It is officially fake trade season as all of the trade proposals continue to come in for most teams and one team, in particular, the Philadelphia 76ers, gets a lot of attention when it comes to these scenarios.
The Sixers are a team that has an awkward roster and everybody wants to take a crack at trying to get the roster to work better around star duo Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The two guys that continue to get tossed around in these trade proposals the most are Al Horford and Tobias Harris as they are the ones with the highest contracts.
In a new trade scenario come up with by Bleacher Report, they have the Sixers moving Harris, an unproteccted 2022 first-round pick, and a 2020 second-round pick to the Chicago Bulls for Otto Porter Jr. The deal is more to help out Chicago than Philadelphia, but let’s entertain it, shall we?
B/R on the deal:
Yes, Tobias Harris’ contract is beyond cumbersome. He’s due $147 million over the next four seasons. But if the Bulls aren’t serious playoff threats in, say, the first two of those, maybe the exorbitant cost doesn’t matter quite as much. The 2022 pick coming from the Sixers has massive upside, as the looming possibility of a Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons breakup could result in a far less competitive Philly outfit in two years.
Chicago could insist on Mattise Thybulle’s involvement, but the 76ers are already surrendering a ton to get off Harris’ deal.
The Sixers would have to move those draft picks in order to make Harris’ contract just a bit more enticing. A Simmons-Embiid breakup is not coming any time soon as a lot of people seem to believe as the Sixers are committed to building around the two talented stars.
In terms of what Porter Jr. can bring to the table, he brings shooting which is what the Sixers need right now. He is a career 40.4% shooter from deep and he is a solid perimeter defender as well as he can be a true 3-and-D option. The bad part is he only played 14 games this past season due to injury and he only played 56 the season before.
Overall, this is a trade that probably would not happen because it does not make much sense for Philadelphia to really pull the trigger on it. Harris made strides as a defender this season and despite a rough playoff series, he is a consistent contributor for them and he averaged close to 20 points a game. He also is available on most nights and that is a big aspect for teams. [lawrence-related id=37797,37794,37787]