Philadelphia 76ers: Trading Mikal Bridges could cost Brett Brown his job

Trading Mikal Bridges may cost Brett Brown his job with the Philadelphia 76ers.

When then-interim general manager Brett Brown traded Mikal Bridges to the Phoenix Suns for Zhaire Smith and Miami’s unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick, he effectively signed his walking papers with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Granted, at the time, this move wasn’t some massive watershed moment in ‘Process’-history. Heck, some even lauded the move, as Brown explicitly compared Smith to his former ward Kawhi Leonard during the pre-draft process, and many assumed Miami’s pick could be towards the top of a draft that may have featured both high school seniors and college freshman.

Obviously, none of that actually happened, but hey, that was the idea.

In theory, that pick, 10th overall, should have been the final time the Sixers picked in the lottery for a very, very long time, as playoff teams pick in the 20s (duh). Did that player need to develop into a star? No, Bridges is at best the fifth starter on a good team, but said player at least needed to be a four-year contributor with a defined role while playing on a cost-controlled contract. Smith, a 6-foot-3 college power forward at Texas Tech, was much more of a defensive-minded project than a Day 1 contributor, which makes the decision to pass on Bridges, a two-time NCAA national champion upperclassman, so maddening; Bridges is already one of the better young wing defenders in the league right now, and could even outguard Matisse Thybulle in a weird All-Star weekend skills challenge.

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Who knows, maybe the Sixers wanted to save a few bucks and felt that Smith for $8.8 million was just a better value than Bridges at $12 million? Based on the frequency of selling off Sam Hinkie’s prized second-round picks as of late, that’s not an unthinkable suggestion.

With that in mind, by executing this relatively inconsequential deal, one of 13 Brown made before Elton Brand‘s hiring on September 18th, 2018, he set into motion a series of escalating dominos that left the Philadelphia 76ers with an empty war chest of assets, a roster devoid of both shooters and ball handlers, and an irate fanbase begging for another teardown for the sake of Joel Embiid.

Please, allow me to elaborate.

You see, without executing the trade, the Sixers wouldn’t have had the assets needed to trade for Tobias Harris, the “missing piece” Brand identified to put his team over the top and mortgage its long-term viability for a short-term at an NBA Championship.

In theory, I guess the Sixers could have included another one of their own future draft picks alongside their 2021 first-rounder, Landry Shamet, and company in the blockbuster trade that also sent Mike Scott and Boban Marjanovic to the City of Brotherly Love, but with said picks presumed to be outside the lottery, why would the Los Angeles Clippers say yes?

Oh gosh, however ironic is that? The Sixers’ 2020 pick may actually end up being lower than Miami’s in 2021. Boy, if only Philly had a player like Jimmy Butler to help turn the tides on their fading away season. Oh wait, they did have Butler and may still if it wasn’t for the trade for Harris.

As you, me, and every other morbidly curious Philly fan with wondering eyes and a desire to watch competitive basketball will regrettably attest, Butler has been really, really good in the NBA bubble, continuing on his fourth-quarter heroics as the best player on a championship contender. Though one of the least effective shooting guards left in play at knocking down shots from beyond the arc, Butler’s relentless motor, slasher’s mentality, and willingness to kick it outside for an open outlet pass has been a revelation for a team bogged down with a ton of underperforming players on eight-figure contracts. Now that would be the worst.

Actually, this situation might give a half-decade of mediocrity a run for its money, as it’s self-inflicted.

Because of the addition of Tobias Harris and an innate desire to lock up a pair of long-term starters before Ben Simmons’ poison pill max contract kicked in the fall of 2020, the Sixers also shipped the remaining value of Markelle Fultz‘s four-year, $37.4 million contract to the Orlando Magic for what will ultimately just be OKC’s 2020 first-round pick.

Now a whole ton has been written about Fultz’s incapability in South Philly both on and off the court. Yes, technically his team has more playoff wins in 2020 than the Sixers, and his inclusion would certainly be welcomed right about now even if his outside shot may never fall beautifully, but even if Fultz was never going to be the next James Harden, trading him away after 33 games in a Sixers jersey is beyond questionable.

Smith will probably never develop into an NBA starter, but you’d best believe he’ll be on some team’s 15 man roster this fall, either here, or on a team like the Charlotte Hornets via trade.

Blame it on hubris, a decree from management, or a few too many hours playing 2K’s MyGM, but Brand’s relentless efforts to chop and screw a championship roster together with a nearly numerous series of trades were directly facilitated by Brown’s own decision making.

To be fair to Brown, trading Bridges wasn’t the lone dark spot of his tenure behind the desk. He also traded away Richaun Holmes for cash, a pair of promising young wings (Justin Anderson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot) for Mike Muscala, and struck out spectacularly in free agency, but hey, at least he traded away the rights to Kostas Antetokounmpo for Shake Milton on draft night, that one kind of worked out.

dark. Next. Tobias Harris is comically bad at getting to the line

Brett Brown is not the best coach in the NBA. He’s stuck in his ways, non-adaptive, and somehow doesn’t believe that surrounding Joel Embiid with four shooters is a good idea. However, in quite possibly the most Philadelphia 76ers move of all time, it may be his decision-making with the ball in his court that ultimately soured his position within the organization and could cost him his job when the team’s 2019-20 season is mercifully put out to pasture. But hey, at least he didn’t trade away an all-time franchise player for Kiko Alonso straight up, that’s something to be proud of.