3 Trades the 76ers Must Pursue if Joel Embiid Misses Significant Time
By Jovan Alford
3. Chris Boucher
After you get past Drummond and Olynyk, the market for available big men gets slim, as many teams are still in contention and don’t have much to offer. However, the Sixers should look to see what it would take to acquire Chris Boucher, who has played under Nick Nurse in Toronto and could be traded ahead of the deadline.
The 31-year-old is struggling mightily with the Raptors this season, averaging 6.1 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes per game under new head coach Darko Rajakovic.
Boucher may need to be reunited with Nurse, as he had a solid three-year stretch between 2020/21 and 2022/23, where the former Oregon Duck averaged 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
However, the only potential hang-up about a trade for Boucher is he’s making $11.7M this year and $10.8M next season. I don’t see the Sixers wanting to give up Covington for a guy who isn’t doing much and costing more than Reed.
Therefore, I wouldn’t put Boucher in the must-trade category. It’s more like a quick call to Masai Ujiri to see the asking price.
If I were the Sixers, I’d put in a trade call about Christian Wood, who hasn’t played well in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s only making $2.7M this season and has a player option for 2024-25.
The trade options aren’t plentiful for the Sixers, who could be stuck between a rock and a hard place depending on how long Embiid is out.
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