotes much. He's very
Speaker 1: businesslike and serious, gets down to work. But to me,
Speaker 1: one of the most impressive things has been just how
Speaker 1: much poise he's played with and the fact that he
Speaker 1: has really from the start of the season until now
Speaker 1: at this late stage, has kind of acted like a
Speaker 1: guy who's been there before. Um, the intangible factor seems
Speaker 1: to have stood out in some ways as much as
Speaker 1: some of the skills he brings to the court. And
Speaker 1: that's why I don't think he'll have any problems when
Speaker 1: we get when we get going over the weekend with
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I know, the knock from talking with people,
Speaker 1: the national people saying well, these young kids has have
Speaker 1: not been there before. You know, and I remember being
Speaker 1: in New Jersey when we went to those Cup that
Speaker 1: first year in the finals, and then Das and Kid.
Speaker 1: We had a young team and those guys hadn't been
Speaker 1: there either, And I'm not I'm not worried about, you know,
Speaker 1: the bright lights when Ben Simmons played a game one
Speaker 1: on Saturday or Sunday here. I think I think he's
Speaker 1: cool and collective and that I don't think that will
Speaker 1: be an issue. I'll be surprised if it isn't it too.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting because it seemed like there were some
Speaker 1: people that took issue with his comments about the Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year remarks when he was asked on ESPN,
Speaker 1: well would you vote who? Would you vote for me?
Speaker 1: So I'd vote for myself one hundred percent. I mean
Speaker 1: that's I think that if you're around him, you get
Speaker 1: an understanding of what type of demeanor he has, and
Speaker 1: it's not really like boastful or overly cockey. There's just
Speaker 1: a very subtle, somewhat silent confidence that he carries himself with.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean I think you probably heard that
Speaker 1: from Lebron too, when they asked Lebron is who he
Speaker 1: would vote for for MVP, and he said himself, and
Speaker 1: I think any of us if you had that confidence
Speaker 1: about um, you can do it. And a certainly the
Speaker 1: you know, the right the right manner here. But I
Speaker 1: had no issue at all for him saying, you know
Speaker 1: who would he vote for? And um, you know he'll
Speaker 1: probably sartainly win the you know, Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1: I assume um and go on from there. It sounds
Speaker 1: like the seventy six ers are still in the midst
Speaker 1: of trying to figure out exactly how they might try
Speaker 1: to incorporate Marquel Folts into their playoff plans. But how
Speaker 1: far do you think it could take him? Just the
Speaker 1: fact that he was able to get back out on
Speaker 1: the court before the end of the regular season. I
Speaker 1: didn't think we'd say, Brian it all this year. I
Speaker 1: thought we would. I thought we would go into I
Speaker 1: think the big two biggest questions going into the summer
Speaker 1: would be mark El Folts and Kawhi Leonard. I thought
Speaker 1: those were going to be the things because we hadn't
Speaker 1: really seen much of both these guys during during the
Speaker 1: season here, so to be able to come back a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago and play you know somewhat of
Speaker 1: a roll down the stretch here now will be interesting
Speaker 1: as far as what happens when we get going, because
Speaker 1: you know that lineups start to get shrunk down a
Speaker 1: little bit, minutes start to get um you know, change
Speaker 1: changed up a little bit. You'd probably see that in
Speaker 1: Toronto with that team up there. Um. So it will
Speaker 1: be interesting as far as what role Mark help plays here,
Speaker 1: but playoffs aside, I think it's a lot. There's a
Speaker 1: good there's enough body of work over the last you know,
Speaker 1: I guess five or six games here to go into
Speaker 1: the summer and kind of build off that. For many
Speaker 1: clips that you've seen or highlights your games, do you
Speaker 1: feel like he's shown more than what he did in
Speaker 1: the first four games of the season. Well, I think
Speaker 1: there's a little bit more of a confidence level, I
Speaker 1: really do. I think that kind of I think when
Speaker 1: you play with confidence, the forty percent shooter, you know,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the shooting forty five to fifty.
Speaker 1: I think that's where you know he's a he's a
Speaker 1: big physical guard, I mean, and to kind of either
Speaker 1: post up or trying to get to the hoop. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's something maybe we saw in um, you know,
Speaker 1: early in the year, and I think that all that
Speaker 1: stems from just having a having a confidence PubL As
Speaker 1: we begin to wrap this up, have you heard any
Speaker 1: scuttle butt from contacts you might have around the rest
Speaker 1: of the league as far as how they view the
Speaker 1: Sixers going to the postseason, what level of threat, how
Speaker 1: seriously um they're being taken at this point. Well, if
Speaker 1: you talk to my counterparts at ESPN on some of
Speaker 1: these shows, I think they've got them penciled in going
Speaker 1: to the Eastern Conference Finals. So I think I want
Speaker 1: to I want to pump the brakes a little bit there.
Speaker 1: I think we'll take it round, take a round by round.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it will depend on seating.
