Nick Piccone
A lot of people don’t like listening to Charles Barkley. For me, Barkley’s either hit or miss. He either says something completely outrageous or says something boring that I wouldn’t think twice of it. But here’s something that I like. Charles Barkley discussing how he thinks the Sixers can win sooner rather than later.
Well, I’ve seen some highlights [of Ben Simmons]. I’m not gonna sit around and watch the Summer League. I think the kid has got a chance of being a great player. I think the people in Philly have to calm down a little bit. I think the most important thing they need to figure out is if Joel Embiid is going to be healthy … I like Okafor, I like Noel. But they’ve got to figure out if Embiid is going to be healthy. I like Ben Simmons. That team’s got a long way to go.
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I think you have to make a trade at some point. But you have to wait and see if Embiid is healthy. I mean, you cannot make any trades until you figure out if he can stay healthy for an entire year … I think if Embiid is healthy and Simmons is the real deal – they’re not gonna win any championships – I think they can get healthy in a hurry. I like that Saric kid, also. I’ve watched him play a few games. I think the Sixers are gonna get really good really quickly. It all depends on Embiid. They’re not going to win a championship in the next couple years, but I think they can really become a perennial playoff team in the next three years.
It wasn’t that long ago that Barkley was telling us Simmons wasn’t ready for the NBA because he didn’t carry LSU into the NCAA Tournament and he thought Simmons just went through the motions. Barkley also said he was concerned because he didn’t think Simmons liked to play basketball since he didn’t want to play for Australia in the Olympics. He didn’t even think Simmons was the best player in the draft this year.
He changed his tune a little bit when it was clear the Sixers were taking Simmons with the first overall pick in the draft. And, to be fair to Chuck, it sounds like him saying the Sixers could become a perennial playoff team rides on the hopes of a healthy Embiid. Now, from all accounts, Embiid is healthy and continues to work with trainers in rehabbing from his navicular bone injury that’s kept him out of competitive basketball for two years. And I’d have to agree at this point.
Ah, I can’t wait until basketball season starts.
Watch the video below for Barkley’s comments. Do you agree with him? Are the Sixers not that far away from being contenders?