Five Fake Sixers Trades For The '22 Off-Season

The Sixers have some tough choices to make.

Mike O’Connor is the best O’Connor in basketball writing. Previously of The Athletic, you can find Mike on Twitter @MOConnor_NBA. Mike’s writing is brought to you by Body Bio, supplements based on science, focusing on your gut and brain health. Get 20% off E-Lyte and all Body Bio products with promo code RTRS20 at Body Bio’s website.

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Happy fake trade season, everyone. This year, we’ll have to get extra creative, given the Sixers’ obvious holes and their limited resources to fill them. There is no obvious trade chip to transform the team like there was last offseason with Ben Simmons. 

I feel the need to preface with the fact that me listing out the trade is not me saying I would necessarily do these deals if I were the Sixers. I’ll specify that in my commentary underneath. But me listing out each deal is simply me saying it’s something I think is possible. Let’s begin. 

Spurs get: Danny Green, Filip Petrusev, 2023 second round pick, 2024 second round pick

Sixers get: Josh Richardson

With Danny Green’s age and injury, trading his contract for a capable rotation player should be something the Sixers heavily consider this off-season. In bringing Richardson back to Philly, the Sixers get a sure-fire rotation player who figures to be able to contribute in the playoffs. He would add some of the much-needed toughness and perimeter defense that the Sixers lacked last season. 

During Richardson’s season in Philly, we all saw his glaring weaknesses up close and personal; he really can’t pass, his handle is loose, his jump shot comes and goes, and he’s not a great team defender. The hope this time around would be that on a team with far more perimeter shot creation, Richardson‘s weaknesses could be much more easily masked.

Still, it’s a bit of a dangerous bet given how disastrous his season in Dallas was two years ago, after they brought him in for the same reasons I am describing here. I would do this deal if nothing else were on the table, but I wouldn’t feel great about it.

Petrusev stinks, by the way.

Grizzlies get: Matisse Thybulle, Isaiah Joe, No. 23 overall pick

Sixers get: De’Anthony Melton, No. 47 overall pick

Between Melton, Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones, and Dillon Brooks, The grizzlies have a bit of a glut of backcourt players and a bit of a deficit of wings. With this deal, they not only get an interesting wing defender in Thybulle, but also get another swing at acquiring young talent late in the first round, which is something they’ve excelled at in recent years. 

From the Sixers perspective, Melton is a far better offensive player than Thybulle, and for my money, is a better off-ball defender. He would be an excellent third guard for this roster, and could help mask some of the defensive deficiencies of Tyrese Maxey and James Harden. Not for nothing, Melton is also an excellent rebounder for his position— 7.1 rebounds per 36 minutes— and can defend bigger bodies than you might think. Lastly, he’s signed to a reasonable contract for two more seasons. 

It may feel like selling low on Thybulle, but I would do this deal in a heartbeat. Melton, unlike Thybulle, has improved every year that he’s been in the league, and is the type of player who becomes more valuable in the playoffs. He is also two years younger than Matisse. 

In regards to Isaiah Joe, I’m mostly including him for salary filler purposes. While I’ve been a big Joe fan since his pre-draft days, I’m content with selling my stock on him given that we haven’t seen any real proof whatsoever that he can one day be a regular rotation player. 

Heat get: Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz, 2023 second round pick

Sixers get: Duncan Robinson

It seems to be the consensus that Duncan Robinson is now a negative trade asset, given his monster contract — 4 years, $74 million remaining. While I think that’s fair, I’m not ready to put him in the Davis Bertans category in terms of a player who cashed in on one good season and is now an unplayable albatross. 

The Heat obviously benched Robinson for most of the playoffs, but that felt to me more like a stylistic choice than a statement that Robinson simply cannot play. Remember, we are two years removed from Robinson starting for an entire playoff run for a team that came within two wins of an NBA championship. During that run, the Heat played against LeBron, Jayson Tatum, and Giannis, and at no point did it appear to anyone that Duncan Robinson was exploited to the point of being unplayable. 

