Michelin Star Rankings – Sixers Trade Value
If there are two things I love, it’s Philly sports and Twitter. I may be biased but I don’t think there is anything quite like the online Sixers Community.
It’s like a family; we fight, we gossip, we love hard and we hate harder. Personally, I’m a Twitter nerd. I follow almost every Sixers twitter personality and I credit a lot of my opinions on the team to some of the accounts I follow.
Not that my Twitter account is anything special, but I’m pretty selective about who I follow. You really couldn’t catch me dead following Celtics or Knicks or Raptors Twitter accounts. I’m just not interested in their community, their banter and their opinions on the Sixers.
That being said, there’s one rival teams fan that is a must follow for any sports fan and his name is Mr. Bill Simmons. Yeah, he’s mainstream but anyone who knows anything about him knows he’s a die hard Boston sports fan. He’s one of the most talented people in the business, and he’s simply a pioneer in the blogging/ podcasting community.
The other day I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw a post from Bill Simmons, the creator of popular sports/pop culture website The Ringer, and it was his 2018-2019 Trade Value Rankings. It was a long read filled with information overload, but a helleuva read nonetheless.
ICYMI: I wrote a new NBA Trade Value column.https://t.co/FAr2OBR3as
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 20, 2018
What Simmons did was group the top 55 assets in the league, and rank them on their value. Another thing he did was incorporate a Michelin rating for each player he ranked. Personally I had no idea what the hell a Michelin rating was and unless you’re a foodie I don’t think you do either. Luckily for you, I’ll tell you.
The Michelin rating is a 3 star system used to rate restaurants.
- One star would mean a place is a solid restaurant. If you’re in town check the joint out, it’s pretty good.
- Two stars means you should go out of your way to eat there, it’s worth it.
- Three stars means you absolutely must check the place out, it’s worth a special journey.
An example of a 3 star restaurant would have to be the mega Wawa that just opened in Center City. I most definitely will be planning a trip just to visit the new mecca. Using the Michelin rating in terms of basketball is a cool way to reflect a player’s legacy. Three stars would be someone you tell your grand-kids about. In Simmons top 55 valued players, just six players earned a three star rating; Kawhi, Durant, LBJ, Steph, AD and Giannis. Simmons was not very generous with his ratings as more than half of the top 55 players earned zero or one stars.
Transitioning to the Sixers, just three players made the list, which I believe is definitely fair. Shockingly, Jimmy Butler was ranked the 53rd most valuable asset and was included in the “You realize he’s a free agent this summer” group along with Khris Middelton and Tobias Harris.
Another thing that Simmons did was include what he thought each players ceiling would be. Although Jimmy Butler will be a free agent this upcoming summer I think that’s an extremely low rating for the four time All Star. BS had Butler’s ceiling as a second team All NBA player but I think him being number 53 is a shot at him. You can’t tell me that in another world where the Sixers aren’t good, a contender wouldn’t want to trade for Butler, an already two time NBA third team member to help bolster their playoff hopes, even with an expiring contract.
It’s all hindsight because Butler will not be traded and I think his ranking is just a casualty of an awkward scenario where he is not a higher ranked asset because he simply won’t be traded.
Bill Simmons gave JB one star on the Michelin rating which in the grand scheme of NBA history I guess is appropriate however being a Sixers fan I would have to contend that rating as I went to the Sixers game the other night against the Knicks and one of the reasons I went was to see Jimmy Butler in a Sixers Uniform. I would say that was a special journey as I crossed state lines, New Jersey to Pennsylvania, so to me that would warrant three stars.
Ben Simmons and Embiid were ranked the 8th and 6th most valuable assets in the Association, respectfully. Ben and Joel were both given two stars and both of their ceilings were Most Valuable Player. Honestly I give a lot of credit to Bill Simmons for recognizing the brilliance of both players especially because he gave his beloved Jayson Tatum the 9th most valuable asset spot behind the Philly duo and pinned him with a one star on the Michelin rating with a First Team All NBA ceiling.
