Bold deal makes 76ers set for title push
Through it all, through Brett Brown’s infamous 16 point guards, through the minutes restrictions and the rookie-red-shirt years, through every Sam Hinkie trope and Bryan Colangelo burner tweet, there was the promise of what the 76ers would do at 2:30 Wednesday morning. They would go all in. All. In. Already close enough to winning their first championship since they were led by Moses Malone, whose number they will retire Friday, the
Already close enough to winning their first championship since they were led by Moses Malone, whose number they will retire Friday, the Sixers upgraded their NBA gold card to platinum. Already having acquired Jimmy Butler in-season to meet the accepted minimum standard for contention with three recognized stars, they added talented scorer Tobias Harris in a multi-player trade that easily could be reduced to a blast of reverse nostalgia.
They traded later. And they banked on now.
According to league sources, Harris, massive center Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike Scott will arrive from the Clippers for a substantial chunk of the Sixers’ future.
Gone will be rookie Landry Shamet, who’d started earlier Tuesday night in a loss to Toronto, and who’d been gaining a reputation around the NBA as a budding J.J. Redicklevel shooter. Gone, too, will be that 2021 unprotected first-round pick. That was the one the Sixers acquired in their swift swap of Villanova’s Mikal Bridges on draft night, with then-acting-GM Brown insisting that in the economy of the NBA was the equivalent of trademarket gold. They also tossed in their own 2020 lottery-protected firstround pick. To make the roster-spots align, veterans Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala will go to Los Angeles. The Sixers will also send the Clippers secondround picks in 2021 and 2023.
With Joel Embiid only 24 and Ben Simmons just 22, it’s inaccurate to proclaim that the Sixers need to win with what they have on staff or acknowledge it is never going to happen until their next process. Theoretically, their two All-Stars can be around long enough to have multiple shots at a parade. But, Shamet was among the league’s most productive rookies, and a player whom just hours earlier Brown was raving about having the opportunity to coach. While that Miami pick may not necessarily yield a great player for the Clippers, it was, in itself, considered one of the Sixers’ more valued assets. With it, Brown was quick to announce that it gave the club the ammunition to go “star hunting,” for there are so few such unprotected choices ever available.
Brown, though, was right: That pick did enable the Sixers to acquire a star in Harris, whose ascent to NBA excellence was steady but impressive. The 19th overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Charlotte Bobcats, the 6-9 Harris bumped through Milwaukee, Orlando and Detroit, always showing a gift for finishing plays both around the basket and from beyond the arc. This season, he had been a force for the Clippers, averaging 20.7 points and six rebounds. A career 46.7 percent finisher, he can run, switch and defend, making him exactly the kind of frontcourt force that neither the ever-injured Chandler nor the frighteningly disappointing Muscala were unable to provide.
Surprisingly, Harris was not chosen as a Western Conference All-Star, but he was close enough to be among those most highly considered and clearly had been playing at that level. His versatility at both ends is exactly what Brown needed to complement Embiid, Simmons, Butler and Redick in the kind of all-star (as opposed to All-Star) starting lineup able to compete with any team, including the Warriors, who the Sixers recently defeated on their West Coast swing.
The loss of Shamet could sting, for the rookie had been a reliable shooter, often in big spots, particularly in home games. But Muscala, who’d been bugged by a series of injuries, was never the 3-point shooter he was advertised to be. Chandler, though willing, was too worn down at age 31 to keep up with what Brown had in mind.
The hidden value in the trade is Marjanovic, who is 7-3 with a 7-10 wingspan. The 60.7-percent finisher dumped 15 on the Sixers in an earlier visit to the Wells Fargo Center, with Brown raving afterward about his unique skills. The Sixers were looking for a big backup for Embiid, who was forced to play 42:41 in a loss Tuesday to the Raptors. Later in the season, the Sixers are certain to look for spots to rest Embiid, and have to be remindful their center has never finished a college or NBA regular-season healthy. Though hardly a reasonable replacement for Embiid in any longterm situation, Marjanovic is ideal as a support piece. Scott, 30, will be a backup forward with the ability to provide some perimeter help.
As they did last year, the Sixers were active at the deadline, but it was different this time. Their late, 2018 acquisitions of free-agents-to-be Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova were economically safe plays. They were, however, valuable additions, perfect for Brown’s style, better than even the Sixers might have imagined. Sometimes, it takes some luck for a quick roster transformation to click. The Sixers had that last year. It will be up to Brown to make it work again this time.
The addition of Harris and Marjanovic was costly. So was the earlier play for Butler. Since training camp, the Sixers have lost Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Shamet, Chandler, Muscala and that treasured unprotected pick. But, Brand is not timid and since neither Harris nor Butler are signed for next season, the rookie general manager’s finance skills are about to be tested.
“It’s always a weird time of the year because there’s a human side of it and there’s a business side,” Brown said Tuesday. “I think as we all sort of spend more time, our goals become more tangible and the expectations become a little bit more clear and real. There’s a business side like, ‘How do you get it done?’”
In the 2019 NBA, it is done by assembling four star players. Embiid, Simmons, Harris and Butler fit that description. The Sixers are ready to compete for a championship. They are all in. All.