3 players the Philadelphia 76ers should target from the Sacramento Kings
As you may or may not have heard, the Sacramento Kings sort of have a thing for Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons.
On paper, the interest makes sense; the Kings are bad now, have been bad for a very long time, and reportedly have a mandate to make the playoffs from ownership. With an excess of highly drafted guards, a weird collection of forwards, and very little chance to make waves in the playoffs without a serious facelift, the Kings are on the lookout for the sort of franchise-defining player that just doesn’t come to Sacramento unless they are drafted by the organization (see Fox, De’Aaron).
In Simmons, Kings GM Monte McNair would have hope, direction, and hopefully a long enough leash to retain his job as long as his predecessor, Vlade Divac.
Is there an obvious trade between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings? Eh, not really, outside of a certain speedy, Kentucky-educated point guard (more on him later), the Kings don’t really have a one-for-one trade target that makes sense. What they do have, however, are a number of quality players that could theoretically intrigue Daryl Morey, including the following three players.
Tyrese Haliburton is the pick over De’Aaron Fox.
For the longest time, De’Aaron Fox looked like the logical trade target from the Sacramento Kings.
While the fifth-year pro has yet to see the court of an All-Star game, which was one of the preferred qualifications the Philadelphia 76ers were looking for in a Ben Simmons trade, Fox has generational speed, a game that has improved in each of his first four seasons, and an ability to run a two-man game with Joel Embiid intriguing enough to pique Daryl Morey’s interest.
But now? Almost 40 games into the regular season? Now Fox’s game overlaps just a bit too much with Tyrese Maxey, with the duo forming a less-than-ideal backcourt partnership if paired up together.
No, if the Sixers want a premier player to headline a trade for Simmons, the player is Tyrese Haliburton, who you can read more about here if you want a full write-up.
Haliburton is a great shooter, an improving defender, and already a better passer than any player on the Sixers’ roster right now, both in terms of averages and assist-to-pass percentage. He can play point guard, shooting guard, and even small forward, play alongside Maxey or run the second unit solo, and just generally improve the team’s overall talent level with the sort of connective tissue game that Philly is woefully lacking.
Simply put, if Tyrese Haliburton is on the table, which The Athletic’s Sam Amick suggests he could be, he’s the player the Philadelphia 76ers should be asking for above all others.