A report from ESPN's Ryen Russillo surfaced this weekend involving rumored trade talks between the 76ers and the LA Lakers. Russillo's twitter account reported that the talks include Philly shipping Michael Carter Williams, the reigning rookie of the year, and Thaddeus Young to Los Angeles for the 7th pick in the 2014 and Steve Nash.
These rumored conversations are yet another result of Joel Embiid's recently discovered foot injury. Embiid was favored to go first overall to Cleveland, leaving either Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins for the Sixers with the 3rd pick. With Embiid likely dropping out of the top 3 picks, Parker and Wiggins will likely be off the board by the time the Sixers get on the clock. Dante Exum, the Australian point guard, is widely regarded as the next best available.
At 6'6'' and with excellent ball-handling and passing skills, Exum is seen by some scouts as a better version of MCW. At 18 years old, he is also 4 years-younger than Carter-Williams. Brett Brown has an existing relationship with Exum as the former coach of the Australian national team. It is possible that Sam Hinkie and Brown don't believe Carter-Williams and Exum can coexist on the court. Trading away Carter-Williams in this scenario would give the Sixers the #3, #7, and #10 picks in the upcoming draft.
The other part of this deal would send away the 76ers' longest tenured player in Thad Young. Thad Young is owed $9.4 million for 2014-15 season and close to $10 million for 2015-2016. This trade would give Philly even more cap space next summer for free-agents as Nash's contract is expiring.
This deal is still only rumored but if the Sixers take Exum at 3, they could use #7 and #10 on other highly regarded prospects like PF/C Noah Vonleh, PF/SF Aaron Gordon, SG Marcus Smart, or even C Joel Embiid if he happens to fall that far. Giving up the rookie of the year is a lot to ask but picking up 3 rookies with a lot of potential paired along with a healthy Nerlens Noel would be an awesome core for the future. But its also a big risk, as Carter-Williams is a known commodity and has proved himself as a starter and possibly a future star.
By: Matt Ryan
At 6'6'' and with excellent ball-handling and passing skills, Exum is seen by some scouts as a better version of MCW. At 18 years old, he is also 4 years-younger than Carter-Williams. Brett Brown has an existing relationship with Exum as the former coach of the Australian national team. It is possible that Sam Hinkie and Brown don't believe Carter-Williams and Exum can coexist on the court. Trading away Carter-Williams in this scenario would give the Sixers the #3, #7, and #10 picks in the upcoming draft.
The other part of this deal would send away the 76ers' longest tenured player in Thad Young. Thad Young is owed $9.4 million for 2014-15 season and close to $10 million for 2015-2016. This trade would give Philly even more cap space next summer for free-agents as Nash's contract is expiring.
This deal is still only rumored but if the Sixers take Exum at 3, they could use #7 and #10 on other highly regarded prospects like PF/C Noah Vonleh, PF/SF Aaron Gordon, SG Marcus Smart, or even C Joel Embiid if he happens to fall that far. Giving up the rookie of the year is a lot to ask but picking up 3 rookies with a lot of potential paired along with a healthy Nerlens Noel would be an awesome core for the future. But its also a big risk, as Carter-Williams is a known commodity and has proved himself as a starter and possibly a future star.
By: Matt Ryan
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