NBA Rumors: Should Philadelphia 76ers seek Mavs Wes Matthews?

The Philadelphia 76ers struggle to keep wings healthy. So as the team approaches the NBA Trade Deadline, should they seek Dallas Mavericks Wes Matthews?

The Philadelphia 76ers had a deep roster on the wings: J.J. Redick, Furkan Korkmaz, Jerryd Bayless, Markelle Fultz, Nik Stauskas, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Robert Covington, and Justin Anderson.  But Stauskas was traded, Fultz and Korkmaz have been out for nearly the entire season. Bayless and Redick are pulling up injured at a higher than expected rate. And so, the Philadelphia 76ers must rely upon the three-point shooting of Robert Covington, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Justin Anderson for the time being.

And so far, they have held their ground. In particular, Luwawu-Cabarrot is having a revival in 2018.  If Redick and Bayless get healthy, the team may be just fine through the second half of the season.

Hope for the best?

So far, that “hope for the best” has resulted in less than the best.  The team is currently 23-21, and is seventh in the NBA Eastern Conference. Only the top eight teams in each conference advance to post season.

While some look at the Philadelphia 76er as under achievers, this is a team which had won just 10 games two seasons prior and 28 games last season. And while injury played a major role in those unsuccessful seasons, this team is not immune to the injury bug whatsoever.  In fact, this is another season where the team is facing multiple player injuries to presumed starters/contributors.  All the while, this team has an open roster spot, but the team needs help now.

Pay now, or pay later

But is there ever too much of a good thing? One area of weakness for this Philadelphia 76ers roster is their inability to best the NBA average for three-point shooting. While the team is improving overall thanks to the vast improvement from TLC, the team currently sits as 17th in the league on three point acccuracy, but is 13th in the league in attempts. So the team has some options at this juncture:

They can do nothing and hope players get healthy in time for a solid playoff-run.

OR

They can rotate players through on 10-day contracts hoping they turn up a fit for a perimeter shooter

OR

They can deal at the trade deadline.

Steady as she goes… blows

The problem with a wait and see so far this season is the dilution of talent this team has available.  When the team traded out Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a 2019 second round pick for power forward Trevor Booker.  While Booker may be a solid pickup, he adds nothing to the team at the perimeter. In fact, his game, like that of Ben Simmons, is primarily in the paint.

In fact, in our review of the aggregate moves so far from the team’s front office, the trend so far is an exodus of NBA Draft picks with no greater show of talent as a result.   They are packaged as part of player swaps which masks the effect. But the team has traded for players, then traded those players out. And with each exchange, the net effect is that the team has fewer picks and fewer players.

Six pack of picks

Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers have a huge number of picks to consider.  You see, as of January 25, 2018, the team is sitting on projected picks 9, 17, 37, 42, 47 and 59.  As a matter of fact, six picks in the 2018 NBA Draft is more than the team can realistically handle.  And so, it seems to make sense for the team to consider some trade options for their first round pick.  And right now, we have a potential trade to consider:

How is his perimeter shooting?

Solid veteran perimeter shooter

Wes Matthews is a solid three-point shooting veteran, and he is on a contract which expires in 2019.   So you can see why it hasn’t taken long for this news to get reported.  And on top of that, Wes Matthews reminds me very much of a back court version of Richaun Holmes.  And I very much want that on the team.

But does it make sense for the Philadelphia 76ers? Well lets examine where the team is now. The 76ers have a significant number of injuries, are nearly on the NBA playoff bubble, have a ton of 2018 NBA Draft picks, and are using an open roster spot to audition 10-day contract players.  So I would argue that yes, this team needs veteran perimeter shooting.

Shallow Depth Chart

For now, the realistic depth for the 76ers is not deep at all. At small forward, the team has Robert Covington (.389) and Justin Anderson (.310). At shooting guard, the team has Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (.359), J.J. Redick (injured) (.405),  and Jerryd Bayless (injured) (.370). Each player’s three-point accuracy is listed. Right now, the team average is 36.3 percent for three-point shooting.  To get to the NBA’s top ten, the team must average better than 36.7 percent from three-point range.

Wesley Matthews average 38.9 percent from three-point range. And he has been shooting a consistant perimeter shot his entire career. But is he worth a first? Well that remains to be seen. The current situation for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft includes picks at 4 and 34. And if they are deliberately willing to part with Matthews, they are looking at getting stronger and younger.

Want youth? Talk to Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers can help any team seeking young players. That is due to the fact that the team has more than their share of draft picks for the foreseeable future.  So while the team is turning the corner on a core of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and the hoped-to-return-soon Markelle Fultz, the value of so many draft picks to the team is waning.

But that can work to the Philadelphia 76ers advantage. They now have “liquidity”, or the ability to transfer assets to another team easily.  The stumbling blocks are simply to find a willing trading partner who wants draft picks, has valuable veterans they are willing to trade, and who are willing to accept multiple picks in the same draft.  Dallas appears to fit all three criteria.

Trade for Matthews

So the Dallas Mavericks would like a first round draft pick (or it’s equivalent)? Let’s see how the Phiadelphia 76ers can get there via FanSided’s NBA Draft Trade Value Chart.  To get to a first round equivalent, the Philadelphia 76ers need to package their 37th pick and their 47th pick. That gives the combined package a draft value of 1.34, which is slightly better than the 28th pick in the draft. So now, let’s work out the salary dollars.

To make any trade work , the Mavericks must accept a player or player(s) whose combined salary impact this season is the equivalent of Matthews $17.8 Million for this year.  So now comes the fun part, pushing players from Philadelphia to Dallas which will prompt a littany of “that makes no sense”.

Dollars complicate NBA trades

While it may not make sense from a basketball court, it’s the hoops teams must jump through to get Matthews to Philadelphia.   So if the 76ers sent Amir Johnson and Jerryd Bayless to the Dallas Mavericks, then the Mavs will need to reciprocate with another player. To balance out the trade, let’s look at PF Maximillian Kleber.   So how does that trade look?

As a result, the Dallas Mavericks assume a powerful presence in the 2018 NBA Draft. And in the aftermath, the Philadelphia 76ers aim at the second half of the NBA season much deeper at the critical wing position.