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The 2020 offseason figures to be a busy one for the Philadelphia 76ers. They are a team that has a lot to figure out when it comes to their roster and that is why Daryl Morey has been brought in to run their basketball operations. He and general manager Elton Brand will be very busy in the coming months.
The team does not have much cap space to make a splashy move in free agency, so they will have to rely on the trade market. There have been questions about whether Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid can win together so who knows if the Sixers actually keep them together for the time being and then there is the Al Horford contract they’d love to get out of.
Bleacher Report has come up with a new trade suggesting that the Sixers send Simmons to the Chicago Bulls for Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and the number 4 pick in this 2020 NBA draft.
B/R on the deal:
Chances are Doc Rivers signed with the Philadelphia 76ers with an understanding that he’d get to take a crack at making the Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid pairing work. But who can say for sure?
Zach LaVine is mostly empty calories and has yet to defend consistently, while Lauri Markkanen’s stretch is enticing but hasn’t translated to winning play. Those two would give the Sixers a pair of deep-ball threats around a post-centric Embiid offense, so there are wins for both sides. The Sixers are facing a fat tax bill because of the bloated deals they gave Al Horford and Tobias Harris, but maybe that No. 4 pick could help grease the skids in a second trade to get Philly off one of them.
The Sixers will most likely keep both Simmons and Embiid, but let’s entertain this trade for a minute. LaVine averaged 25.5 points and he shot 38% from deep on 8.1 attempts for Chicago and Markkanen shot 34.4% in a down year for him from deep. He shot 36.2% as a rookie and 36.1% in his second season.
Those guys would be reliable shooters around Embiid for him to kick out to as that was a big issue in the playoffs as Philadelphia shot it miserably from deep. Also, that number 4 pick could definitely entice somebody to take the Horford or Tobias Harris deal. A trade for either of the stars right now is unlikely, but this is not the worst trade in the world. [lawrence-related id=38714,38703,38704]