Sixers: One potential trade with each Southeast Division team

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Nicolas Batum (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

One potential trade with each Southeast Division team: Charlotte Hornets

Figuring out an original trade between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets was tricky. In the past, I graded a trade between the two clubs by Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report and honestly, it would be my preferred trade versus the one below. That being said, the one below isn’t a bad deal for the Sixers either.

This hypothetical deal only works if Nicolas Batum decides to exercise his player option for this upcoming season, it would be surprising if he weren’t considering the money available to him. With that in mind, this trade is more of a salary dumping move for the 76ers.

Batum would be in the last year of his deal worth $27.1 million, so after that Philly would get much-needed tax relief, which would be good for ownership. That only makes this potential deal interesting for the Sixers.

The Hornets get former All-Star to anchor in their defense. It’s true that Al Horford is past his prime, but when he was on the floor as the Sixers only center, he still played at a pretty high level. Getting the 36th pick and the 48th pick in this draft to take on Horford bloated contract is decent compensation for Charlotte.