With the Philadelphia 76ers big man log jam nearing a climax, it’s time to break out the fake trades. Let’s negotiate.
Noel to the Blazers
Why it happens:
The Blazers’ front office is clearly in “win-now” mode, which is only a good idea when you’re actually winning. Portland struggles mightily to defend the pick and roll. Synergy ranks them near the bottom in the league in points per posessions allowed. With a season-ending injury to Festus Ezeli and weak perimeter defense, the Blazers are in desperate need of a versatile defensive anchor. Despite an outlandish amount of spending this summer, Portland would be one Evan Turner trade away from being able to keep Nerlens long-term. A Noel, Damian Lillard, and C.J. McCollum nucleus is about as fun of a young core as you can find.
From the Sixers’ perspective, Allen Crabbe immediately becomes their best shooting guard prospect since Andre Iguodala. Crabbe’s 43 percent three point stroke, shrewd off-ball cutting, and improving perimeter defense would be a perfect fit to surround Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. See an example of the first two below: