The Philadelphia 76ers are currently in limbo as they wait to see what will be made of the 2019-20 season, but it is also worth looking ahead to the offseason a bit. The Sixers won’t have too much money to play with in the free agency market in 2020, but they could be active in the trade market.
The big issue for the Sixers is that they will most likely try and find a taker for their big contract players such as Tobias Harris and Al Horford in an effort to find better fits around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The big challenge for them is that not a lot of teams will take Harris and Horford straight up so they will need to attach an attractable asset with those big contracts.
So, we are going to take a look at the three biggest assets the Sixers could offer in a trade to move Harris and or Horford.
Josh Richardson
Richardson’s contract potentially expires in 2021–he has an $11.6 million player option for the 2021-22 season–and a team out there would likely be interested in a versatile shooting guard on an expiring deal. He is a guard who can handle the ball and run the pick-and-roll while also being able to play off the ball effectively and play some really solid defense on the other end.
It isn’t that Richardson has been bad in Philadelphia, but he is not what the team needs and that is a legitimate 3-point shooter. He is shooting 32.7% from deep with the Sixers which is down from his career shooting percentage of 36.2% from deep and he is just not JJ Redick, which no one expected him to be, but that’s more on the front office than Richardson himself. The team needs sharpshooters surrounding the two All-Stars.
Matisse Thybulle
Yes, Thybulle will be included in this. Mainly, because they don’t have any other real assets that will catch other team’s eyes to take either of the big contracts. He is on a rookie-scale deal and he is on his way to becoming one of the best perimeter defenders in the league if he is not already.
Thybulle is not very likely to be dealt. There is very little chance the Sixers move the impressive rookie, but they also have shown in the past that they are not afraid to pull a trigger and include a young and promising player–see Shamet, Landry. General manager Elton Brand would have to think twice about including him in any deal, but if it means the team is getting a sharpshooter or two, then he may have to pull the trigger.
Zhaire Smith/2020 first-round pick
The Sixers have a young and promising player down in the G League in the form of Smith, but the big question with him is has he proven enough with the Delaware Blue Coats to warrant any interest? He is still only 20-years old and he has a ton of athleticism so that is something that will draw some attention from teams and teams may like the challenge of developing him.
The 2020 first-round pick–22nd overall–may also interest teams as they look to get something of value in return. The 2020 NBA Draft is a bit of a mystery due to the current state of everything going on, but it is worth any team’s while to have another pick in the first round. The Sixers will most likely have to include one, or more, of these players plus the pick to try and move the big contracts off the books and improve the supporting cast. [lawrence-related id=30930,30914,30906]