Philadelphia 76ers: A hard pass on Brandon Ingram sign-and-trade

The Philadelphia 76ers should have no intention of pursuing Brandon Ingram this offseason.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world on hold. With the NBA timeline currently in deep freeze, a broad spectrum of rumors and hypotheticals have hit the internet. Naturally, some have involved the Philadelphia 76ers.

In a recent article detailing seven potential trades this summer, Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz took a particularly spicy stance on the Sixers — or more specifically, on the (hypothetical) future of Joel Embiid.

Swartz laid out a fairly simple one-for-one proposition: the Sixers trade Joel Embiid, the New Orleans Pelicans trade Brandon Ingram. It would involve a sign-and-trade — which means Ingram on a five-year max contract — while the Pelicans pair Embiid and Zion Williamson in a star-studded frontcourt.

Whew. Spicy.

This is not a “let’s bash Greg Swartz” piece — in fact, far from it. There is a considerable faction of the NBA universe that believes the Sixers will, at some point, consider an Embiid trade. Swartz even referenced an ESPN report from February, in which league executives believed the Sixers would rather trade Embiid over Ben Simmons in the event of a franchise shake-up.

There is a lot to unpack when discussing hypothetical Embiid trades. First and foremost, no. The Sixers should absolutely not trade Embiid. Injury history included, he’s one of the most valuable assets in basketball. He hasn’t peaked yet. He’s 26 with room for improvement, and even so, most would consider Embiid a top-10 (or at least top-15) player. The Sixers are lucky to have him.

In the event the Sixers do trade Embiid, however, I can at least fathom the hypothetical interest in Brandon Ingram. He’s only 22 and he already has his first All-Star appearance in the books. Ingram has his own health concerns, but on paper, he projects more favorably in the long-long term than Embiid.

So, sure, the Sixers, ever fearful of the foggy future of Embiid’s lower extremities, decide to ship the big man away for a 22-year-old rising star who fits more favorably next to Simmons. The Sixers would play faster, Simmons would be more fully in his element, and the Sixers need not worry about Embiid’s knees. Suuuuuuuure.

There is a logical train of thought there. If the Sixers are truly, genuinely concerned about Embiid’s health, Ingram isn’t the worst possible return. The issue, however, is Ingram simply doesn’t compare to Embiid as a player. Even as a better “fit,” the Sixers should be more worried about how the roster fits around Embiid — not how Embiid fits the roster around him.

Embiid is a top-10 player. Those are exceedingly rare. There are only 10 of them! Very rarely are future top-10 players introduced to the league. It’s not normal to get Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson in consecutive seasons, and if 2020 is any indicator, it’s certainly not a new trend.

The Sixers should treasure Embiid and his potential. He has bought into the city of Philadelphia unlike very few stars in his generation. He lifted Philly from the bottom and was the crown jewel of Sam Hinkie’s now-infamous rebuild. Embiid is a Philadelphia athlete through and through, and he happens to be one of the most gifted athletes on Planet Earth.

Ingram and Simmons would be a fun pairing. There’s still a lot of length and versatility in a Simmons-Milton-Ingram-Harris-Horford lineup, or something of that variety. The Sixers would still profile as “contenders” in the East. Not better contenders, however. The Sixers would be better served trying to sand the edges around Embiid and Simmons, as opposed to giving in to a manufactured narrative that neither can succeed next to the other.

All conventional statistics point to the Embiid-Simmons duo as a highly effective one — some would argue one of the best in basketball. It isn’t a perfect fit, but the Sixers haven’t exactly built the ideal roster. The front office has done a poor job building around Embiid and Simmons. The solution to a poorly constructed supporting cast is not to trade Embiid, as tempting as five years of Ingram — a former No. 2 pick, right behind Simmons — may be.

So, at its core, this is a simple argument. Embiid is a massively better player than Ingram. So much so, the young and decreased health risk of Ingram is not enough to look past Embiid’s singular impact on a basketball game. Embiid is both a one-man defensive scheme and a dynamic blend of old-school bully ball and new-age skillfulness. He’s too good. Period.

“But, Christopher, what if they trade Simmons for Ingram!?!”

…”no.”