J. Kyle Mann

And as you're saying, Justin, taking some of the air out of the balloon and just allowing it this season to be what it is, I do think is great for everybody involved.

I agree with what you're saying, Kyle, about the dramatic shift in the trajectory of their team since getting Luka does take time to acclimate to.

I think my expiration on that line of thinking is the end of this season.

So they had the chunk after getting Luka last year.

They have this full season.

to try to slowly turn this like cruise ship of an organization to suit Luca's needs and forced and foremost.

And we'll see what happens with LeBron in the summer, if he's still legal or not.

So like, I'm down to have this conversation now.

I'm fully aligned with you.

We just can't be doing this next year, like still making the same excuse next year.

So, so long as they do the stuff in the summer that they need to do, I think it's more than fair to give them some clearance on it now.

No, I don't think you're just going to scrounge one of those up as he demonstrates on a nightly basis.

But as we kind of tear out the East, I think whatever you determine the line is, like where that line is between the teams above this line are clearly contending and the teams below this line are just missing something really critical.

To me, the Sixers are below that line.

And that's where you would have loved to see even just some depth plays, even just some ways to round out their rotation.

To make it a little more manageable, yeah, to survive Paul George's suspension, as you said, Justin.

But also, when he comes back, to be able to benefit from him with just a smidge more frontcourt depth.

I don't think it really would have taken a lot.

And yet...

It's also hard to pinpoint that exact player.