The Philadelphia 76ers could stand to use some more depth on the perimeter and there’s several shooting guards that could help them.
After initially covering three potential trade targets at point guard, it’s time to consider three targets at the shooting guard position. The shooting guard depth chart is the youngest of any on the Philadelphia 76ers, but despite it’s youth, it’s not bad.
When healthy, Josh Richardson is a solid two-way wing that has skills as a shot creator and playmaker. He’s solid from the 3-point line, but isn’t close to what the Sixers had in J.J. Redick the past two seasons.
Matisse Thybulle is the primary reserve at the position. Thybulle’s a defensive ace, who’s still devleoping consistency as a 3-point shooter as a rookie. Whenever he becomes more of a threat scoring consistently, he will make the Sixers bench scary.
Shake Milton had a solid start to the season before getting injured. He hadn’t had a chance for consistent minutes since, but with Richardson’s injury, he’s been inserted into the starting five. He has solid playmaking skills, defense and is a threat from downtown. Yet, he’s still rough around the edges and needs to develop more.
Zhaire Smith and Marial Shayok are at the end of the shooting guard depth chart. Smith is raw talent that needs a lot of time to develop. Shayok has shown potential in the G-League, but is buried on the depth chart.
Last season, when I wrote about potential trade targets for the off guard position, the shooting guard depth chart was thin, but this year the Sixers have more than enough depth, but lack a high volume 3-point shooter. With that in mind, here are several potential targets for Philly.
E’Twaun Moore
With the NBA Trade deadline coming up, there will always be rumors and players connected to teams. The Philadelphia 76ers are no exception to this. One player they have been connected to is E’Twaun Moore of the New Orleans Pelicans, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.
Moore is easily the veteran on this list of shooting guard. In nine seasons, he’s averaged 8.2 points on 39.2 percent shooting from downtown. Moore is a below average defender, but he can hit 3-pointers and can go off scoring on occasion.
This season Moore is averaging 9.9 points, while converting 39.5 percent of his 3.7 (tied career high) 3-point attempts. Moore isn’t necessarily a high volume 3-point shooter, but he’s a solid floor spacer who can have big scoring nights.
The Pelicans are currently trying to get in the playoffs, but they are also a rebuilding team, so getting Moore may not be that difficult. Below is a hypothetical trade to acquire the veteran off guard.
The Pelicans get a young prospect in Jonah Bolden and get a stretch big in Mike Scott, both are players that fill the need of power forward for New Orleans. Getting a future second rounder via Miami Heat isn’t bad compensation either.
Moore should help the bench 3-point shooting and scoring, but if the Pelicans want more than the proposed trade above, Philly shouldn’t be interested. Moore is a nice rotational player, but isn’t worth more than what was in the hypothetical deal.
Malik Beasley
Like Moore, Malik Beasley has also been connected to trade rumors, per O’Connor. However unlike Moore, Beasely is a young prospect about to enter restricted free agency this summer. At 23-years-old the shooting guard has the potential to be a part of the Philadelphia 76ers future if the franchise decides to trade for him.
There’s no denying that the Denver Nuggets did a great job developing Beasley. He had a career year last season when he averaged 11.3 points on 40.2 percent shooting from deep. However, he’s having a down year as he’s averaging 7.6 points on 36.4 percent shooting from downtown.
Part of the reason for his down season is due to the increased depth of the Nuggets roster. Despite the decreased role, Beasley has a track record of being a reliable role player.
The fact of the matter is, Beasley has a lesser role this season and is entering restricted free agency this summer. The Nuggets may not want to pay what’s he worth on the free agency market. If not, they may look to trade him and if they do want to, below is a hypothetical deal that should help the Sixers land him.
The Nuggets get add another true point guard on their roster in Raul Neto. Right now, they only have Monte Morris, as Jamal Murray is more-or-less a shooting guard in the starting point guard role. Adding more depth to their point guard to their rotation should be a goal for them. They also get their 2021 second round pick back which should be intriguing for them as well.
The Sixers may need to add another young prospect in this proposed deal to make Denver pull the trigger, possible Milton. Beasley would worth it as he’s proven to be a solid two-way player when given a big enough role.
Bogdan Bogdanovic
Without a doubt, Bogdan Bogdanovic is the biggest name in this article. The reason why’s he’s being included is because according to Jon Johnson of KYW New radio, Bogdanovic is one of the players that Philly interested in.
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It’s no surprise that the Sixers are interested in the European shooting guard. Like Beasley, he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, he has a much higher ceiling as a player than the Nuggets shooting guard.
Bogdanovic his a scoring playmaker at his position. Despite coming off the bench the majority of games this season, he’s still averaging 14.3 points and 3.4 assists, while making 36.9 percent of his 3-pointers for the Sacramento Kings.
If the 76ers were able to acquire him in a trade, he’d increase their chance of winning a championship. The question is, can they pull off a trade. As imagined, getting a player of his caliber won’t be easy for Philly. However, below might be one potential deal that the Sixers could propose to the Kings to get their impressive sixth man.
This hypothetical trade is pretty big, but it makes sense for both sides. For the Kings, they get to ship out an unhappy Dewayne Dedmon and his three-year deal. They also get a player in Al Horford, who they coveted in free agency. Scott is a downgrade from Nemanja Bjelica, but it should be worth to get Horford and Scott’s contract is cheaper. Getting a young prospect in Smith is a sweetener at this point.
For the Sixers, moving on from Horford is probably for the best. He’s just not fitting with Embiid and his contract is worth too much to have him as a reserve. Dedmon is a little expensive as a backup, but the price is more tolerable. On top of that, when given a consistent role, Dedmon is more than a capbable backup or fill in starter, which is what Philly needs behind Joel Embiid.
It’s somewhat awkward getting Bjelica in this trade considering he spurned the 76ers in free agency two summers ago, but he would be a huge upgrade on the bench. Also with trading away Horford means it opens up a starting spot. It could either go Bogdanovic or a current player like Furkan Korkmaz or Thybulle.
This is a big trade the Sixers could do if they decide they don’t like the current starting five heading into the playoffs.
Shooting guard isn’t the biggest need for the Philadelphia 76ers, but adding more shooting and/or playmaking at the position would certianly help them in a postseason run.