While the Philadelphia 76ers continue to scratch their heads on finding a resolution to the delimiting James Harden ordeal, the Eastern Conference, or rather, the league as a whole just had its landscape changed with a pair of blockbuster trades just recently.
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, two of the 76ers’ fiercest rivals out East, just bolstered their already jam-packed roster with their newest additions — the former landing Damian Lillard from Portland, which then re-routed Jrue Holiday to the latter to commence a rebuild.
The 76ers are quickly getting outclassed by their rivals after recent blockbuster trades
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, its chances of getting out of the East is quickly going down the drain. Not only do the 76ers bring back much of the same core with the added bonus of a disgruntled sidekick, but there is now an added pressure for the front office to keep up atop the hard reality that the transaction table hasn’t afforded them any relief just yet.
Part and parcel of what can alleviate the team’s early woes is pinpointing a taker for Harden’s expiring contract, especially with the All-Star guard having already refused to show up in Day 1 of training camp. Surely, this could just be the semi-reset the franchise needs to fully move forward with the season.
With all these considered, let us revisit a trade proposal that will enable Philly to land a blue-chip player while shedding Harden and keep up with their rivals in the East.
The Philadelphia 76ers land All-Star guard Zach LaVine in this blue-chip trade proposal
In this trade proposal concocted by Bleacher Report, the Philadelphia 76ers send James Harden, Furkan Korkmaz, and an unprotected first-round draft pick in 2029 to the Chicago Bulls for All-Star guard Zach LaVine.
LaVine, a two-time All-Star, is signed for four more years with the final season of his contract being a player option. The Chicago Bulls have been absolutely stagnant as of late with their top-heavy, ill-fitting roster, and should ponder hard about the prospect of making yet another restart and move on from their Big Three of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic.
While getting Harden may not be the ideal avenue to shed LaVine’s contract, this trade can give them a quick route toward clearing significant cap commitment moving forward while getting a first-round pick which could be tremendously lofty down the road. If anything, trading LaVine would also be the kickstart that Chicago needs to truly embrace a full-fledged rebuild.
For the 76ers, however, how does this trade proposal serve their needs? Will LaVine be enough of a ceiling-raiser and bring Philadelphia back to the upper echelon in the Eastern Conference? Let’s read into this deal a bit deeper.
Can adding Zach LaVine to the mix bring the 76ers closer to contention?
Forcibly hoarding talented players like they’re collectibles doesn’t pan out more than it does, but in the face of more formidable competition, keeping up becomes mandatory. Sure, chemistry is a big equalizer, but even that is not a particularly resounding advantage of this 76ers team compared to the likes of the Bucks and Celtics.
Still, for a franchise in implied agreement that even just removing Harden from the equation would be almost akin to addition by subtraction, an addition by actual addition should be a giant missive for the front office moving forward. For that reason alone, even sans the presence of an actual rumor floating around, Philadelphia should go after Zach LaVine.
Efficient high-volume scorers with significant roster and cost control who can be more than serviceable on defense like LaVine definitely don’t grow on trees. Conventionally, the Bulls would be ludicrous for even giving the thought of trading him more than just guarded curiosity, but Chicago has all the reasons to hold a fire sale. Hence, Philadelphia should pounce. After all, LaVine would give the team that much-need third star to keep up and stabilize both its present and future.
Shoehorning LaVine next to Tyrese Maxey would force the 76ers coaching staff to double down on making the latter a playmaker more than before. While that would definitely have its own set of growing pains, the potential return would be very alluring for his long-term profile as a tenable star to build around. LaVine is a dangerous scorer whose play style will mesh well with Joel Embiid’s inside game and Maxey’s expected improvement as a table-setter.
Oh, and for the weak of heart, landing the athletic guard should give Embiid less incentive about serving some sourgraping episodes on social media.
Why trading for Zach LaVine would be a shortsighted move for the 76ers
For all the merits that come along with adding Zach LaVine into the fold, it’s objectively unlikely that he’s the player who can bring the 76ers over the hump, especially with the bar having suddenly become so high to even win the conference.
If Philadelphia embarks and triumphs on nabbing LaVine, the reality is that the franchise will have to stick to that core for the foreseeable future. That means the front office will have to bid adieu to its glorious plans next year when they will have boatloads of cold cash available for spending and to financial flexibility for the meantime.
Looking comparatively between Philadelphia and its rivals, there’s a good chance that LaVine, while possible still remaining just as lethal, if not more, ultimately ends up becoming much more of a floor-raiser than a ceiling-raiser. After all, he has only sniffed four playoff games in nine seasons, and doesn’t truly answer a legitimate point of concern for the 76ers position-wise or skillset-wise.
For those reasons and given the context, perceiving the hypothetical scenario of the 76ers trading Harden for LaVine as a reactionary move would perhaps be equitable. Philadelphia will soon have optionality of the magnitude it has very rarely enjoyed before during its competitive stretches, and while punting the season is absolutely not an option, a wait-and-see approach instead of going all-in would be more reasonable.
Grade: B