The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that is currently dealing with more important matters at the moment after having to stay the night in Oklahoma City after their game with the Thunder on Sunday was postponed due to contact tracing.
However, there are still some matters to attend to on the floor.
The Sixers got off to a hot start at 7-1 thanks to the improved spacing to help Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid operate, but at the same time, the Sixers could use another star to battle some of the star-studded teams in the East.
They were chasing hard after James Harden, but he was ultimately moved to the Brooklyn Nets. Now, the Nets have Harden teaming up with their superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and Philadelphia will need more firepower to battle with that trio.
So, the Sixers should probably turn their attention to players such as Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls of Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal. As Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer breaks down, they are both losing teams at the moment and those two players will probably be available soon.
O’Connor:
The Sixers missed out on Harden. There’s no other way around it. Harden would have given them what they lack in a superstar perimeter shot-creator. But the price was undeniably high. League sources say the Rockets demanded Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, and three first-round picks from the Sixers in return for Harden. You can’t blame Morey for refusing to go all in when there’s long-term risk in adding a 31-year-old who has only two guaranteed seasons left on his deal. There also could be other options available eventually from losing teams, such as Washington’s Bradley Beal or Chicago’s Zach LaVine.
As mentioned before, the price for Harden was a bit too steep for president Daryl Morey’s liking. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the Sixers missed out on a big opportunity to acquire an elite takeover scorer in Harden. His fit next to Embiid would have been seamless offensively.
Options like LaVine or Beal could provide what the Sixers were looking for in Harden. Obviously, neither player is up to the stature of Harden, but LaVine is averaging 26.9 points and Beal is leading the league at 34.9 points while both are very good 3-point shooters. They also both have the ability to take a game over scoring-wise when the time calls for it.
On the flip side, it would most likely require Morey to part ways with Simmons in either deal which would be tough to do, as it was in the Harden deal. While Simmons’ numbers a bit down to begin the season, that can be attributed to working out the kinks with a new coach and a new roster while also dealing with teammates being out due to injuries and the health and safety protocols the league is dealing with right now. It would be another tough decision for Morey to make as the season continues.
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