The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand pulled off a big-time trade early early early Wednesday Morning. The 76ers made a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Mike Scott. The Clippers are receiving the young shooter Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, 2020 1st round pick, and 2021 unprotected Miami pick, 2021 and 2023 second round picks. Talk about a roster shakeup.
What are the 76ers getting?
Philadelphia is getting Harris who is putting up 20.9 PTS, 7.9 TRB, 2.7 assists as a 6 foot 9 forward. He’s shooting 49.6% from the field and knocking down 43.4% from downtown. This is a HUGE move for this team. An All-Star caliber player will take this team to the next level, and hopefully a top 2 seed in the east. Boban will be a nice fill in for Embiid when he needs a break, 6.9 pts, 4.3 boards and 60.7% from the field. Mike Scott is a scrapper who can give you decent minutes off the bench. He won’t jump off the stat sheet, but he will provide an elder presence on the team being in the league since 2012.
What are the 76ers losing?
Potential. That is what they are losing. Landry Shamet will be a fine player in the league, but right now he has a long way to go. Losing Muscala isn’t going to make anyone upset I can promise you that or bat an eye over Chandler leaving. The draft picks are all potential in my eyes. The Miami pick would be a solid pick, but the second rounders would most likely turn into nothing. The other first round pick would be late in the first round anyway.
Moving forward
It is NBA finals or nothing after this move. This is a top 3 starting lineup in the entire league after obtaining Harris. They now have two great shooters in the starting 5 which will help open up the floor for Simmons and Embiid to work the paint. There is no reason that this team shouldn’t be a top 2 seed in the east and get to the finals. I expect the defense to rise up and the offense to be even more dangerous. A bad loss at Toronto will not go unnoticed, but a tough Nuggets team is coming to town on Friday and Wells Fargo will be ROCKING.
Here they come!
Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