Robinson‘s contract is a tough pill to swallow, and would certainly become a constant topic of discussion in Philadelphia. But for a team that’s hoping to contend, it’s worth overpaying for a player who fills an obvious need. Robinson’s off-ball movement would give the Sixers a much needed layer of unpredictability to their offense, something that they lacked after trading away Seth Curry at the deadline. If there’s one thing Joel Embiid loves, it’s having a shooter to work the dribble hand-off game with, and Robinson would certainly provide some of that. 

From the Heat’s perspective, this is a salary-shedding trade that would help open them up for future star acquisitions — it’s much easier for them to turn around and offload Green and Korkmaz than Robinson. They could also look at it as taking a flyer on Green as their Victor Oladipo-type rehab project this season, and could view Korkmaz as someone who could give them 70% of what Robinson gave for 30% of the price. 

Wizards get: Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris

Sixers get: Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

I’m well aware that any suggestion of trading Maxey will be met with riots, but I think that it at least warrants a discussion, and here’s why.

If we are all in agreement that last year‘s roster is in need of significant change in order to be a true contender, there is simply no avenue for doing that other than trading Maxey. As you’ve seen from the deals I’ve listed so far, there are moves around the edges to be made, but there is not a ton of opportunity for true transformation here. Acquiring one or two of Duncan Robinson, De’Anthony Melton, or Josh Richardson would help, but I’m not convinced it moves the needle for this team’s identity. Maxey is their only player with serious value in a trade, and if you can get a top-20 player for him, it’s worth a discussion. 

I’m well aware that Beal has been written off as a loser, but he would be an incredible fit next to Harden and Embiid. Unlike any other third star you could acquire, Beal gets a lot of his points from off-ball movement, and could make Harden and Embiid’s lives easier rather than simply being another player that needs the ball — if you trade Maxey for, say, Donovan Mitchell, you’re going to see a lot of standing around and ball watching rather than flying around off of pin-downs. 

Beal has been a total dud on defense these past few years, but he is at least more physically capable than Maxey, and is less likely to be targeted in the postseason. Not for nothing, you’re also getting KCP in this deal, who is a consummate role player and rock solid defender. 

I’m not going to go as far as to say I would do this deal — it’s extremely hard to justify trading a beloved 21 year old rising star for a 29 year old with an extensive injury history and zero significant playoff success. But I would say that I wouldn’t hate it, and I think it would raise their championship odds for next season. A starting five of Harden, Beal, KCP, Embiid, and perhaps Robinson would be incredibly hard to defend. If you can look beyond the emotional tie to Maxey, this is a deal you have to consider. 

Pistons get: Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Jaden Springer, No. 23 overall pick, rights to swap first round picks in 2026

Sixers get: Jerami Grant, Kelly Olynyk

With this deal, the Sixers accomplish two very important goals. They sure up their lack of physicality, defense, and rebounding on the wing with Grant, and also acquire a playable back up center in Olynyk.

After his excellent performance throughout the playoffs, I’m not nearly as hungry to get off of Tobias Harris‘ contract, but the improvement in defense and physicality has to come at the cost of something. While there are questions about just how willing Grant is to buy into a supporting cast role at this stage in his career, I do trust him to play hard and defend at a high level. It also wouldn’t hurt to have Grant provide some of the shot creation ability that he has tapped into in Detroit.

In the case of Olynyk, he provides the type of power forward–center fluidity that the likes of Ersan Ilyasova provided during his time here. He can share the floor with Embiid for stretches, but can also be relied upon to play heavy minutes at center. His ability to stretch the floor would be an enormous acquisition for James Harden.

In terms of the price here, I think that giving up Thybulle and Springer well as essentially two first round picks is a fair price to get off of Harris, acquire a borderline star in Grant, and get a quality role player in Olynyk. The Pistons would be getting an interesting young role player and additional draft capital to help add to their rebuild.