January 18, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Lauri Markkanen headlines the Utah Jazz's enticing collection of assets who could become available before the NBA's trade deadline.
With the NBA trade deadline just three weeks away, talks around the league are certainly beginning to escalate as deals near completion. At this stage of the process, it is difficult to gather which teams are interested in which players specifically. But what one can evaluate is which teams are buyers and which ones are sellers.
The Sixers, of course, are buyers, as they look to build a championship-caliber roster around reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid. Armed with several movable players and draft picks, President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey is expected to be aggressive in his pursuit of upgrades.
This begs the question: which teams are most likely to deal with the Sixers this trade season?
Any conversation about the Jazz must start with the status of All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen, who since being dealt to Utah has emerged as one of the league's best offensive talents. Markkanen is an elite marksman from beyond the arc with both impressive efficiency and volume, a much-improved scorer inside the arc and a wonderful fit for any team -- especially the Sixers.
With Markkanen soon due for an extension, if the Jazz decide they would rather sell him at what is perhaps the peak of his value in the league instead of inking him to a long-term deal, the Sixers should be as aggressive as they can possibly be. Markkanen would be the perfect piece to fit in between Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, as the Sixers would be forming a truly elite trio of offensive weapons.
But even if Markkanen ends up being off the table, the Jazz have plenty to offer in terms of short-term Band-Aids. Jordan Clarkson has become one of the single best -- if not the very best -- spark plug bench scorers in the association. The Sixers could use another reliable ball-handler and another consistent perimeter scorer. Clarkson could give them some depth there.
Another piece that the Jazz could move is Kelly Olynyk, who could serve in multiple roles for the Sixers: he could log backup center minutes as a floor-spacing five, but he could also play the four, perhaps alongside Embiid, and give Sixers head coach Nick Nurse an additional layer of flexibility and optionality with his lineups and rotation.
Less enticing but still valuable pieces the Jazz could move include wing Simone Fontecchio and guard Kris Dunn. Neither will blow anybody away, but they can chip in with competent minutes at their respective positions.
Detroit's best player -- who figures to be available as the Pistons continue their rebuild -- is Bojan Bogdanovic, one of the league's most underrated scorers. Bogdanovic, who is averaging 19.1 points per game and shooting 40 percent from three-point range on considerable volume over the last four-plus seasons, will turn 35 in April. Between his age and defensive weaknesses, he may not be as in demand as one would expect given his offensive portfolio. But with Embiid manning the middle, the Sixers are in a better position than most to take in a below-average defensive player and attempt to mollify their weaknesses. The offensive fit with Bogdanovic could be so seamless that it is worth putting up with his immobility on the other end of the floor.
More traditional options may be players like Monte Morris and former Sixer Alec Burks, who could bolster and stabilize the Sixers' bench. Morris is a terrific ball-handler who thrived for a long time as a top-tier backup point guard in Denver. He has since been moved to Washington and then Detroit, but the ability remains. While Morris is more of a creator for others, Burks is a scorer by nature -- there is some secondary shot creation juice there, but his primary role would be coming off the bench and putting the ball in the basket.
Less exciting but still viable candidates to be moved by Detroit include former Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris and another former Sixer, stretch big-man Mike Muscala.
The Raptors are very much open for business, as evidenced by their two major trades: dealing OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a second-round pick, and then on Wednesday sending Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks.
However, Toronto's front office may still have a lot of work to do. The newly acquired Bruce Brown may soon be flipped, as he fits the timeline of a team seeking to contend, not one like the Raptors that is focused on retooling. Brown would be a phenomenal fit on the Sixers and should be one of Morey's single top targets league-wide. He is a terrific, tenacious defender across multiple positions, can knock down spot-up threes at a decent rate and has some ball-handling abilities. Adding Brown would plug multiple holes for the Sixers.
The rest of Toronto's available trade pieces are players Nurse has coached. Gary Trent Jr. is one of the highest-volume three-point shooters in the association, and would allow Nurse to open up new actions in his playbook that utilize a wing movement shooter. Dennis Schroder would add ball-handling, a bit of scoring and hard-nosed defense, Chris Boucher would be an option to log minutes at the four or the five as a spacing big-man, and Otto Porter would present the team with more depth on the wing.
