Coatesvillain

Right now, this is a very huge year for the Philadelphia 76ers, not only is there a new coach, and a new direction as the team is looking to make it back to the postseason. There's also the very real shroud of the NHL lockout looming overhead. For those of you who aren't familiar with the situation, the 76ers and Flyers of the NHL are both owned by Comcast-Spectacor. The man in charge of both teams is Ed Snider, but for years his attention has been more towards the Flyers as he has ties with the franchise going back to it's glory years during the 70's.

If there's one player who is safe, this season, it's Allen Iverson. Snider despite not being a huge basketball fans, knows that Iverson sells, but Iverson and two consecutive seasons don't. So the Sixers have to not only reach the playoffs again, but they have to have a style of play that will draw fans to the arena that weren't coming in the past few seasons. It might not seem like much to those on the outside, but with the hockey lockout looking like more of a possibility everday, this is a lot of added pressure to the Sixers, even if they don't realize it yet.

If there's one person who does realize this pressure, it's Billy King. For all the negatives we've all had to say about Billy King, there's one thing that we all know, and that he's a very smart man. Maybe not the best team executive, but he's smart enough to realize a false move this season and his job is very much in jeopardy. Why else would he be attacking the pre-draft months so actively, when the last time we drafted this early he wasn't anywhere near this active, when he didn't have the same workload.

I might not be telling you anything,you don't know, but it needs to be said. If this team doesn't produce, we're bound to see a boatload of offseason changes headed into the 2005-06 season, and who knows who will be safe. This possible lockout, could also mean that Snider's pockets are a lot tighter than they would've been, which isn't surprising considering a rumored luxury tax after the season.

For these reasons, I think there might be some surprising names on the expansion list. Might even be some mainstays who won't see this upcoming season in a Sixers uni. Of course, this is all speculation, but it's all very real.

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Who cares about a championship drought?:
My teams will never win a championship anyway, so why don't you discuss everything else at my forum? Good idea, right? Yeah, I thought so. It's called.. Booing Santa Claus. See you there.