The quarantine has the NBA world on hold as everybody is inside in an effort to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus. That has caused everybody to get a little antsy and come up with some crazy NBA trades. The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that is an easy target in terms of trades due to the awkwardness of the roster and the notion that superstars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid don’t fit together.
That is no different here as Bleacher Report has come up with a bizarre trade that has the Sixers sending Simmons along with Josh Richardson and Mike Scott to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and a few other pieces to make it work.
B/R:
Boston Celtics receive: Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Mike Scott
Philadelphia 76ers receive: Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Romeo Langford, 2020 first-round pick (top-six protected, via MEM)
The Sixers don’t necessarily have a Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid problem, but they’re an awkward on-court pairing that requires the perfect kind of supporting cast. The current crop is imperfect at best, plus absurdly expensive. They’re spending nearly $125 million over the next two seasons on Al Horford and Tobias Harris alone, effectively locking them into a core that is far from dominant(11th in winning percentage, 12th in net rating).
Moving Horford or Harris might require a sweetener to pull off, and the best-case scenario is still only addition by subtraction. The only way for substantial change is by splitting Simmons and Embiid apart, and here Philly does so in dramatic fashion.
The pieces that general manager Elton Brand has put around the team’s cornerstones are not exactly what the team needs. They need shooters and guys who can space the floor effectively for them and that is why the Simmons and Embiid duo appear to not be working in 2019-20. The pairing succeeded so much in previous years due to shooters like JJ Redick and Robert Covington there to fill that need.
For reference, Brown is shooting 38.1% from deep and Hayward is at 39.2%. Those are the types of numbers Philadelphia would be putting around Embiid and focus on having him be the team’s lone superstar which isn’t the worst thing in the world due to his dominance in the low post.
B/R added:
The Sixers reset their wing rotation with Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown, who can wreak havoc in the open court but are also capable of playing at a more controlled pace. Their ability to downshift will let Embiid get comfortable, and their shooting threat—both cleared 38 percent from deep this season—will give him more room to operate, a scary thought when he’s already a 91st percentile post-up player while working in tight quarters.
In reality, the trade would make a lot of sense for Philadelphia as they would be able to get the necessary shooting to surround Embiid and just focus on appeasing one star instead of two. On the flip side, it’s hard to trade a guy like Simmons who is one of the elite players in the game. At that point, it is more about the preference of the two stars and their playing style.
Do you build around Embiid and his slow style of play or do you focus on Simmons and try and build a team that likes to run? Either way, it does not look like the team would make such a drastic move at this time, but hypothetical situations are always fun to entertain. [lawrence-related id=29750,29741,29734]