On the night of the draft on November 18, the Philadelphia 76ers made some big trades in order to put themselves in a better position moving forward. The team had an awkward roster in the 2019-20 season and the trades they made helped with the spacing.
The first move was trading big man Al Horford who the team had signed to a 4-year $109 million deal in the offseason. The fit was terrible next to Joel Embiid and it appeared that the team was stuck with him for the next three years before they sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson.
A couple of anonymous NBA scouts sat with Mo Dakhil of Bleacher Report and they praised the team for making the moves that they did.
The scouts told Dakhil of the Horford trade:
Anonymous scout No. 1 said of the Horford trade: “I thought it was a good first move, and not because they added Danny Green or Ferguson, but because they got rid of Al Horford. That contract was an albatross around their necks for three more years, so I think getting rid of all that money was a good move.”
Anonymous scout No. 2 agreed, saying: “I thought that was an unbelievable deal that he was able to get off that contract. … It’s not really sustainable to have a guy making $27.5 million coming off the bench.”
Scout No. 1 said of Green: “Now, can Danny Green still make a standstill three? Yes. Is he the defender he once was? No, and he can’t dribble. He can still hit a standstill three and has all that playoff experience, so that is a positive.”
Then the Sixers moved Josh Richardson to the Dallas Mavericks to acquire Seth Curry to help fix their shooting issues. He shot 45.2% from deep with Dallas and that should help Ben Simmons and Embiid operate on offense.
The scouts added on that deal:
Scout No. 1 said: “In normal situations, I don’t think they make that trade because Josh Richardson is an excellent basketball player. But they need shooting, and they have to get shooting around those two guys [Embiid and Simmons].
Scout No. 2 echoed those sentiments, saying, “I think on the Philly side you are trading the more talented player for a better fit.”
There is no doubt that the moves make Philadelphia a better basketball team on paper. Now, it is up to coach Doc Rivers and the rest of the team to be able to put it all together and get ready for the season which is set to begin on December 22. [lawrence-related id=39417,39409,39406]