The NBA was shaken up yet again after a late night “Woj Bomb” from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Reportedly, the Clippers have agreed to trade Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Wilson Chandler, Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala, the Sixers 2020 lottery protected 1st round pick, a 2021 unprotected 1st round pick via Miami, and 2 second round picks. That’s a lot to process (pun 100% intended). Let’s grade the move for the Sixers and see how it impacts the team moving forward.
Grade: B+ (for now)
The Sixers get the best player and piece in this deal. Tobias Harris is a borderline All-Star in the midst of a career season at only 26 years old. He’s averaging 20.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 42% from deep. Harris provides the Sixers with a fourth All-Star caliber player and arguably gives them the best starting lineup in the East.
Harris is a picture-perfect fit alongside Simmons, Embiid, and Butler with his ability to stretch the floor at an elite level. He adds a dimension to their offense that they simply didn’t have before with Wilson Chandler or Dario Saric in the lineup.
Along with Harris, Mike Scott and Boban Marjanovic were also shipped to Philadelphia. Boban, better known by most as Bobi, will be an upgrade over Amir Johnson and Mike Muscala to backup Joel Embiid. He’s averaging 6.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in nearly 11 minutes per game. Mike Scott will give the Sixers a serviceable stretch four that they can bring off the bench in short spurts.
While the haul for the Sixers was impressive, they had to give up quite a bit. Landry Shamet has been a very nice surprise for the team. After being selected 26th overall in last year’s draft, Shamet has put up 8.4 points in 20 minutes per game while shooting 44% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. He was a big part of the Sixers bench unit and the team will now have to find an offensive spark from somewhere else on their second unit.
The Sixers also lost a total of four draft picks. They lost their own 2020 first rounder, which is lottery protected for 3 years and then becomes 2-second rounders if it doesn’t convey by 2022. That’s not too big of a deal considering the Sixers will probably be competing for a championship for the next 2-4 years. However, that unprotected 2021 first rounders from Miami is another story.
Miami is currently a fringe playoff team with a lot of bad or heavy contracts on the books for a few years. In 2021, they could potentially be out of the playoffs and in the lottery picture. That could be a very valuable pick, which begs the question: did the Sixers give up too much?
Yes, four draft picks and a young promising rookie is a lot to give up for someone who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. If Tobias Harris can help take this team to the Finals this season and resign with them, the Sixers would make this deal 10 out of 10 times with no regrets.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
