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The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of a title run, but that isn’t stopping the rumor mill from churning and linking a variety of names to the team.
James Harden and Joel Embiid look like a good pairing, but they’ll need to get even more help if they want to win a championship. Names like Danny Green, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris have all stepped up in the playoffs to help shoulder the load, but improvements can always be made.
Former first round pick Nicolas Batum is somebody who could become available for the Sixers, and if he wants to win a championship before his career wraps up this could be one of his best options.
Bleacher Report’s Dav Favale suggests the Sixers go after him in the offseason, and even argues it’s possible to do despite Batum’s player option.
Sixers Get Deeper
GettyLA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum.
Something the Sixers have struggled with since trading away Andre Drummond is big man depth. DeAndre Jordan and Paul Reed haven’t exactly been the solutions the team is looking for, so they could use some more bodies.
Batum is only 6’8″ so he can’t back up Embiid, but he’d be able to slide in at power forward and provide some valuable scoring there. The Sixers will be held back in free agency due to having lots of their money tied up in Embiid, Harden and Harris, so a name like Batum would work for them.
Favale argues that his shooting and defense would make him an excellent fit on the Sixers.
“Batum doesn’t initiate the offense as often anymore, but he keeps the ball moving and has knocked down 40.2 percent of his triples the past two seasons,” he wrote. “His defensive portability also still covers the point of attack. No one on the Clippers this season soaked up more reps against No. 1 options, according to BBall Index.”
One major problem for the Sixers is the fact that the Clippers wouldn’t exactly want to let him go, and it’d be tough to pry him away from Los Angeles since they can offer him more money than anybody else. He also has a player option he could simply accept to stay with LA.
With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both presumably coming back next year fully healthy, the Clippers could be title contenders once again and Batum might not want to leave that behind.
Sixers Could Free Up Money
GettyTobias Harris might be the odd man out.
With Harris coming on strong in the playoffs, this might now be a controversial move but something that’s possible is flipping Harris’s massive contract in an effort to free up much needed cap space.
If the team could break up that money into a plethora of cheaper players, it could do wonders for the depth chart. Back in March, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned NBA GMs were wondering what a trade for the talented forward could look like.
There’s no telling what the Sixers have planned at the moment, but if a large contract was to be moved this summer, that would likely be the one that’s shipped out of town.
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