NBA Rumors: Taj Gibson On Market, Sixers Fit?
By Josh Wilson
Taj Gibson is reportedly on the market via the Chicago Bulls, according to recent NBA rumors. Could the Philadelphia 76ers use his veteran talent?
With just a few days to go before the NBA free agency period opens up, NBA rumors are beginning to pick up momentum, especially regarding big-name free agents such as Kevin Durant. There are some other NBA rumors, however, including players who are not free agents.
A few rumors are beginning to come out regarding trades, and players that teams are looking to trade. The Sixers, as they move forward into this new period of their franchise, will undoubtedly be looking to trade and sign, the question is just with who, and for what players?
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls could easily be on the move.
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"To add some further clouds to the Bulls frontcourt rotation, a league source said that the Bulls have been talking to several teams about the possibility of moving Taj Gibson. The power forward is in the final year of his contract, scheduled to make $8.9 million."
The Bulls are in an interesting period, just as the Sixers are, really taking on a new identity over this next season. They just traded away Derrick Rose, the former face of their franchise, and seem to be resting a lot on players like Jimmy Butler. But they obviously have questions about the core that is currently in place, already likely parting ways with Joakim Noah and now perhaps Gibson.
Does this make the Sixers a possible suitor? They need veterans, Bryan Colangelo has been very clear that he plans to seek experienced older players to help guide the multitude of Sixers young guys.
Gibson might be a stretch.
Gibson has one year left on his current deal, and is making $9 million at the moment, so he’s pretty cheap. The Sixers, who will have to overspend for most of their free agents, could be wise to trade around so that they get players with more fair deals.
Gibson additionally had a down year this past season. He went from averaging 10.3 points, 6.9 rebounds in 2015 to 8.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 2016.
Bringing in a player like Gibson also doesn’t help the current logjam in the frontcourt, as he does play power forward. That being said, if a trade happened here, it would likely involve Jahlil Okafor, I feel. The Bulls could use Okafor in the next chapter of their franchise, especially if they are losing Noah.
With a possible starting frontcourt of Okafor and Nikola Mirotic in Chicago, I think that works a lot better than Okafor and Nerlens Noel did in Philly. Mirotic takes more than half of his attempted shots from beyond the 3-point line, offering the spacing to Okafor that Noel couldn’t.
This deal is far from imminent, and this is all speculation based off of this rumor, but overall I think this is a bad deal to touch for Philly, but one that Chicago would be smart to pursue.