This Could be MASSIVE for the Sixers…

This Could be MASSIVE for the Sixers…

Now that the dust has settled of the ogn and Obi trade from the Raptors to the New York Knicks everyone’s eyes are on what is next across the NBA the Philadelphia 76ers have every reason to be one of the teams in the mix as they have outplayed expectations thus far and

Still are probably one piece away from joining that true contenders list a recent article dropped from Bleacher Report which hinted at a couple potential Targets this article was written by Zack Buckley and had three players listed for the top targets for each team and I will preface this by

Saying while I’m sure Zach does his homework and pays attention to the te leaves these are from his brain not something that is concrete reported and could be more so from his opinion than a source I’ve been in those shoes wrote those types of Articles is what it is

But I still want to talk about it because I still think there are some good talking points here so without further Ado let’s dive in and talk about these targets here number one pascal cakam number two demard de rosan number three Gary Harris which is a bit of a

New one for this year a pretty frequent name in the the trade rumors connected to these Sixers but Buckley wrotes writes quote the 76ers don’t necessarily need to make make a dramatic trade but they have the requisite assets plus their prominent position in the championship race can justify an all-in

Push they might only get one crack at this though so they have to get this right Toronto could still be in the wheeling and dealing business after the OG and anobi trade and Philly might view SE yakum as a supercharged version of Tobias Harris seak is a more natural

Shot Creator and he supplied better defensive film over his career the low volume of d rosen’s longdistance game is a worry but perhaps his playmaking could still sway the front office if the Sixers believe that they have enough creation that might covet Harris’s on ball defense and outside shooting plus

Neither of these players are owed money beyond the SE season meaning Philly could rent them for a playoff run and still bring more than 50 million in cap space into the 2024 SE off season so a lot of good thoughts here both Pascal seum SE yakum especially has been a name

Prominent in these conversations we know that the Toronto finally pulled the trigger and did make the OG at a newbie trade I do think that was the right move for the franchise that it was time to rip the Band-Aid off and start moving hand the keys fully over to SK SC Barnes

And turn to this next generation and then I think that includes moving on from Pascal sakam here so a couple of thoughts on seak first number one in the initial uh article from W when the anobi trade went down there was this little nugget in here that I thought was

Important to note W writes quote Toronto is expected continue to continue to explore trades involving Pascal seak but there are no deals with traction Now sources said both seakan and noobi could be free agents this summer so they’re clearly in a sell the farm kind of mode that they are inching towards a

Retooling not necessarily a rebuild I think getting Emanual quickly absolutely keeps their head above water instead of going into the full-fledged rebuild but I still think that Pascal sakam is a player that they should be in the business of moving on from especially based on in this indication which this

Report coming from Mark Stein here saying quote where it is that if he’s dealt he’s unlikely to sign off on a two-year extension and would prefer again to proceed to unrestricted free agency meaning that any team that trades for him now must be daring enough to roll those dice steinrad it’s therefore

Unlikely rival teams are going to pay a premium player for a player who may be a short-term rental so this kind of stopped a little bit of my momentum here but the bottom line and cutting through all the The Whispers the reports the different phrasings the bottom line is

Pascal yakum wants to be a free agent this offseason now we’ve talked all about the Sixers cap space plan how that they want to attack this offseason as the team with the second most cap space across the entire NBA the Orlando Magic being first in that category and the

Sixers being in a unique category where they have an MVP caliber player in Joel embiid they have an up and cominging star in Tyrese Maxi and then they’re ready to build out the roster from there so if you’re the Sixers you have to really think about is this the

Difference making move that elevates the Sixers to possibly winning a championship this year I don’t feel that confident about Pascal seaka being that guy now I’m not going to fight fight with you and think you think that he is I can see the logic I still one of my

Greatest concerns with this team is I would like an increase in Perimeter uh defense that I don’t have a a ton of face on guys being able to get stops against the Jason tatums of the world the Giannis the Dame Lillard that these High Caliber players that the Sixers are

