A Tobias Harris-Cj McCollum trade swap makes far to much sense for the 76ers (8/2/21)
NBA free agency is about to kick off today at 6pm. The Sixers look to improve the team after a heartbreaking game seven loss to the underdog Hawks.
The problem is that the team has hardly any cap space to work with, as they will need to rely on their mid-level exception, signing role players to minimum contracts, and trading for players in order to improve the roster.
Trading away Ben Simmons has been the Sixers main priority this offseason, as he was a major disappointment during the Hawks series. It’s looking more and more likely that Simmons will be back, as Daryl Morey hasn’t been able to find a good enough trade package involving Simmons.
While they might not be able to deal away Simmons, they could deal away another player on the roster that is being highly overpaid, that player being Tobias Harris.
Harris is a great player, but he’s being paid like a superstar player when he’s never even made an All-Star team once throughout his lengthy career. He isn’t the greatest fit alongside Embiid and Simmons, as he is not someone who is a lethal scorer and can do it from anywhere on the court.
With Embiid’s injury history and Simmons’ offensive limitations, the Sixers need someone who could consistently get buckets, and that player is CJ McCollum.
McCollum is undoubtedly one of the best scorers in the entire league. He’s coming off the best season of his career where he averaged a career high 23 points a game, and he averaged the fourth most three pointers converted in the NBA.
An underrated aspect of McCollum’s game is that he can become a primary ball handler when called upon to do so. He averaged a career high in assists with 4.7.
This trade swap would be the perfect opportunity for the Sixers to finally unload Harris’ hefty contract, and while adding a player that is a much cleaner fit alongside the Sixers All-Star duo.
Adding McCollum won’t make this team instant title favorites, but it should get this team closer to the ultimate destination of winning a championship. McCollum would give the Sixers a player that the franchise hasn’t had since Jimmy Butler.
