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Tag: nba trade rumors

  • How the Sixers can sign Paul George and trade for Lauri Markkanen this offseason

    How the Sixers can sign Paul George and trade for Lauri Markkanen this offseason

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    News broke just over 24 hours before the start of NBA free agency on Sunday evening that Los Angeles Clippers star wing Paul George is opting out of his contract and entering free agency, with the Sixers looming as a “legitimate threat” to sign the nine-time All-Star.

    The Sixers have been positioning themselves for this moment for the better part of a year as their quest for the ideal third star next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey continued. 

    But what if they found a fourth star, too?

    Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz has become one of the most dynamic offensive forwards in the entire NBA over the last two seasons, a genuine three-level scorer who can put the ball in the basket at the highest of levels. As he enters the final year of his current contract, reports have circulated that teams are monitoring whether or not Markkanen, who is only entering his age-27 season, could become available for trade in the near future.

    Sixers free agency primer: Literally everything you need to know

    It could take a massive amount of draft picks to woo the Jazz — rightfully so given how good the Finnish seven-footer has become. But if it is possible, the Sixers are armed with a collection of future first-round selections to make a competitive offer.

    Pulling off a trade for Markkanen after signing George to the maximum offer he is expected to command — which is projected to be worth $49,350,000 in its first season — would be extremely tricky.

    But after a few hours of crunching numbers and asking various salary cap experts, it does seem that this path is feasible if things broke right: that is, the Sixers could theoretically put these four players together without violating any of the league’s salary cap rules.

    Before we get to all of the salary cap machinations, it is worth pointing out that there are some potential downsides to doing this: Markkanen is, of course, due for a new and hefty contract soon. The Sixers’ financial flexibility after assembling this hypothetical four-star unit would be incredibly limited, resembling the hellish situation the Phoenix Suns are currently in. There is a real argument to be made that going down this road would be reckless, giving the Sixers a one- or two-year window at best and then putting them in an extremely precarious position.

    But with the Boston Celtics looking like a juggernaut and teams like the New York Knicks pushing all of their chips in, it is not unreasonable to expect the Sixers to do the same — and if there was ever a group of four players to do it for, it would be this one.

    So, come on a journey with me as I outline the path to building a team featuring Embiid, Maxey, George and Markkanen:

    Step No. 1: Renounce all free agents other than Maxey

    According to the projections of salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan on capsheets.com, if the Sixers renounce the rights to all of their free agents other than Maxey — Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Lowry, Mo Bamba, Jeff Dowtin Jr., KJ Martin, Kelly Oubre Jr., Cam Payne and Terquavion Smith — they would have $54,781,404 in cap space. That is our starting point in this exercise.

    Step No. 2: Sign Paul George to max contract

    The first year of George’s max contract is projected to be worth $49,350,000. His deal eating up that chunk of salary cap space trims their cap room to $5,431,404. But, the NBA salary cap has something called incomplete roster charges: when a team does not have at least 13 players who they either have under contract or own the Bird rights of, the team is charged one rookie minimum salary against their cap space for each number below 13 that they are at. 

    So, signing George would remove one incomplete roster charge, which is projected to be valued at $1,160,564. So, that gives the Sixers $6,591,948 in cap space.

    Step No. 3: Trade for soon-to-be salary filler

    When a team makes a normal in-season trade, any player they trade for cannot be traded along with other players for a certain period of time. Free agent signings are not allowed to be traded at all until Dec. 15. But if a team absorbs a player into their cap space via trade, that player can be rerouted at any time, and they are allowed to be aggregated with other salaries.

    So, the idea here is that the Sixers would use this $6.5 million or so of cap space to absorb salary via trade so that they can eventually be sent to Utah in a Markkanen deal.

    There are a few players on expiring contracts who they could likely acquire from teams for little to no cost. Reggie Jackson of the Charlotte Hornets, for example, will make $5,250,000 next season and has no place with his new team in the short- or long-term.

    Of course, the Sixers would only perform Step No. 3 if they knew Step No. 4 was going to immediately follow:

    Step No. 4: Trade for Lauri Markkanen

    This is, of course, the hardest part — and the component of this plan that makes it the hardest to see actually coming to fruition. First, the Jazz have to decide that they are ready to move Markkanen. Then, the Sixers have to hope that no other team makes a stronger offer than what they are capable of. Unfortunately for the Sixers, there are teams out there with stronger collections of future first-round picks, so even if the Jazz did decide it was time to trade their best player, it is not exactly a lock that the Sixers could get him if they want to do so.

    So, the structure of the trade would be Markkanen going to the Sixers in exchange for Paul Reed, Ricky Council IV, whichever player(s) they acquire to satisfy Step No. 3 and a collection of future draft picks.

    A quick note: the Jazz are the team that signed Reed to his unusual three-year deal last summer, before the Sixers matched the offer sheet and ensured he would return to Philadelphia, so it is entirely plausible that Utah would value him to some extent beyond just being salary filler.

    Again, though, things would need to break right for the Sixers to make this offer appealing to Utah beyond its simple legality.

    Step No. 5: Find depth

    With George and Markkanen secured in this hypothetical world, the Sixers would have the room mid-level exception — worth a hair over $8 million — and veteran’s minimum contracts to fill out the remainder of their roster. They could choose to offer the entirety of that MLE to one player in hopes of finding a strong fifth starter, or they could split it up among two viable rotation contributors.

