Mail-It-In Mailbag: Harden and Embiid or Harden and Simmons?
Sixers Adam answering YOUR friggin’ questions.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
What a week it has been! Daryl Morey’s first offseason as President of Basketball Operations of the Sixers began with the sudden exit of Al Horford and arrival of Danny Green. Later came the pleasant surprise of Tyrese Maxey, who fell to #21 and into the Sixers’ lap after Mike Muscala and his cold-blooded killer instinct ensured the Sixers would have a first-round pick. Before capping off the night with Isaiah “The Promise” Joe and Paul Reed, Morey pulled out a surprise and flipped Josh Richardson for Seth Curry. In one night, the entire identity of the team had been turned on its head.
Following draft night, Morey was able to obtain a commitment from Dwight Howard, who showed last season that he was an elite backup center playing for the defending champion LA Lakers. The Sixers also brought back Ryan Broekhoff and added Derrick Walton, Jr., both on non-guaranteed minimum contracts that set them up to be part of a battle for a roster spot (dare I say… a silent tournament?).
All of that is a lot to digest, so there’s no better time for a mail-it-in mailbag. Here we go!
From Rémi Komornicki: What do you think about Morey’s “let’s wait and see what we’ve got before using our last bullets” strategy? Did you anticipate he would do this?
From Jacob Kravitz: “What players on other teams would be plausible deadline or buyout acquisitions? Thinking about the traded player exception, or aggregating Scott and Ferguson’s salaries once enough time has passed.”
Morey indicated in a recent interview that he is not rushing to use the team’s most valuable resources -- like their untouched $5.7 mid-level exception -- when they can prove to be more useful down the line. While I initially expected Morey to use every avenue he could to bulk up this roster, with the way the market has played out I don’t blame him for restraining.
The most likely scenario in which hanging onto the MLE would prove prudent is if the Sixers can use it to gain an advantage in the buyout market. They’d be able to offer players considerably more money to finish out the season in Philly. So, who are possible buyout candidates that could fit here? How I approach surveying the potential buyout market is identifying teams likely to be at the bottom of the standings and then finding their players who are on expiring contracts, good enough to be in someone’s rotation, and not good enough for the bad team to want to bring them back.
I think the Washington Wizards very well may be in for a tough year. If so, one would imagine Robin Lopez would be allowed to hit the market. Could our old friend Ish Smith be as well?
Oklahoma City has fully embraced the tank and should be more than willing to sell at the deadline and allow veterans to seek other opportunities if the front office can’t find a home for them. Darius Miller is a serviceable wing when healthy who could add depth. Don’t freak out, but Muscala is a perfectly reasonable candidate to help strengthen the team’s big-man versatility.
Nobody has a clue what Detroit is doing, other than that it makes absolutely no sense. When things inevitably hit the fan, will Trevor Ariza have been moved yet? If not, he could become available.
From Papa E: better pairing: James Harden and Ben Simmons or James Harden and Joel Embiid?
Ben and Harden would undoubtedly be both incredibly good and incredibly fun. However, Embiid is too good of a player to pass up for the sake of aesthetics. With Harden, the Sixers would have the best generator of offense in the entire NBA. They would then have not only the best scorer in the league on their team, but one of the best -- if not the best -- defensive players in the league. It’s a match made in heaven.
From Liam Sagherian: If you could finalize the roster with one more move be it a signing or trade, who and what would it look like?
To me, there are three clear needs when evaluating the roster: one more reliable ball-handler, a wing with size and strength, and a stretch five. So any move that turns Mike Scott or Terrance Ferguson into someone who fits one of those descriptions would be one that I’d advocate for. I believe Scott can be a useful stretch four for someone, but I’m not sure he makes much sense here at a $5M salary. Ferguson has failed to prove he has value in any way other than his easily-movable salary that allows the Sixers to absorb $5M in return for him in any trade.
If we’re getting more specific, Luke Kornet is someone who has always made a ton of sense to me. He leaves a lot to be desired as a defensive player, but his excellent shooting would do wonders for Simmons in Embiid-less lineups. A trade centered around Kornet and Ferguson is easily doable: Ferguson can go to Chicago in exchange for Kornet and a minimum salary Bulls player like Dan Gafford.
You asked for one move, but I’ll be generous and give you two. The Indiana Pacers are clawing their way towards the luxury tax line, and if history is any indication they will likely try to avoid it at all costs. With TJ Warren looking like a whole new player, Justin Holiday re-signing and Jeremy Lamb coming back from injury, the Pacers could be willing to move Doug McDermott in order to stay out of the tax. Scott and a second-round pick or two for McDermott improves the Sixers’ rotation quite a bit and gives Indiana the financial breathing room that ownership likely wants.
