The Sixers have had a terrific start to their season and currently sit on top of the eastern conference. However, there is always room for improvement. In this three-part series, I will explore a multitude of trades that range from quick fixes to deals that will bring you flashbacks of the teams’ star chasing days. For the first part of this series, we will be exploring three low-level trades that could mask some of the Sixers’ weaknesses. Here we go!
Sixers raid the Bulls
Philadelphia 76ers receive: Garrett Temple and Thaddeus Young
Chicago Bulls receive: Danny Green, Terrance Ferguson, and a 2021 1st round pick
The Sixers need more forward depth and Doc Rivers has made it known that he’d like more production from their backups. As of right now, Mike Scott is the teams’ only backup PF and has already missed multiple games due to injury. Bringing in a guy like Thaddeus Young would help take some stress off of Rivers’ shoulders when he’s making his rotations.
Young is averaging 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on a Bulls team that isn’t doing as well as they had hoped. He’s shooting a disappointing 23.5% from three but he is a career 33.2% three-point shooter and shot over 35% from behind the arc last season. Young would give the Sixers a versatile forward off the bench who is already familiar with the organization after spending his first seven seasons in Philadelphia.
Losing Danny Green would hurt as he has been a nice piece to slot in next to Embiid and Simmons, but Garrett Temple would certainly help make up for his absence. Temple is averaging 9.6 points per game while shooting a career-high 40.6% from three. Temple’s two-way style would fit seamlessly between Embiid and Simmons, just like Green did.
For the Bulls, it would do them well to ship out two veterans and get back a first-round pick. They’re 11th in the east and should pivot towards acquiring more assets instead of buying at the trade deadline in the hopes of making the playoffs.
Trade 2
Philadelpia 76ers receive: P.J. Tucker
Houston Rockets receive: Mike Scott, Furkan Korkmaz, and a 2021 1st round pick
To reiterate, the Sixers need more forward depth. P.J. Tucker would be like Flex Seal for them. He can function as a small-ball center and can play both forward positions. He’s averaging 5.9 points and 4.7 rebounds while also putting up nearly a steal and block per game for the Rockets. He’s also shooting a career-high 45% from three-point range. Adding Tucker to the Sixers would give Doc Rivers the ability to throw different looks at opponents based on matchups and he’d be able to provide Simmons more space as a backup center instead of Dwight Howard.
The Rockets are in rebuild mode after shipping James Harden to the Nets and P.J. Tucker has been on the chopping block for quite some time now. Furkan Korkmaz would give them a young shooter they can re-sign for cheap in the offseason if they like him and they could use the pick from the Sixers to draft another young talent to the team. The only obstacle to making this trade happen is Tilman Fertitta’s ego.
Trade 3
Philadelphia 76ers receive: Nemanja Bjelica
Sacramento Kings receive: Mike Scott, Terrance Ferguson and a 2021 2nd round pick via NYK
Again, the forward thing. Bjelica is having a very poor season for the Kings so far, averaging only 6.6 points per game on 23.8% shooting from downtown. However, he’s found himself on the outskirts of Luke Walton’s rotation and has seen a major reduction in minutes from last season, going from 27.9 minutes per game to 15.1. Bjelica could bounce back to the player he was last year with a change of scenery, where he put 11.5 points per game on 41.9% shooting from three. The former Sixers nemesis should be fairly cheap to get considering his bad performance this season.
The Kings have already explored trades for Bjelica according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. He has clearly fallen out of favor with Luke Walton and the Kings should ship him out sooner rather than later. Mike Scott would be a suitable replacement for Bjelica and Terrance Ferguson is a young wing who’d fit the Kings’ uptempo style. They’d also receive a second-round pick courtesy of the New York Knicks, which should fall somewhere in the early portion of the second round.
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