I spent a long time looking at Bill Simmons Trade Value rankings because I really was fascinated by it and I wanted to dig even more into it. I decided to take a listen to The Bill Simmons Podcast episode where he discussed his list in depth.
It was a great listen but something that Bill Simmons said raised some eyebrows in the Andrew Helfman camp. Bill said he wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Simmons were to be traded within the next year to a year and a half because he knows that the Sixers are Embiid’s team and he will eventually want to lead his own troops on his own team.
Bill Simmons, not to be confused with Ben Simmons than subsequently added that his take should not be the headline of Sixers fans blogs as It was just a honest possibility, so I kindly did him the favor of not making that the headline of this blog, but I thought that it was worth noting.
Your welcome, Bill. Yes, Ben Simmons knows that it is not his team however I don’t think that seems to bother him. He is a pass first player and he isn’t a bonafide scorer, yet. If he was the alpha dog that Bill Simmons made him out to be, than he would be committed to working on his jump shot and while I do think that in the future he will develop a jump shot, I think he’s comfortable in his current role.
There isn’t anyone I like talking Sixers basketball with more than with my dad and when I told him about Bill Simmons take; My dad added that that’s why Jimmy Butler likes playing here in Philly opposed to in Minnesota. While with the T-Wolves he couldn’t stand playing with Wiggins or KAT because they had the egos, they were the wanna be alpha dogs. That’s not Ben Simmons, I believe that Ben is a team player and puts away his ego for the good of the team, if he even has an ego at all. I guess we just have to wait and see how that plays out.
As mentioned throughout the course of this blog, I loved the idea of the NBA Trade Value rankings. And because Sixers Twitter is a never ending rumor mill I decided to create a 76ers 2018-2019 Trade Value Ranking. Let’s get into it.
2018-2019 Sixers Trade Value Rankings
Group G “Two Way guys who won’t get an opportunity to prove themselves”
16. Demetrius Jackson
Ceiling: Backup Point Guard
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
Group F “Hinkie would have flipped them for a future second rounder”
15. Amir Johnson
Ceiling: Backup Center
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
14. Shake Milton
Ceiling: End of the Rotation guy
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
Group E “Vets who could be flipped for picks or other vets”
13. Mike Muscala
Ceiling: NBA Starter
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
12. Wilson Chandler
Celling: NBA Starter
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
Group D “Could be prospects dealt for a starter”
11. Justin Patton
Ceiling: Backup Center
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
10. Jonah Bolden
Ceiling: NBA Starter
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
9. Furkan Korkmaz
Ceiling: Sixth Man
Michelin Rating: 0 stars
Group C “Core Players that would only be dealt, as an expiring contract down the line”
8. TJ McConnell
Ceiling: Starting Point Guard
Michelin Rating: 2 stars (Come on who doesn’t go to a game and not admire Tj’s hustle)
7. JJ Redick
Ceiling: All Star (If Kyle Korver can make an All Star at 34 why can’t JJ)
Michelin Rating: 2 stars
Group B “Highly Touted prospects that would in return have to result in getting a really good player back (Beal, Mccollum)”
6. Zhaire Smith
Ceiling: Second Team NBA All Defender, NBA Starter
Michelin Rating: 1 star
5. Markelle Fultz
Ceiling: All Star
Michelin Rating: 2 stars
4. Landry Shamet
Ceiling: Starting shooting guard and 3 point contest champion
Michelin Rating: 1 star
Group A “Untouchables”
3. Jimmy Butler
Ceiling: Second Team All NBA
Michelin Rating: 3 stars
2. Ben Simmons
Ceiling: MVP & Hall of Famer
Michelin Rating: 3 Stars
1. Joel Embiid
Ceiling: MVP & Hall of Famer
Michelin Rating: 3 stars
