Philadelphia 76ers: 3 potential deadline trades to fix the Sixers’ bench

76ers get: Kris Dunn, Cristiano Felicio

Bulls get: Markelle Fultz, Jonah Bolden, 2019 second-round pick, 2020 second-round pick, and 2022 second-round pick

For the Sixers’ Sake:

Kris Dunn, who was drafted fifth overall in the 2016 draft, has had an interesting start to his NBA career. After playing 78 games in his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the third-year guard has only played a total of 80 games in the last two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.

Despite his many absences, Dunn still manages to average 12 PPG, 6.3 APG and 4.2 RPG in 31 minutes a night. However, guard Zach LaVine still is still the alpha of the Bulls, and his versatility in the backcourt is something the Bulls will surely benefit from in their rebuild.

Dunn’s six-plus assists per night could spark the Sixers latent bench. In addition, Dunn boasts 1.5 steals per game this season, which could lead to quick buckets for a Sixers second-unit that struggles to get easy hoops.

Immediately following this trade, Dunn would become one of the best backup Point Guards in the NBA. However, don’t rule out sliding Dunn into the starting lineup: it could work.

The Sixers possess an ultra-tall projected starting lineup headlined by their 6-foot-10 point guard and thus could afford to slide the 6-foot-4 ‘short’ Dunn into the first unit. Perhaps Redick could see some minutes with the second unit, adding some easy buckets while the stars rest.

It’s worth mentioning Dunn has approximately 2-years, and $9.57 million left on his rookie contract: a cheap price to pay for a starting caliber player.

For the Bulls’ sake:

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Let’s face it; the Bulls are all but certainly lottery bound. With such a talented backcourt in LaVine and Dunn, the Bulls may end up investing too much money in their guard combo.

Lavine is already owed $78 million in guaranteed money through the 2021-22 season. If the Bulls were to re-sign Dunn at the conclusion of his deal, the Bulls could end up with a cash-strapped backcourt similar to the Washington Wizards.

Oddly enough, according to the Athletic, those same Wizards just sent Otto Porter Jr. (who has a hefty contract with over $53 million guaranteed and a player option in 2020-21) to the Bulls Wednesday evening. If the Bulls want to keep Porter Jr. and Lavine, the Bulls may need to bring out the cash truck.

Dunn could be the odd man out. Nonetheless, losing him for a former number one overall pick is a great consolation. In no way is Fultz’s career over, and if he sits for a little while longer in Chicago, a top pick in the lottery would be even more attainable.

The Bulls are currently 30th in the NBA in scoring. When healthy, Fultz has a knack for scoring the basketball that the Bulls could surely appreciate.

To close out the deal, the Bulls would get Felicio’s contract off the books and add Bolden to their frontcourt for some depth at a much cheaper price.

In the aforementioned trade with Washington, the Bulls reportedly traded two frontcourt players away for one. Jonah Bolden proved in limited time this season that he could hold his own with a second unit and thus provide the depth for the Bulls that was lost.

The Sixers have had an uphill mountain to climb in their mission to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy this season. After Wednesday’s blockbuster deal and another one of these hypothetical deals, the Sixers may, in fact, all but punch their ticket to June.