Five Fake Sixers Trades
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Trade season is officially here. The deadline is just six weeks away, and we’re starting to get rumors and leaks on a daily basis of which players should be available and which teams figure to be interested. Here in this piece, I’ll break down five fake Sixers trade ideas for when the deadline comes around. Let’s begin.
The Tobias Harris-OG Anunoby swap
There have been multiple reports over the past couple weeks that the Pistons, for some reason, are interested in Tobias Harris. In this trade, each team gets something they want – Detroit gets Harris for salary filler and two seconds, the Sixers get Anunoby and backup guard help in Monte Morris, and the Raptors get an expiring Joe Harris, two firsts, and three seconds for Anunoby.
I’ve made the case for Anunoby multiple times before, but he is simply a massive upgrade over Tobias Harris. He’s one of the 10 best defensive players in the sport, takes three pointers at twice the rate that Harris does, and is capable of punishing mismatches on smaller guards with duck-ins near the basket. Acquiring him – plus Monte Morris, who cures whatever woes the Sixers have in terms of their lack of point guard depth – for essentially the draft haul they got in the Harden trade is a very reasonable price.
From here, the Sixers would hope to build an identity that revolves around defense – having a starting lineup that includes Melton, Batum, Anunoby, and Embiid is practically an automatic top-5 defense. Last year, their hope of beating teams like Boston rested on their ability to simply outscore them in the half court, whereas this year, the hope would be that they could grind Boston down on defense and force them into the same types of mistakes (turnover woes and and an inability to generate high-quality paint looks) that have led to their downfall in years past.
Taking a bet on Zach LaVine
Whereas an Anunboy trade would be a bet on a defense-first identity, a LaVine trade would be a bet on being an unstoppable half-court offense while maintaining some level of competence on defense.
I have lots of concerns about LaVine, but I do think there’s a world where Nick Nurse is able to get him to buy into an offensive role based around off-ball movement and dribble hand-offs with Embiid, similar to how Maxey has adjusted his game this season. He is an elite shooter who attempts 3s at a high clip, and there is definite untapped potential as an off-screen threat.
The case for making this type of trade is that he is simply a way, way better offensive player than Tobias Harris. Swapping the two would be a massive upgrade on offense and a minor downgrade on defense.
In this deal, I also have the Sixers getting Alex Caruso. Most reports seem to indicate that he will net two first round picks; I count Jaden Springer as being worth .5 first round picks. Combine that with the fact that I believe LaVine to have less value than Harris, and I think this return is fair for Caruso. The Bulls use Caruso to shed LaVine’s contract while also getting a high-quality first round draft pick and an interesting young player.
I’m envisioning that the starting lineup after this trade would be Maxey-LaVine-Caruso-Batum-Embiid. Caruso is capable of defending big wings, and I feel better about starting him with this lineup compared to any of Melton, Oubre, or Covington. Caruso is an elite off-ball defender, and the trio of him, Batum, and Embiid could clean up many of the mistakes left by Maxey and LaVine.
I’m not convinced I’d do this deal – I prefer the Anunoby trade – but it’s one I’d have to think long and hard about. Whatever concerns I have about LaVine from a fit or contract perspective, the fact remains that he and Caruso are simply way better players than anyone the Sixers are giving up in this trade. It is a considerable talent upgrade.
A Seth Curry homecoming
This deal is more of a fun, on-the-margins trade that doesn’t figure to have a major impact on the outcome of the season. Curry has been getting lots of DNP-CDs in Dallas due to all their backcourt depth, plus the fact that he has regressed considerably from a few years ago.
Nonetheless, I still believe he could be a helpful regular season innings eater at backup guard. In games where the offense feels stagnant or the Sixers simply need some shooting, Curry could absolutely still be helpful. I’m not expecting him to play a single meaningful playoff minute.
Given the fact that Curry is hardly playing, I’d imagine that Dallas would be happy to swap him for Danuel House, who is playable but will never see a meaningful playoff minute on this team with all the depth they have at that position. The Mavericks are thin on wings and could use another body to bolster that part of their rotation.
More backup guard help
Delon Wright just recently returned from injury, so it remains to be seen just how valuable he is at the current moment. But last season, he was a rock solid bench piece for Washington. He’s a very good defensive player who could run the offense for the second unit while Maxey is on the bench. He can also play either guard spot, so he would not prohibit Patrick Beverley from remaining in the rotation.
Adding him – plus bringing the legend Mike Muscala home – for a pair of second round picks is a reasonable price.
A middle-ground type trade
Dorian Finney-Smith is a starting-caliber wing who would be a meaningful upgrade over the Marcus Morris / Danuel House / Robert Covington portion of the rotation. Perhaps more importantly, he is signed to a very reasonable contract that runs at least through next year, with a player option for the following year.
It’s also important to mention that the Sixers could carry Finney-Smith’s contract on the books while still having max cap space next off-season. Of course, the Sixers don’t have unlimited money, and having him would likely prohibit the Sixers from later re-singing one or more of Oubre, Batum, Covington, and Melton, but it’s important to mention that from a cap maneuvering perspective, the DFS addition would not prohibit them from doing anything in particular.
Personally, I’d prefer to save all of my ammunition to go big game hunting, but I wouldn’t hate this type of trade; getting a good player for a reasonable price is never a terrible idea.