Sixers should make Malcolm Brogdon a priority trade target

The trade deadline is roughly four hours away at the time of publishing this article. It is still unknown where many of the top players will end up and thus far the deadline has been relatively quiet.

Teams do not have endless cap space this summer and the once coveted free agent crop has mostly dried via extensions.

Philadelphia, being in the thick of the championship race and given Daryl Morey always makes a move, will likely do something before the day is done.

Our team has explored all of the rumors. Kyle Lowry has been discussed ad nauseam. Shooters galore, back-up bigs, 3-and-D wings, you name it and Philadelphia fans have scoured the market for it.

Many of the diehard younger fans grew up in the Sam Hinkie era. The trade machine and the offseason were the lifeblood of fandom during those daunted the 2015, 2016 days.

A player whose name was recently floated also happens to be a long-time favorite of mine: Malcolm Brogdon.

Malcolm Brogdon is one of the biggest names in the rumor mill. The Sixers should take an interest.

I was partial to Brogdon during his time at the University of Virginia.  He was the leader of their team, capable of driving to the lane, spacing the floor, or running and initiating offense, with a combination of athleticism, strength, and intelligence that mesh perfectly to create a capable on and off-ball defender in the NBA.

Philadelphia currently sits at the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Given the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets currently man the 2nd and 3rd spots, it is crucial Philadelphia stay in front to avoid playing either of those teams in the conference semifinals.

Brooklyn and Milwaukee stand as Philadelphia’s biggest competition to the Finals. Each team has three top players above the rest. For Brooklyn, they are three of the greatest scorers to ever grace a basketball court. As for Milwaukee, they have three tenacious players, led by back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is going to fight on both ends of the floor every night.

Joel Embiid likely won’t be the same matchup nightmare for Milwaukee he is against other teams. Does Philadelphia have enough to beat Milwaukee as it is currently constituted? Will Ben Simmons be able to be effective against a team who over the last three years has shut off the rim as well as anyone?

Embiid will be a huge factor against the Brooklyn Nets whose weakest link is at the center position. Yet, can Philadelphia truly look themselves in the mirror and believe they have a better team than Brooklyn?

Seth Curry has been exactly what Philadelphia could have hoped for. He is lighting up the nets while creating the space to let Philadelphia’s stars perform at their peaks. Danny Green has been better than his numbers dictate. Unfortunately for Green, he has the highest salary relative to production and his contract will almost assuredly be on the move in any blockbuster deal.

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Philadelphia has tried the four-star approach before. The result: A second-round exit in the playoffs and a jettisoning of perhaps the second-best player on the team.

A bleak paragraph when read aloud. Yet, that team lacked shooting, Jimmy Butler might have never been happy until he reached Miami, and still, a quadruple-doink was needed from the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors to take game seven at home.

No, Brogdon isn’t Jimmy Butler. He won’t be the defensive leader. He likely won’t take the last shot, certainly not with the bravado of Butler. He also won’t be a headache.

By all accounts, Brogdon has always been a great teammate. He isn’t discussed too openly on television and people don’t often find stan accounts across Twitter praising his name. He just shows up and does his job, quite well.

For those who don’t know, Malcolm Brogdon is one of only eight players in NBA history to have a 50/40/90 shooting season joining Larry Bird (2), Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash (4), Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.

Brogdon is currently approaching conventional box scores of 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds per game.

A lineup consisting of Brogdon, Seth Curry, Simmons, Tobias Harris and Embiid affords spacing, creativity off the catch, and the ability to get to the rim.

The team has gone 6-1 in their last seven games without Embiid. Those are impressive numbers and a testament to the improvement from both Harris and Simmons. It has also been a team effort with Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz and Dwight Howard often stepping up. Despite the team record success, the games haven’t always been pretty and have often included significant droughts on offense.

Simmons is a tremendous player. He also has perhaps the most obvious skill flaw in the entire NBA. Both can be and very much are true. Harris has proven this year he continues to get better and that an all-star nod is banging at the door because it should have already been let in. And yet, the creation off the dribble in the fourth quarter has left more to be desired.

Brogdon is a career 39 percent 3-point shooter. That’s great, but Philadelphia can acquire plenty of shooters for cheaper. Brogdon initiates offense by averaging just under seven assists over the last two seasons since handling more on-ball duty. That’s excellent, but George Hill can do both somewhat well.

So… why Brogdon?

He is only 28 years old. Perfectly in-line with the current talent on the Philadelphia roster. Brogdon is cost-effective relative to his impact. In other words, he would command a stronger contract on the open market today.

Brogdon is quite similar in the value he will likely bring as Lowry would. They spread the floor, get to the rim, play strong, team defense. Unlike Lowry, Brogdon will have two years remaining on his deal after this season expires. Lowry could leave for nothing, or at the very least become an untenable tax decision for Josh Harris and Philadelphia.

One of the biggest reasons for Philadelphia to pursue Brogdon is his ability to get his own basket. He doesn’t fit the Jamal Crawford mold of dancing through his opponents. He likely won’t dribble at the top of the key staring his opponent into fear like Michael Jordan. Yet, Brogdon is 23rd among all players in percent of his field goals being unassisted, according to NBA.com. Among those 23, he’s fifth in percentage of points coming from the 3-point range.

Brogdon scores more of his baskets unassisted than Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, or any player on the Philadelphia roster.

Harris has been excellent, Embiid is the MVP when healthy, Simmons is turning up his aggression, and Curry will be lighting up nets soon again. Brogdon can get his own and effectively, from all three levels, in a way that other players on Philadelphia can’t and that will be crucial in the playoffs.

What does it take?

The answer is likely a lot. 28, a fair, if not underpaid contract, for a great fourth starter. Realistically, Brogdon likely won’t be traded today. Indiana can experiment with Caris LeVert at point guard when Brogdon sits and there is no hurry to move him. Yet, a theoretical trade could look like this:

Philadelphia receives: Malcolm Brogdon, Jakaar Sampson

Indiana receives: Danny Green, Mike Scott, and Tyrese Maxey + 2021 unprotected first-rounder, 2023 top-8 protected first-rounder

For Indiana, Green can help the team now, especially hearing that LeVert might make a move to PG. Maxey will serve as a replacement for Aaron Holiday who Indiana has seemingly moved on from. Two first-rounders will likely be late picks, but they have no/minimal protection. Scott is mainly a money throw-in, but he also serves as an expiring contract.

Philadelphia’s reasons for adding Brogdon have been discussed and Sampson (returning to Philadelphia) can serve as a deep bench wing to foul DeAndre Jordan if need be.

Some Philadelphia fans might be up in arms about including Maxey. He’s a young player who likely doesn’t make a meaningful impact on the team for three years. Others might balk at two first-rounders… if they’re before pick 25 then Philadelphia has other issues.

The time to win is now, but it’s also for several years from now. Philadelphia can make this trade to win now, win in the future, add a 50/40/90 guy averaging 22/6/5 and keep most of their assets. All that’s left is for Daryl Morey to get it done.