The Sixer Sense
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How Sixers can add LeBron, Kawhi and re-sign J.J. Redick

By Luke Swiatek

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 27: JJ Redick #17 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives to the basket against LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 27: JJ Redick #17 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives to the basket against LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Domino 3: Trade for Kawhi Leonard

Again, there’s a lot of really interesting content about why we should trade for Kawhi and how he would fit, etc. This is a long post already, and if you’re still here on slide four, you’ve probably heard it before and want me to cut to the chase.

Let’s talk cap. Even though the 76ers are under the cap, by $4 million, it doesn’t matter much; they can match Kawhi’s salary pretty easily, and the trade would work whether they were over or under the cap.

The easiest salaries to roughly match Kawhi’s salary are those of Markelle Fultz and Robert Covington, so they’re the first to go. To sweeten the deal, we throw in our big draft-day acquisitions: Zhaire Smith (who Brett Brown says reminds him of Kawhi), the Heat’s 2021 unprotected first-round pick, and Landry Shamet.

Let’s clarify two things here. First, I probably don’t make this trade without an assurance Kawhi will re-sign. It’s really ballsy to trade all of these assets for a one-year rental — even in the Paul George trade, the Thunder only gave up two players and no picks. It does look like OKC may be able to keep PG this offseason, but things don’t always work out so nicely.

Secondly, I probably don’t need to include Landry Shamet in this deal. It’s a haul even without him, and I have heard no reports that the Spurs are “enamored by” Shamet, or whatever other buzzwords Woj would probably use to say they like him.

But trading him simplifies the salary stuff, and more importantly, I also don’t like him and I wanted to pick Elie Okobo or for us to at least draft Robert Williams, just so our conference rivals didn’t get the perfect player for them. Probably not a good reason to include him in a trade, but that’s why I’m a writer and not the GM (yet).

Anyway, I think the Spurs would have like six too many guards if this trade happened (they already have too many honestly, even without including UFAs Tony Parker and Danny Green), so I’ll include a swap of Justin Anderson for Derrick White to balance things for them a bit.

The final trade:

Believe it or not, the Philadelphia 76ers would still have around $3.5 million in cap space after all this maneuvering. Let’s see how they use it.