Philadelphia 76ers: Nikola Mirotic is a potential upgrade at power forward

The Philadelphia 76ers should contract the New Orleans Pelicans about a potential trade, and it doesn’t involve Anthony Davis.

Since the news broke Monday morning about Anthony Davis stating he would not resign with the New Orleans Pelicans, mayhem has ensued by way of Twitter and trade machines. The first blockbuster trade of the year occurred just yesterday with Kristaps Porzingis heading to the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks arming themselves with Dennis Smith Jr., expiring contracts, future first-round picks, and more importantly… cap space.

While the biggest domino hasn’t fallen and perhaps might not fall at all in Anthony Davis, other all-stars and former all-stars are being highly debated and sought after. The Washington Wizards have squashed Bradley Beal rumors, the Memphis Grizzlies have put Mike Conley and Marc Gasol on the trade block, and Jrue Holiday has seen his name strewn across news feeds about the potential of him joining any team that isn’t his current employer.

All of this said, the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t wait for the mayhem of the latest week to make a blockbuster trade. They kicked off trade season back in November when they turned Robert Covington, a first-team all-defensive player, and Dario Saric into the four-time all-star Jimmy Butler.

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Many writers have speculated that Philadelphia isn’t done. Across the country and our specific site there has been speculation of interest and packages in both Davis and Holiday.

The superstar and former all-star, however, shouldn’t be the only players of interest to contending teams. Julius Randle, E’Twaun Moore, and Elfrid Payton are just several interesting pieces that New Orleans could look to flip in exchange for future assets.

Elfrid Payton is playing the best basketball of his career and would serve as a defensive upgrade over T.J. McConnell. E’Twaun Moore is shooting better than 41 percent from deep on the season. Julius Randle quietly isn’t far from averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds while posting a career high Player Efficiency Rating (PER), but none of the previously mentioned fit one of Philadelphia’s biggest weaknesses as well as Nikola Mirotic.

Philadelphia should be thrilled at the prospect of potentially adding Mirotic. This season Philadelphia’s best lineup, minimum 50 minutes played, has been when Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler, Mike Muscala, and Joel Embiid have shared the floor. They have played to the tune of a +16 net rating, per NBA.com.

Mirotic doesn’t fill the void at backup center, he doesn’t squash the porous defense that’s plagued Philadelphia from their backup guards, and he is somewhat saddled to play the four. None of that trumps the value added by Mirotic’s ability to provide efficient floor-spacing and upgrade defensively at the four.

While Muscala and Wilson Chandler have played well at times, Mirotic would provide a clear upgrade. He is shooting nearly 37 percent from three-point range on over seven attempts per game and 54 percent from inside the arc.

He also provides a more all-around game. On the year, Mirotic is grabbing better than three more rebounds per 36 minutes than either Muscala or Chandler. In terms of defense, anyone who has watched Philadelphia play can see that Chandler would be better suited for a lesser role. Mirotic has outpaced him in Defensive Real-Plus-Minus (DRPM) by a measure of 1.08 versus .44.

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It doesn’t take advanced scouting or deep analytical statistics to see Mirotic’s value as a stretch four and upgrade over the current options Philadelphia has been deploying. Bringing in Mirotic would also better allow for Muscala to serve as a backup center in short spurts with the two spacing the floor for Simmons and Butler.

The question then turns to what ultimately gets a deal done for Mirotic and is it the best use of Philadelphia’s assets.

From a salary perspective, Mirotic and Chandler nearly match. A simple swap with the second round pick from Philadelphia via the Chicago Bulls may be enough to get a deal done. However, there might just be a fair market for Mirotic and his ability to spread the floor.

The Sacramento Kings pick appears to be heading to the Boston Celtics barring Sacramento “winning” the lottery. Therefore, Philadelphia’s first round pick is somewhat valuable in that trading it would mean they couldn’t trade their 2020 first rounder (in a potential deal next year) without acquiring an additional first.

Mirotic is a good player, but perhaps not worth a first rounder when it also hamstrings Philadelphia moving forward. An important aspect of most trades must be acting within the confines of winning now while not devaluing the future.

If a simple swap of Mirotic and Chandler plus the second from Chicago won’t suffice, Philadelphia could look to propose this:

For New Orleans, they get two second round picks, an expiring contract, and a young flier in exchange for Mirotic and free-agent to-be Elfrid Payton. As I mentioned earlier, Payton is playing the best basketball of his career, but New Orleans might struggle to find a market for an expiring backup point guard who has struggled to space the floor. Philadelphia could capitalize on the suppressed market and not only improve their floor spacing at the four, but also improve their defense at the backup point guard position.

After Philadelphia showed their potential against the Golden State Warriors last night, little improvements could be all Philadelphia needs to take the next step. That isn’t to say fans shouldn’t delve into the trade machines and play the fantasy game, but short of swinging for a homerun Philadelphia could still look to make these subtle moves to improve at the deadline.

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Mirotic, and possibly Payton, would certainly serve as a good start.