The Philadelphia 76ers landed James Harden before the trade deadline and that move helped turn them into a true championship contender.
Of course, the Sixers did give up Andre Drummond, Seth Curry and Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets, but you won’t find many fans too upset about the moves that were made.
With the new duo of Joel Embiid and Harden, the team can compete with just about anybody on any given night, but there are still improvements that can be made. Something that has become a bit of a concern is their bench. While you couldn’t tell in the March 21 win over the Miami Heat, the Sixers do have problems with their backups.
The main issue is backup center, and the signing of DeAndre Jordan did not do much to alleviate those concerns. That’s why a trade proposal that would ship out any sort of depth for Lakers superstar LeBron James wouldn’t make a ton of sense, but Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and Howard Beck named the Sixers as a landing spot for James if the Lakers decided to explore a trade.
LeBron to the Sixers
GettyLA Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis look on during a game against the Golden State Warriors.
The trade proposal would land the Sixers with LeBron James, albeit at the tail end of his career, but that would definitely be a huge deal. Unfortunately, the proposal itself would require the team to take a massive gamble on their future.
After going through several proposals for James, Beck settles on one with the Sixers.
“The craziest one in all of this, could you send him to the Sixers to play with Harden and Embiid?” Beck said on The Crossover NBA Show.”I know there’s too many guys who are going to want to have the ball in their hands. We’re already experiencing this with the Lakers team.”
In his scenario, the Sixers would send over Matisse Thybulle, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. In the case of Harris, fans would likely be okay letting him go, but Maxey and Thybulle might be giving up too much of their future in a last ditch effort to win a championship immediately.
“But [Sixers GM Daryl Morey] absolutely would do it,” he said. Could you get Maxey and Thybulle out of it? And then they offload Tobias Harris and give Daryl more flexibility in his payroll? I don’t know.”
If this trade came when he left the Cavs for the Lakers, it might’ve made more sense. James is still a highly effective player, but he’s getting way up there in age and he can’t be dominant forever.
This Probably Won’t Happen
GettyJames Harden has a new home again.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a trade that is likely to happen, but if anybody is going to do it, Beck believes it’d be Sixers general manager Daryl Morey. Beck also reiterates the unlikelihood of this deal ever coming into fruition.
“Again folks, I’m just spitballing, I’m not making serious trade proposals here,” he said. “Don’t freak out.”
Giving up young players like that for James is definitely a pipe dream for Lakers fans, so don’t count on this trade happening in the offseason.
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