The perfect Sixers trade?
The looming trade deadline has been a hot topic amongst Sixers fans for quite some time now. Some want the team to go all-in on an All-Star caliber player like Kyle Lowry or Zach LaVine, others want the team to focus more on filling out their overall depth and bench.
While there’s merit to each side of the debate when it comes to getting this current Philadelphia squad to the NBA Finals, a recent bit of information reported by Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer could end up throwing a wrench into Daryl Morey’s long-term plan.
According to Fischer, the New Orleans Pelicans haven’t reached extension agreements with both Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, due to the fact that the Pelicans want to better compliment Zion Williamson’s play style. While I would personally argue that both Ball and Hart do compliment a player like Zion, the simple reality is that trading for the pair of Pelicans guards would seriously improve the Sixers’ odds of winning the Eastern Conference.
In fact, I might go as far as to say acquiring the likes of Ball and Hart would be far more impactful than just landing one aging veteran like Lowry for example.
Starting first with Ball, he’s really developing into a fantastic NBA talent. The perception around him still seems to be relatively poor due to his Laker days, but he’s currently averaging 14.8 points per game and 5.2 assists per game while shooting a career-high 39.7% from three. For a Sixers team that desperately needs shooting and playmaking, Ball ticks off both boxes.
Lonzo is also a pretty excellent defender, someone who could easily takeover Danny Green‘s job of matching up with smaller guards on the perimeter.
Hart on the other hand would slide in quite nicely as a go-to scoring option off the Philly bench. The team’s reserve unit has been objectively bad all season long, and the addition of Hart and his 9.0 points per game would be a great first step in terms of fixing it.
When it comes to a potential trade package that the Sixers could offer, this is what I had in mind:
New Orleans gets two picks and the expiring contract of Danny Green (who they could later trade), while also acquiring Tyrese Maxey, who they were reportedly interested in during the NBA Draft process.
Philly gets two new pieces to throw around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, while retaining their trade exception for later down the road. A definitive “win-win” for everyone involved. All that’s left is for Daryl Morey to pick up the phone and staring blowing up New Orleans’ phone.
Photo by Keith Birmingham/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
