Bryan Colangelo is in charge of the Philadelphia 76ers now, and he wants veterans. Here are a few trade targets he may look into this offseason.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, this upcoming offseason is one that will be for the history books. For better or for worse is yet to be determined, but the decisions that are to be made this offseason will surely make this offseason one to remember.
For starters, this is the first offseason in recent memory without Sam Hinkie running the team. Bryan Colangelo has stepped in after months of his father Jerry Colangelo seemingly lobbying for a job for him, and his skillset as a president of an NBA team after several years off is yet to be established.
Secondly, even before Hinkie left, this offseason was huge. Going into the fourth year of the rebuild, even the fans that were completely okay with all the losing — less than 50 wins over three seasons, if you don’t recall — felt that this upcoming season was one where we had to see some progress. A lot of us predicted this season was going to be one with 20 or 25 wins and we saw 10, just one better than a league all-time worst.
The draft — the Sixers have three first round selections — and free agency this offseason was slated to be a big deal before Hinkie left. And it still is.
But perhaps now with Colangelo at the helm, there’s going to be added emphasis on trades as well. Not that Hinkie was any stranger to them, but usually the focus of trades with Hinkie was to acquire draft picks and developing players.
For Bryan, the goal is clearly going to be more focused on getting players who can play this season. Colangelo is not ignoring the assets that Hinkie has handed over to him, he is simply thinking of how he can accentuate the postives of this team. By coupling young rookie and sophomore playes with solid veteran players who can also play, the Sixers could be set up to have a huge rebound season after their worst one in over 40 years.
Trades for veteran — or rather, established may be a better word — talent are something we could definitely see this offseason, as soon as draft night.
Next: Trade details
First, let’s discuss the details of trades that could occur. Under normal trade rules, most NBA teams are quite limited. The way many teams operate under the salary cap rules is that when a trade is conducted, typically the scales have to be equal on each side.
For instance, a team on one side can not acquire a player worth $10 million a year and give up a salary worth just $1 million.
This holds true for teams at the salary cap or teams exceeding it. Most teams are in one of these two scenarios because it is the most efficient way to build a winning team. It would be nearly impossible to build a competitive team while staying significantly under the salary cap.
For the Sixers, though, they are in a different scenario. Since the Sixers are significantly under the salary cap for next season, they do not have to give up an equivalent salary in return. This means that they can pretty much trade for any single player out there, since they are $70 million under the salary cap for next season.
Just because the Sixers don’t have to cover a similar salary does not mean that teams will just give up their players, though. So, what do the Sixers have to offer, given that they don’t have many players of significant worth to most NBA teams?
- Three first round draft picks this year — top overall, 24th, and 26th
- Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor (one of them is bound to move once Joel Embiid is deemed healthy enough to give one up)
- The rights to several overseas players
- Several future draft picks
For most trade scenarios that involve the Sixers receiving an even slightly impactful player in return, the Sixers are probably going to have to pick two of those above bullets at least to make it a reality. Many teams won’t give up their solid players without another solid player in return, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sixers trade Jah or Nerlens this offseason.
At the same time, I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them keep both until they know the true status of Joel Embiid.
I’m not a believer in the seemingly made-up report that Bryan Colangelo is looking to trade one of the Sixers’ two top five overall picks if they happen to get two, but I also wouldn’t be entirely surprised if it happened.
Next: Danilo Gallinari
Danilo Gallinari is an established player in the NBA. He’s had solid seasons with both the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, and used to be one of the league’s best sharpshooters. In the 2010 season, Danilo was second overall in the league in made 3-pointers, only Aaron Brooks beat him out.
Many look down on Gallinari because he never seems to luck out and land on a good team. I don’t think that makes him a bad player, though. In fact, Gallinari has been one of the most consistent players of the last several years in the NBA, and over his seven year career has rarely had an off-season.
Still, for what the Sixers would get out of Gallinari, he is a bit expensive. Gallinari’s current contract goes through 2018 and has him making $15 million a year. That would make him the top paid player on the Sixers, and he’s definitely not a player that’s going to be leading the team to clutch victories, so it seems like it could be wasted money.
Gallinari was ignored by many this past season because he had a season-ending injury that took him out of the final 30 games. He’s been in recovery mode for quite a while now, which means he should be solid and ready to go by the time the regular season rolls around, and likely ready even for training camp.
