Sixers poll: Fans generally support a trade for Kyle Lowry

In a move that may ultimately bite him in the butt, Daryl Morey has officially declared the 2020-21 Sixers season “pretty much championship or bust.”

The wild ramblings of a noted eccentric? Simple hyperbole from a newly hired executive looking to puff up his on-court product? Maybe a little bit of both? You be the judge, but that statement isn’t one even a wily vet like Morey can walk back.

No, if the Sixers somehow fall apart down the stretch or worse, get bumped in the first round by a team like the Celtics, it will call into question Morey’s entire team-building philosophy and could result in players like Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons being shipped out of town in favor of a massive roster overhaul.

While I would hate to see that happen, the prevailing thought would likely be if the dynamic duo of Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey can’t find success with Simmons and Embiid, no one can.

So, with all that in mind, many a fan inside the City of Brotherly Love and abroad have started to scour the league for a big piece to transform the Sixers’ favor and “push them over the top,” so to speak.

For many, that player is Kyle Lowry.

Sixers fans generally approve of a Kyle Lowry trade.

More from Section 215

A born and bred native son of our fair city, Kyle Lowry played his college basketball on the Mainline at Villanova and has reportedly expressed interest in returning home if he’s traded by the struggling Raptors.

But here’s the thing, trading for Lowry is going to be expensive and could significantly alter the team’s rotation, depth chart, and asset pool moving forward, as the Raptors reportedly want a mix of young players, picks, and cap filler to pull off such a deal.

Would fans really be interested in mortgaging the future for a better bite at a Chip this year, in a season without fans? Well, we took a poll to find out, and the results, while rather predictable, are still worth evaluating further.

Would you want the #Sixers to trade for Kyle Lowry knowing it will likely cost pick(s), young player(s), and Danny Green+ to make the money work? If so, what package would you give up to get it done?
— Section 215 (@Sec215) February 26, 2021

As you can see, the parameters were pretty clear. To make a trade work, even with an $8.19 million trade exception, the Sixers would need to surrender roughly $24 million in cap space to onboard Lowry’s $30 million deal. That likely means surrendering a player like Danny Green and his $15 million plus a handful of non-rotation players like Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier to make the money work.

The Sixers would then need to surrender at least one plus asset player on a rookie contract, presumably Tyrese Maxey, to fit the second part of the Raptors request, before throwing in a few draft picks to truly put the deal over the top, say a 2022 first-round pick and a pair of second-round picks, maybe in 2021 and 2023.

Remember, in addition to being one of the best general managers in the NBA, Masai Ujiri has no real incentive to trade Lowry to the Sixers. So to entice him enough to get a potential deal done, the Sixers will surely have to give up a package in the same vein as the one they used to acquire Tobias Harris back in 2019.

Is that a massive package to acquire a soon-to-be 35-year-old with no more years left on his contract? Yes, it really is, but as you can see, 60.7 percent of the 61 fans who voted in our poll think it’s a worthy one.

And hey, assuming the Sixers are able to get such a package from hypothetical to probably, they would surely be able to land another piece, say Saint Joseph’s winger DeAndre’ Bembry, who is on a two-year, $3.7 million deal and could help to alleviate the burden of losing Green from their rotation for a few minutes here and there.

Pulling off a two for four deal to acquire Lowry plus a player would also free up a pair of roster spots that the Sixers could use to target buyout candidates, sign a veteran free agent like Justin Anderson, who isn’t on an NBA roster right now, or to elevate two-way performers like “BBALL” Paul Reed or Rayjon Tucker who have shown out exceptionally well in the G-League so far this season.

Would the Sixer be better off swapping out Green and Maxey for Lowry, a bought-out power forward, and some other marginal players? Most definitely, but is it worth not only breaking up the third-most utilized lineup in the NBA but also compromise the team’s future in the process for a chance at something better right now? That, my friends, is the $30 million question and could impact the team’s future for years to come.

Next. Why would anyone think trading Seth Curry is a good idea?. dark

What do you think? Do you agree with the general consensus of our poll, or do you think the Philadelphia 76ers should look for a more financially manageable trade target that won’t completely distort the team’s current roster composition? Let us know in the comments below!