Philadelphia 76ers: Best Trade Suitors For Late 1st Rounders
The Philadelphia 76ers hold the 24th and the 26th in the 2016 NBA Draft, but there is more value in those picks to other teams than to the Sixers.
The Philadelphia 76ers will be waiting nervously for the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery, as many situations are possible. What is certain is the back half of the draft, where the Philadelphia 76ers hold two picks.
The back half of this draft is filled with prospects who can have a high potential. These prospects are most attractive to teams with a tight cap space. The rookie salary will allow teams to not take a huge salary hit while also acquiring a young player.
The Philadelphia 76ers have the luxury of high cap space, and added with the fact that the team is seeing the debuts of Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, and at least one top 5 draft pick, the 24th and 26th picks in the draft have little value to the team. The picks still could be coveted by some teams however.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers will once again try to retain LeBron James, who will most likely opt out of his contract as the max deals rise. The team will try to continue to build around their big 3 of James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving and acquiring a first-round pick would help them do so.
The Cavaliers currently don’t have a first round pick, and what makes it tough for them to pull off a deal for these picks is their lack of trade-able assets. The Philadelphia 76ers have an interest in young players, so there would most likely be a three-way deal involved. The Cavs also hold a couple trade exceptions that could come in handy.
The Houston Rockets should also be interested in reacquiring a first round pick. With Dwight Howard coming off the books, the Rockets aren’t in dire need of a pick, as they could work in free agency a bit. K.J. McDaniels, Montrezl Harrell, and Sam Dekker are three players on reasonable contracts who have mostly been hidden in Houston. Clint Capela is, or at least should be, untouchable in this type of deal.
Again, the assets aren’t fruitful with the Rockets, but they could move their first round pick in future drafts to climb back in and pick up an impact player. The Rockets, however, have focused more on free agency and trading more than the draft in recent years.
The Miami Heat have drafted fairly well in the past few years, and without a draft pick in this year’s draft, the Philadelphia 76ers could be a possible trade partner for them. The Heat will retain Dwyane Wade after this season, but their main priority moving forward is making sure Hassan Whiteside won’t be lured away.
That’ll take some money to do.
The Heat have an attractive prospect in surprising rookie Josh Richardson, who would be a huge asset for the Philadelphia 76ers. Trading two late round picks for him may seem hefty, but again, Richardson would have more value to the Sixers than the two picks.
That leaves us with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who will spend the next two offseasons trying to resign stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Along with that, the team will be losing Dion Waiters, a key player for them. Andre Roberson is a shooting guard that would become a serviceable player for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Combined with a future pick, Roberson, and the young Josh Huestis, a deal for the Oklahoma City Thunder to move back in the first round will be likely.
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The Philadelphia 76ers won’t have the easiest of times getting rid of these picks, but it won’t be entirely impossible. The team making moves on draft night will bring intrigue, and possibly even some high impact players.