FanPost

A CJ McCollum Trade Idea

USATSI_9213672_168380803_lowres-1100x733.0.jpgIn thinking about the moves that can be made to make this team better, we really have to consider all options. This past year was promising, but the Sixers are clearly one or two pieces away from being a contender for the playoffs or, possibly, a title. The upcoming draft offers some of the best prospects the Association has seen in a while, so there is certainly opportunity to use that route. However, another option would be to use the trade market. There are numerous teams that could have an interest in some of the role players the Sixers have on their roster, and the upcoming draft pick(s) add even more incentive. The team I see as an ideal partner is the Portland Trail Blazers. They have a lot of potential, and some stars, and just finished the season 19-7 after their trade for Nurkic. However, their most glaring weakness is the complete lack of defense provided by their two guards. This offsets the offensive production of Lillard and McCollum, adding to the problem of the redundancy of their skillsets. Due to this, a trade might be possible for McCollum.

Scenario 1

The first offer I would make involves the Sixers pick this year, along with Robert Covington and Richaun Holmes, in exchange for McCollum and Meyers Leonard. I know, I know, those are two of the most valuable pieces to the Sixers moving forward, but that's precisely why they would interest a team like Portland. Losing the pick would hurt, but having an established scorer who can take over a game when needed is, in my eyes, more valuable than the possibility of one. Covington would offer a very cheap but effective 3 and D option, and Holmes would provide a spark off the bench and an excellent pick and roll partner for Lillard. In exchange, the Sixers get McCollum, who could easily step in at 2 guard, allowing for a starting lineup of Simmons, CJ, Stauskas/TLC, Saric, Embiid. The bench would be significantly weaker, but Philadelphia still has a number of picks with which to solidify their backup rotation, along with overseas players like Furkan Korkmaz. Leonard is thrown in as extra incentive for Portland, who don't need to be paying a backup center $9 mil a year.

Scenario 2

The second scenario involves fewer players on the Sixers side, as it would be limited to the pick and Saric, and would bring back the same duo of McCollum and Leonard. It hurts me to even mention moving Saric, who is one of my favorite players in the league at this point. However, the benefit of this trade as compared to the other one is its ability to retain depth. The starting lineup would be the same as in the last scenario, with Covington replacing Stauskas or TLC, and Richaun moving to PF. Assuming no injuries and Furkan possibly coming over from Europe, the bench would be a sudden strength, featuring TJ, TLC, Leonard, Stauskas, Furkan, and Jahlil (hopefully not), along with whatever 10-day experiments happen to be on the team at the time. This kind of depth could outpace other secondary units.

Obviously, it is not ideal to have to give up pieces in this way. However, a player like CJ could be the perfect complement for Embiid. On offense, he would provide scoring on the outside, further freeing up space for JoJo to go to work. On the opposite end of the floor, Embiid would cover for the deficiencies shown so far by the new shooting guard. It seems like a definite win for the franchise, and a way to jump from promising rebuild to playoff contender.

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