Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers enter the 2020-21 NBA season with not only a new head coach in Doc Rivers, but a new front office executive in Daryl Morey, who has been known to be aggressive in efforts to win a championship for his team. The Sixers have been extremely aggressive in turning this team into a true championship contender this offseason as they not only traded for Danny Green and Seth Curry, but they brought in Dwight Howard and Tony Bradley to provide some quality depth behind Joel Embiid.
In the draft, Philly stayed aggressive as they drafted three high-volume playmakers in Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed. All three guys were known for their offensive abilities in college and should be reliable options to help improve the 76ers bench that was not strong a season ago.
When looking at the Philadelphia 76ers roster, it is clear to see that they do not have a lot of cap space, but they do have one overpaid player making $34.3M this upcoming season, as well as some valuable draft assets for future years. Getting rid of Tobias Harris’ contract, which pays him just under $150M over the next four years and acquiring DeMar DeRozan, who is only under contract for this season, not only frees up millions of dollars on Philly’s end, but allows them to either pursue another big name superstar next offseason or stick with DeRozan, Simmons and Embiid.
Tobias Harris is still a pretty good offensive player, but struggled when it mattered most for Philly last season, drawing a lot of questions as to if Harris can be that third option on a championship roster. DeRozan absolutely can be that third option on the 76ers, which is why it would make perfect sense for Daryl Morey to go out and acquire the 4x All-Star wing.
The only catch in this scenario is if San Antonio would be comfortable taking on such a big contract like Tobias Harris’ contract. It would be more than likely that they would try and find a third team to involve in this trade that is willing to take on Tobias Harris and his $150M over the next four seasons. The Spurs need young talent and draft picks, which is what they would be getting from the Sixers in exchange for DeMar DeRozan.
If Daryl Morey is truly “all-in” on winning a championship with the Philadelphia 76ers, this is their best time to do so. Both Simmons and Embiid are coming off of All-Star seasons and playing some of the best basketball of their career, so why not bring in DeMar DeRozan, who is hungry to prove that he can still play at a high-level. If the Philadelphia 76ers make the move to trade for DeMar DeRozan before the season or in the midst of the season, they will definitely be considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference.