    Step No. 6: Sign Tyrese Maxey to max contract

    This will be the Sixers’ final piece of business officially, but it will be their easiest: Maxey will agree with the team on a five-year contract worth just below $205 million.

    And just like that, Embiid, Maxey, George and Markkanen would all be on the same roster. Take a deep breath.

    Step No. 7: Hope for a title next season, because tough times are coming

    Putting these four incredible talents on the same team in today’s NBA would be a remarkable feat in itself, even just on the level of displaying tremendous creativity. But beyond the 2024-25 season, the team would be in an unspeakably disadvantageous situation from a financial standpoint moving forward if they were to re-sign Markkanen.

    One final disclaimer: none of this is to say the Sixers are going pull all of this off, or that it is a remotely realistic outcome, or even that they should attempt to do it if it was possible. It is merely an attempt to outline the procedural path to assembling a roster featuring these four-star players.

    Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam

    Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice

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    Adam Aaronson

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  • Knicks trade for Mikal Bridges, raising the stakes for Sixers in pivotal offseason

    Knicks trade for Mikal Bridges, raising the stakes for Sixers in pivotal offseason

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    An absolute stunner broke late Tuesday night, with fewer than 24 hours remaining before the start of the 2024 NBA Draft: the New York Knicks will acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a package including four unprotected first-round picks, a lightly-protected first-round pick and a future first-round pick swap, as was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

    Already referred to by many as the “Villanova Knicks,” New York now has four former Wildcats set to be critical pieces of their rotation moving forward: Bridges, superstar guard Jalen Brunson, sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo and do-it-all wing Josh Hart.

    With the Boston Celtics firmly cemented as the Eastern Conference’s best for the time being, the Knicks have chosen Bridges as the piece worth cashing in the vast majority of their assets for in hopes of catching up to defending champions. And now, there is more than one team that is head and shoulders above the Sixers in terms of present day talent.

    Perhaps the most obvious ripple effects this move has on the Sixers are that there is another team in their conference with the potential to seriously contend for a championship, and that Bridges — seen by many as an ideal fit alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey — is officially off the table.

    The intrigue of these four storied college teammates joining forces in the pros is fascinating, and the Knicks are filled with great players who are likable characters. But it is fair to wonder if four unprotected picks and several other assets for a player who has yet to make an All-Star team is the right path forward. Bridges is tremendous, and will fit like a glove in New York, but is he good enough to warrant a collection of draft choices like this? For what it’s worth, this archetype of trade has come back to bite the team acquiring the “star” more often than not.

    But, to be fair, with the Celtics not going anywhere, New York doing all they can to maximize their championship window now that Brunson has emerged as a full-fledged superstar is understandable, and to a degree, even commendable.

    Bridges, who the Sixers infamously drafted in 2018 before trading him to the Phoenix Suns during his introductory press conference in which he donned a Sixers hat, has become one of the most respected two-way wings in the entire NBA, and since being the centerpiece of the Kevin Durant trade that sent him to Brooklyn, he has made major strides as a scorer. He was overtasked as a go-to scorer in Brooklyn, and that will not be an issue anymore as he reunites with Brunson.

    The next domino to fall here is the status of soon-to-be Knicks free agent OG Anunoby. As recently as Tuesday evening, it appeared Anunoby had enough negotiating leverage to receive just about any contract he desired from New York this summer. Now, with Bridges in the fold, the Knicks are not exactly desperate to bring Anunoby back. 

    If the Knicks were to let Anunoby fetch offers elsewhere and contemplate leaving New York, the Sixers loom as a potential fit for the acclaimed two-way wing.

    Early indications are that the Knicks will prioritize reaching a deal with Anunoby in the near future, which would signal the exit of incumbent starting center Isaiah Hartenstein. But it is not difficult at all to imagine a world in which the Knicks —with DiVincenzo, Bridges, Hart and Julius Randle all under contract moving forward — opt not to give Anunoby the massive deal he is seeking and instead solidify their center position by bringing back Hartenstein.

    As for the Nets, this was the right move: Bridges is a tremendous player, but was not leading the Nets anywhere promising in the near future given his lack of support. Accumulating as many draft picks as possible and accelerating the team’s rebuild was always the right call, and they furthered those goals by promptly trading a few of Phoenix’s future picks to the Houston Rockets to regain some of the draft capital they sent Houston when they acquired former Sixer James Harden a few years back. Word quickly trickled out that Houston wants to offer those picks back to Phoenix to try to get Durant.

    We have reached maximum levels of chaos, and tonight I am grateful I do not cover the Brooklyn Nets or Houston Rockets.

    Another question: how does all of this impact the free agency of Paul George? First the Sixers seemed like a very possible destination for the nine-time All-Star, then they were out, now there are conflicting reports regarding their interest in the star wing who has yet to strike a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. Over the last few days, there was steam behind the idea of George forcing a sign-and-trade from the Clippers to a contending team without the requisite cap space to sign him on their own — perhaps using the threat of heading to Philadelphia as leverage to force the Clippers’ hand — but many speculated that destination would be New York. They are almost certainly out of those talks now (if they ever took place to begin with), which could reopen the George-to-Philadelphia door.

    If the events of late Tuesday night are any indication, nobody actually knows what is in store over the course of the coming days and weeks. But it is going to be madness, and the Sixers could end up being right at the center of it all.

    Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam

    Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice

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    Adam Aaronson

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