The Philadelphia 76ers have to continue to retool the roster around Joel Embiid and James Harden as they begin to pick up the pieces following yet another Eastern Conference semifinals exit.
One issue that has to be fixed is their wing depth. Philadelphia will be missing Danny Green for a good portion, if not all of, the 2022-23 season after he tore his ACL and LCL in the Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat and they will have to replace him in some way, shape, or form.
At the moment, the Sixers have Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, and Isaiah Joe to count on. However, those three have yet to prove they can be valuable members on the court in playoff situations.
The Sixers expressed confidence in Thybulle who is one of the elite defenders in the NBA, but they could use an upgrade in that area. A mock trade from Bleacher Report has the Sixers sending Thybulle and the 2022 first-round pick (assuming the Brooklyn Nets defer until 2023) to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Lu Dort:
To make the best of it and hopefully contend more seriously in 2023, the Sixers need wing defenders who can shoot. Danny Green was the only trustworthy Sixer in that role against Miami, but he’ll almost certainly be out for all of next year after suffering a devastating knee injury in Game 6.
Shake Milton lacks the size for the gig, Georges Niang shot 16.0 percent from deep against the Heat, Matisse Thybulle became unplayable in the playoffs, and Furkan Korkmaz has hit only 31.9 percent of his threes across 30 career postseason games.
Let’s get bold, assume the Nets defer their rights to Philadelphia’s 2022 first-rounder until 2023 (an option they secured in the Harden trade) and hope the Oklahoma City Thunder think they can teach Thybulle how to shoot.
The idea is there. Dort is a much better fit for Philadelphia at the moment than Thybulle, but it would be surprising to see the Thunder take that trade. This is one where Oklahoma City would probably have to say no to Daryl Morey in this instance.
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This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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