Sixers: 2 possible Collin Sexton trade scenarios

Collin Sexton – Sixers trade scenario #2

It feels like the Sixers can do better. Or should be able to, at least. Simmons is much better than Sexton in a vacuum, and any improvement to the crunch-time offense would be offset by Sexton’s general shortcomings as a facilitator. This would hurt the Sixers on defense, and probably not help a ton on offense.

That said, Philadelphia would get some interesting trade chips on top of Sexton. Larry Nance Jr. is a tremendous defender, and could help anchor the frontcourt reserves. Taurean Prince, in addition to being a capable 3-and-D wing, has $13 million of expiring money on the books, which could help match salaries in future trades. Prince ($13 million), Nance ($10.6 million), and George Hill ($10 million) would put you right in range of another max contract. Not to mention Seth Curry ($8.2 million) and the potentially re-signed Danny Green.

For Philadelphia, it would likely take knowledge of another subsequent move — one that could net them another borderline All-Star at least — to pull the trigger on this specific trade. Sexton is a fascinating young player, but he’s not the best player Philadelphia can get, and his contract situation gets dicey fast. The Sixers have no use for cap space in a year or two, because the key motivation of any trade is to build a championship contender around Joel Embiid in 2021-22.

It is impossible to know the true feelings about Ben Simmons in Philadelphia’s front office, but it’s clear Morey expects and demands a significant return. Two first-round picks are nice, but I’m not sure this crosses the threshold. It may require a three or four-team trade, with several more moving parts, to make a Simmons-for-Sexton swap feasible.