Going to have to get through only playoff run now SE yakum has drifted a little bit from when he was really the elite Defender that he once was he’s become become much more of an offensive engine and kind of the trade-off in the NBA is the more leash that you get

Offensively the less responsibility you have defensively that’s why we have the PJ Tuckers of the world who are only in there to play defense the Pat bevs the guys like that that are solely focused on defensive side of the ball there is a balance to this roster because it is a

Lot and it’s major hat tip to the guys that do it because there are still plenty of two-way Guys across the NBA who are locked in and want those challenges I think cakam it would be a much different role here in Philadelphia than it would be in Toronto I’m curious

If that can fully click over the span of a half a season we’ve seen opportunities in the past such as when the James Harden trade happened how much that interrupted the entire flow of the Sixers offense now seak wouldn’t be quite as disruptive as Harden is from a

Stylistic basketball point of view but the point still being that is a big piece to bring in and hope that it all clicks together of a short period of of short period of time Demar D rozan is an interesting one to me I don’t think that there has been enough attention paid to

D rozan as a legitimate asset I’ll start with I think Demar dzan is a killer on the basketball court that he is a guy you give him the ball with the game on the line with the shot clock winding down he’ll go get you one and I do think

That there is an area where the Sixers need that where they could use one more guy capable of doing that that tyes Maxi obviously has been terrific this year Joel embiid we know who he is but there also are some inherent I guess just over complications with building around a big

Man with the game on the line there’s things defenses can do strategic doubles the way that they can guard that make it more difficult than is the case with a perimeter Defender Demar D rozan is a perfect blend of that and one of the interesting points in this uh this

Little note here I thought especially was this comment here saying the low volume of D Ro’s longdistance game is a worry perhaps but perhaps his playmaking could still sway the front office if the Sixers believe they have enough creation that might covet Harris’s off on ball defense and outside shooting so that

Meaning it’s a bias Harris flip there I think in any of these situations Tobias Harris is a a contract that should be firmly on the line and I’ve been pretty strong in my feelings that I feel the guys like Nicholas patum Robert Covington and even maybe even Marcus

Morris to this point I all feel are more vital to this sixer team than Tobias Harris why I give Tobias a ton of credit for taking the punches taking the beatings and really been the low man on the totem pole as far as where blame

Gets gets placed a lot I it’s time to move on and that cannot be more clear that there is no individual trait on the basketball floor that distinguishes himself and makes him necessary to this team there’s guys in that rotation that are better Defenders like Robert Covington and even niik Batum I would

Give the nod there there’s guys that are better passers Nico Batum being the best entry pass playmaker to Jo and beid on this roster as well as just more willing shooter he’s more comfortable off that Covington’s a more willing shooter Marcus Morris is straight up bucket and

Is a better shot creator with the ball on the floor than Tobias can do so these are all in different lineups and different settings that are better options and of course in an overall vacuum Tobias Harris still the better player but the concept for building this

Roster is you have to get the right complimentary pieces to compliment Bo Joel embiid and Tyrese Maxi that those are the guys Tobias is not the perfect compliment to those guys so you have to find players that are and when there are already guys like that on the roster

It’s something to consider but if demard de rozan or Pascal sakam is thought to be that guy that does change things in bit so I did want to look at the differences between these two as far as how they stack up they’re pretty similar

To some extent in sort of as the sort of players u seak a little bit bigger than d rozan uh younger than d rozan as well we talked a little bit about the contract stuff D rozan is the better bucket getter absolutely that I I am surprised the difference in assists of D

Rozan having a little bit of a better Notch here the points no surprise there the three-point shooting is a bit of a concern for D rozan there’s been moments where he’s shown flashes of reliability from Beyond The Arc but he’s much more of a mid-range King that he wants to get

To his spots he wants to shoot over guys hit that fade away hit that spin that’s the Demar d rozan game but there’s a little bit of them back and forth so stylistically I think they’re somewhat similar positionally they’re a little different that demard de rozan as I

Mentioned more of a mid-range guy seak we’ve seen his volume from three go up constantly I’m curious I’m very curious and I think this holds me back on a lot of the the trade talks or my excitement for it I’m not really sure what he would look like in another system that in