Speaker 1: I expect them to win against Milwaukee and and get
Speaker 1: the three seeds, and who knows who they'll play. Maybe
Speaker 1: I will be uh, maybe it'll be Miami there um,
Speaker 1: and then go through there. But they have certainly if
Speaker 1: they do get the three seat, they're in a good
Speaker 1: draw with Boston as a as a decimated Boston team
Speaker 1: as a two seed. But I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 1: we see this team in the Eastern Conference Finals. I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I really wouldn't be or and I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 1: if they lose and you know, in the second round here,
Speaker 1: because there's so much there's so much unknown with this
Speaker 1: group because they haven't really been there before. This might
Speaker 1: be a strange question for the guy who works for
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers digital department to ask, But if
Speaker 1: you were inside an opposing front office, what are the
Speaker 1: types of conversations once seating and matchups are set? Can
Speaker 1: you kind of take us in there and the dialogue
Speaker 1: that takes place between a front office and a coaching
Speaker 1: staff about getting ready for a long playoff series, how
Speaker 1: you try to attack the opposition. Well, you know, it's funny.
Speaker 1: I was driving earlier and I was thinking that I
Speaker 1: do not see I'm not envy the person who is
Speaker 1: in charge of putting together the scouting books because you're
Speaker 1: heading into Tuesday and Wednesday and you have no idea
Speaker 1: who you're playing here, and now you've kind of basically
Speaker 1: you're studying for a test and you've got, you know,
Speaker 1: less than seventy two hours to do so with the game,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure there's an idea of who they're of
Speaker 1: who they're playing. But yeah, I mean, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of it has to do with they will put
Speaker 1: the plan together. Coach Brown will put a plan together
Speaker 1: as far as what the rotations will be, what the
Speaker 1: minutes will be, and I'm sure Brian Clangel and his
Speaker 1: group will kind of be in on it. You know.
Speaker 1: The one thing you're not you don't want to do
Speaker 1: is go into a game one and wonder why player
Speaker 1: X is not out there. So they'll be, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: though Brian's not coaching, they'll be they'll be working together
Speaker 1: as far as what this plan is going to be,
Speaker 1: as far as whoever they're going to play, if it's
Speaker 1: if it's Miami or Milwaukee or Washington. Now, the people
Speaker 1: around the Twitter sphere love seeing your inputs, insights, and
Speaker 1: information about all things financially related to the league, in
Speaker 1: teams and the Sixers. They're in a strange spot whereas
Speaker 1: this time the last couple of years, it's been all
Speaker 1: focusing on what lies ahead in June and July. But
Speaker 1: now there's this balance between games still going on and
Speaker 1: then the bigger offseason pictures like drafting, free agency. But
Speaker 1: just how well set up do you think the team
Speaker 1: is moving forward, financially, assets, all that stuff. When you
Speaker 1: put it together, well, I'm happy I'm not writing the
Speaker 1: Sixers offseason Focus right now. I think sixers standard. I
Speaker 1: think six years fans are happy that they're not going
Speaker 1: to see one at the end of the week. They
Speaker 1: may have to wait until midday or early June to
Speaker 1: see that, but yeah, I mean, I think they've got
Speaker 1: you know, they've got some decisions they need to make
Speaker 1: with with with JJ as far as what you do
Speaker 1: with him, do you go to run one year route
Speaker 1: and bring back guys on you know, one year contracts
Speaker 1: and then roll into twenty nineteen, mean, there would be
Speaker 1: some nice names out there. You know you're gonna have
Speaker 1: a good lottery pick, You'll have a good player there.
Speaker 1: Your window to for flexibility is still there because you
Speaker 1: know Ben is not up for an extension for I
Speaker 1: think another year, and Marquel down the road and Gario two,
Speaker 1: so you've got you've got a nice window to try
Speaker 1: to take advantage of you know, your young players, your
Speaker 1: cat flexibility, and to had some veterans. The off season
Speaker 1: Focus series just part of the cool stuff and content
Speaker 1: that Bobby Marx is putting out for ESPN. He is
Speaker 1: their front office insider. You can follow him at Bobby
Speaker 1: Marks forty two. Bobby, thanks so much man, Thanks Brian
Speaker 1: Bobby Marks. You can see, read, and hear all of
Speaker 1: his stuff on ESPN's various NBA platforms all the time.
Speaker 1: Once again, ESPN has got tonight's game between the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers and the Milwaukee Bucks. It's an eight o'clock startime
Speaker 1: all the Eastern and Central games starting at eight o'clock
Speaker 1: tonight to build up drama as far as how the
Speaker 1: seedings ultimately shake out. If you are trying to get
Speaker 1: in the building tonight for fan Appreciation Night. It is
Speaker 1: as always StubHub dot com for any tickets that are left.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a rewind edition of the podcast tomorrow
Speaker 1: and then for the rest of the week a bunch
Speaker 1: more episodes trying to help you get set ready and
Speaker 1: preview Round one of the playoffs. The Sixers can't wait
Speaker 1: hashtag fill your night. Talk to you soon. Thanks so
Speaker 1: much for listening to see