Philly Front Office

Four major deals went down and they all affect the Sixers in some way. Let’s take a look:

• Clippers trade James Harden to the Cavs for Darius Garland and a 2nd round pick
  • Harden again wanted a better guaranteed contract and forced his way out of another preferred situation to get it. We care about this move because the Sixers own the Clippers 1st round pick in 2028 and swap rights in 2029, and we need the Clippers to be bad. Before the move, LA planned to have enough cap space in the summer of 2027 to lure two max level free agents. However, now with Garland and his near $45m salary on the books that season, the Clippers only have room for one. This week I wrote about these two picks and the debate over whether it is better for the Clippers to have money or talent. Since free agency is not nearly the best way to team build anymore, I’d rather them sit on their cash and have no one take it. At the same time though, Garland is a notoriously injury riddled player who the Cavs just had to pay to get rid of. I think those picks are burning a hole in Daryl’s pocket either way.
• Celtics trade Anfernee Simons to the Bulls for Nikola Vucevic
  • The Celtics made this move to lower their luxury tax bill even further while also giving them a legitimate starting center. While they lose Simons, who has been a legitimate scorer off their bench, they do bring in former Sixer Vucevic who gives them a weapon we will have trouble with. Not only does Vuc notoriously kill the Sixers, he does it in a way that is particularly difficult for Embiid to handle. He shoots around .400 from 3 and gets a ton of rebounds. Goddamnit. Throw in that this is a perfect pivot for Boston concerning the likely return of Jayson Tatum and I just groan and roll me eyes out of my goddamn head. Why is this so frustrating? Because you KNOW that the Celtics and Sixers are going to play in the 1st round as the 3-6 game. It is destiny. Boston, where all good things go to die.
• Grizzlies trade Jaren Jackson Jr to the Jazz for three 1sts and a slew of players
  • This one came out of nowhere. Everyone knew the Grizz were looking to offload Ja Morant, but JJJ figured to stick around into the next era of Memphis basketball. Nope. This only affects the Sixers tangentially. Not only does it make a Morant move more likely, but it makes all other moves more likely. Sometimes a trade deadline needs a spark to get people in the mood to trade. That sounds silly, but we saw a few more moves go down right after this one. There could be more to come. Also, if the Sixers have interest in anyone on Memphis, the door’s open.
• Wolves trade Mike Conley to the Bulls, Jaden Ivey also goes to Chicago
  • I almost didn’t include this one, but the Sixers need a backup PG. They need someone competent to come in and give about 10 minutes of leadership and that’s just not Kyle Lowery. Granted, it might not be Mike Conley anymore either considering his stats have fallen off a cliff this season, but a minimum deal for the 1x highest paid player ever wouldn’t be a bad idea. The Bulls have already said that they do not plan on rostering Conley and will either trade him or look to buy him out.