Still, in the games he did play in, he had a career high in usage percentage, and it paid off. He averaged 19.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. He was ninth overall in offensive rating in the entire NBA.
His true shooting percentage was 58.2, which is solid. Gallinari is a good shooter along the top of the 3-point arc, which can provide good spacing for the Sixers.
On top of that, he had an offensive rating of 120 and a defensive rating of 111, pointing to his fairly average defensive abilities. The team’s offensive rating as a whole was up with Danilo on the floor last season.
Had Gallinari not gotten injured, he would have had one of his best and most memorable seasons yet, and he would be a much more obvious candidate for the Sixers in a trade.
While I see reason to be cautious with Gallinari, I do think that he could offer the team some solid shooting and give them an offensive boost.
Next: Gordon Hayward
Gordon Hayward is a less obvious choice as well for the Sixers, and seems to be a bit of a mystery tucked away in the Utah Jazz. He has six years of experience, and is a former lottery pick, going with the ninth overall pick in his draft class.
Hayward, too, is a little expensive at $16 million next season, but I think he is more worth the money when compared to Galinari.
Hayward averaged 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from beyond the arc, and he boasted 55.9 percent true shooting percentage.
He had a lower offensive rating than Galinari at 110, but a better defensive rating at 105.
Overall, Hayward has the ability to make 3-pointers from seemingly anywhere on the floor, and he is pretty quick. Additionally, he can work his way inside to the hoop and finish strong.
Hayward seems like a more polished version of the Sixers’ Nik Stauskas, and I see benefit in having Sauce learn under Hayward for a little bit.
Next: Monta Ellis
Monta Ellis is a decent point guard option that the Sixers could look at in the trade market. With 11 years of experience under his belt, one would think that Ellis’s high-level playing days are over, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Ellis spent this past season with the Indiana Pacers, and had a down year. Still, a down year for Ellis is pretty good, given that he averaged 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.
The biggest plus to Ellis is that even though he’s been in the league for over a decade, he’s not rusty at all. Ellis started all but one game for the Pacers last season, which would be something incredibly out of the ordinary for the injury-plagued Sixers of last season.
Ellis is one of the older players in the league at the moment, and because of that, he knows his way around the league. He’s appeared on four different teams and been in countless different basketball scenarios. He’s got playoff experience, starting in 29 playoff games over the course of his career.
Ellis can play a lot, as he held the league record for minutes played per game in two separate seasons.
Monta won the league’s Most Improved Player award in 2007, and he never looked back, keeping his stats high from that season on out.
Ellis can play either position in the backcourt, since he’s a natural playmaker. He’s quick, and always looks for a good shot or an open teammate. His solid ball handling allows him to move all over the floor with the ball during possessions, confusing defenses and making lapses by the opposition more likely.
The Indiana Pacers may be open to this deal because they still have Ty Lawson and George Hill to run the point without Ellis. If the Sixers can offer the Pacers something attractice, they will definitely listen.
Next: J.J. Barea
Last up is J.J. Barea, who may be the best deal out there in a trade. Currently scheduled to make just $4 million next season, he could offer the Sixers a big boost and still not take up much cap space. This could allow the Sixers to grab a solid veteran in a trade, and still have a lot of money left to spend in free agency.
Barea fills the point guard “void” that is currently in high discussion among Sixers fans. It gives an obviously experienced point guard a shot to lead this Sixers team.
Although the thought of Barea seems to be an upgrade from past point guard Ish Smith, I’m not sure the two are all so different. He doesn’t score a whole lot (just 10.9 points per game last season) and actually moved the ball around a bit less (4.1 assists per game from Barea,7.0 assists per game from Ish Smith on the Sixers last year).
Another downside of Barea is that he doesn’t seem to be able to play more than around 30 minutes per game, averaging 22.5 minutes per game this season. He has never had a season where he played more than 26 minutes per game. If he could play more though, we could see more solid per game statistics. Per 36 minutes, Barea averaged 17.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game.
Barea’s shooting is solid, shooting 44.6 from the field, 38.5 percent from beyond the arc, and a 53.6 percent true shooting percentage.
Next: Should Sixers Revisit Okafor/Celtics Trade?
His shooting is fairly balanced, as he shoots pretty consistently from all areas of the floor.
Barea put Dirk Nowitski and Zaza Pachulia in positions to score this past season, and it makes me think he could definitely do the same for the multitude of Sixers big men.