Stephen A. Smith: Sixers Need To Convince Dwight Howard To Come To Philly
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Nets, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks, and maybe the Chicago Bulls (if it's meant to be). Those are the teams that the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard is rumored to have on his "list" of teams he'd like to be traded to. Stephen A. Smith thinks that the Sixers need to find a way to get themselves on that list.
Smith, formerly of the Philadelphia Inquirer, joined 94 WIP's Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team on Thursday to give a mid-season review of the Sixers, who after a hot start have lost five games in a row. "These bumps and bruises are going to come with the territory, simply because it's a relatively young team, particularly at key positions," Smith said. "The Sixers will be just fine. They'll go to the playoffs. They'll have a shot at winning a first round series, not much else beyond that. They're one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, that is not a fluke."
One of the things the Sixers are missing is a dependable option on offense at the end of games, Smith said this is one of the reasons the team struggles. "The Sixers are who we thought they were. They're a talented team. They're exceptionally well coached," he said. "But you don't have a closer, and when you don't have a closer, you're going to struggle from time to time."
Listen to the entire interview with Stephen A. Smith:
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Most people can agree on what the Sixers have accomplished so far, but there are different opinions on how they can get to the next level. "What you really, really need is something like Dwight Howard. He needs to put the Sixers on the list of teams he wants to go to. So what the city needs to do, and what the organization needs to do, is to go out there and remind everybody that Philly is a big time sports town. And this is some place a star should want to consider coming to. Because they haven't put Philly on the list of their desired destinations." Easier said than done, of course.
One of the players Dwight Howard is rumored to be interested in playing with, is Andre Iguodala, who has been criticized for his lack of offensive production. "You cannot measure Andre Iguodala by just what he does on the offensive side of the floor. He takes the toughest defensive assignment, every single night. And he does a pretty damn good job."