Toronto there’s a lot of opport unities or possessions where it’s basically Pascal seak go get one go create your own shot do your thing and what’s kind of held me back is obviously players get these reps and players get these opportunities when you’re that caliber

Of talent which siakam is he he is as much as he’s not my style of player or my guy I have to recognize that he’s an All-Star level talent and a guy that can fill up the bucket in a hurry when he gets going so I don’t know if he gets

That opportunity with the Sixers that Joel embiid leading the NBA in usage percentage so far this year and I don’t expect that to change Tyrese Maxi one of the high highest usage players in the NBA a guy who has the the ball in his hands on an every possession basis how

Much left over of the pie is there to slice out for this new addition and that kind of slides me more over to the side of things of the Gary Harris conversation Gary har Harris has been a guy perennially in the trade conversations regarding these Sixers now

To look at his stats a little bit for this season by the way only 29 years old so a little younger than I I I honestly expected the biggest thing to look at here the three-point numbers 36.8% from three on 4.2 attempts per game we’re seeing his opportunity go

Down a little bit in Orlando there’s a ton of talent down there and a ton of young talent that Gary Harris just frankly isn’t a long-term piece of their puzzle so it makes sense cutting into his minutes and allowing others those opportunities to develop I like Gary

Harris I think that would be a positive addition to this team a decent rotational piece a guy that can play some minutes I think his defense is a isn’t quite as advertised that he I would put him as I would label him as a shooter much more than anything he can

Compete a little bit on the defensive side of the floor but to me he’s a guy that’s going to be in there to knock down shots and if you believe in that then it is a move that makes sense I think Gary Harris is by far the the

Lowest I guess price tag to get a deal in a trade here so this kind of concept shifts back to these Sixers are comfortable in what they have and just looking for one kind of rotation piece around the end I don’t think that’s the spot the Sixers in and I still think

They need a guy a guy that can go get a bucket can go create a little bit which shifts me back towards the demard de rozan and Pascal seak kind of category I don’t think either of those guys are perfect either if I’m being honest there’s still guys that I prefer as in

The Lori marketing kind of category I would I even had ogan anobi above either one of these guys in kind of my list of pecking order but I would not be mad if either one of them were names that were I guess brought into this roster so for

Now we are going to have to wait and see how things develop and one of the greatest benefits of this is the Sixers are waiting for other teams to fall apart in the way in the same way that they are aligning their Vision that very well there’s teams with like the Memphis

Grizzlies who obviously got off to a very cold start what if they turn into Sellers and all of a sudden Marcus Smart is available as a potential trade piece that would be somebody I would be interested in guys like that so the Sixers are in a great spot where while

Their backs to some extent are against the wall they have more flexibility than they have had in years that they have all this cap space plan they have that as kind of the the hat to hang on that there is no rush on this and they’re playing very good basketball that this

Team still among the league leaders even with their slight deficiencies and slight issues I would I think they’re very comfortably the Third best team in the Eastern Conference and I do think they’re only a Stones throw away that when we’re watching moments like Tyrese Halbert and absolutely giving Dame

Loward the business and leading the Pacers to a win over the bucks after being down double digits in the second half that gives me hope that this Bucks team is not unbeatable we’ve seen the Celtics team look bad for stretches this is up for grabs so the Sixers do have to

Dig in they have to internalize they have to look think about how close they are and figure out what steps it takes to get there whether that’s a demard rzan whether that’s a pascal sakam a Gary Harris that is for Daryl Mor to decide but until that point I’ll be here

Breaking everything down on six years digest let me know your thoughts on those names in the comments I’ll give you a little feedback as well and be back with you every step of the way right here on Sixers digest peace

This Could be MASSIVE for the Sixers

With the Raptors kicking off trade season with the first big move of the year, the NBA’s eyes are searching for what could be next. With the Sixers being a team expected to be active in conversations, Sean Barnard looks at a recent list of their top three trade options. He gives his thoughts on each player and how they fit into the Sixers’ current outlook.

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