76ers trade for veteran sharpshooting forward in proposed three-player swap

Why the 76ers should not trade for Bojan Bogdanovic

There are a couple of big reasons that could prove as impediments to the 76ers trading for Bogdanovic. First is the steep price they are expected to hash out for his services. With demand currently high for the veteran, Philadelphia would have to overpay at a certain degree to outbid expected buyers. And Detroit is almost guaranteed to ask for secure draft compensation as they have shown stubborness so far in moving him at all.

The 76ers have some draft picks they can throw at the Pistons thanks to the James Harden deal, but dangling them away for a player expected to be a rental could be counterintuitibe to their current stance of holding off on pursuing players that are handsomely paid.

Second is the overlap that could unfold should Bogdanovic land in Philly — if one isn’t already there. The 76ers already have too many mouths to feed in the forward and wing positions who are actually thriving in staggered roles.

One could argue that Kelly Oubre Jr. on the tertiary is already occupying a rightful seat as a the resident x-factor scorer on the team. We haven’t even talked about Tobias Harris and how he’s fared well for the large part as the de facto third option on the team. Shaving minutes off of Nicolas Batum, who’s been tremendous as a utility player, is quite risky under any circumstance.

For the price tag he comes at, the Philadelphia 76ers should maintain guarded curiosity about trading for Bojan Bogdanovic. While he’ll certainly be a hell of a floor raiser to an already great team, he doesn’t really present a significant upgrde over anyone on the roster already occupying the same role.