Philadelphia 76ers: What Is The Team Looking To Trade For?

The Philadelphia 76ers have continued to scour for trades, but to no avail. What is the team pinpointed on?

The Philadelphia 76ers are in a pivotal time of the team’s rebuild. With the additions of rookies Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Joel Embiid, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, the Philadelphia 76ers are looking towards a upward trend soon, especially with the development of some of the team’s already familiar faces.

The short-term additions of Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodriguez, and Gerald Henderson have showed the Philadelphia 76ers commitment with adding veteran presence in the locker room without binding themselves to bad contracts. The free agent signings aren’t franchise changers, but they allow the team to move forward towards a more respectable roster.

The success of the Philadelphia 76ers is obviously implanted into the development of their multiple once-highly touted prospects and how they can mesh with each other to become a fluid team. One hinderance that the team can’t control on the court is the continued rumored trade talks of Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor.

Going After A Veteran

The story has been over-covered and overdrawn, but it has been interesting to see what kind of deals have come to the table involving the two young centers. A deal between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers was heating up in June that centered around a package involving Noel and guard Jeff Teague. Many questioned whether the deal had short-term goals, stalling the long rebuild in ways.

Noel For Another Draft Pick?

The deal headlined Noel for the 3rd pick in the draft with the belief that the Philadelphia 76ers would take rookie guard Kris Dunn, but alas no deal came to fruition, the Celtics selected Jaylen Brown, and Dunn was taken 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both of the rumored deals were centered around the Philadelphia 76ers’ need for a point guard, but were on two ends of the spectrum in terms of timelines.

Jeff Teague was a win-now move, Dunn was a rebuild move, so what are the Philadelphia 76ers now searching for? This 2017 draft class is projected to involve a plentiful amount of quality guard prospects and the team is almost undoubtedly going to snag a lottery pick. The team already has their veteran guards in Bayless, Henderson, and Rodriguez.

Moving forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Philadelphia 76ers search for even more draft picks in a deal involving either Noel or Okafor. This is mostly due to the quality of the upcoming draft and the increased salary cap going into next summer. Trading Noel for a late-lottery pick may seem like giving up away too much for nothing for some, but it’s an answer to the that he’s going into restricted free agency and being able to add a valuable asset while clearing the logjam.

Same goes for Okafor, who some wouldn’t move for any pick not in the top-5. Trading him for a late lottery pick solves the same logjam issue while adding a valuable asset. Trading for a draft pick just seems more logical for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 76ers won’t be able to trade either prospect for a franchise-changing veteran, which is why they should tunneled in on a draft pick. The Philadelphia 76ers will be able to pull veterans in next summer with their maximum cap space, making it unreasonable to deal a young prospect for one.

Next: Who Tries To Sign Noel Next Summer?

The Philadelphia 76ers will be treading the trade waters carefully, but should be jumping at a trade involving draft picks. This isn’t a way of “kicking the can down the road” for the rebuild, rather finding the best value while adding a potential impact player through the draft. The draft is a risk the Philadelphia 76ers haven’t been afraid to take, and they shouldn’t stop now. The youth will grow, and adding more youth will only help, not hurt.