Philadelphia 76ers: Looking At Trade Destinations For Thaddeus Young

Sam Hinkie needs to trade Thaddeus Young. If not for the sake of the team, for the sake of the man himself. He’s a very, very good basketball player. He doesn’t deserve what is going to happen this season. The Philadelphia 76ers are going to be one of the worst teams to ever take to the floor in the NBA.

Thaddeus Young has proved his worth on the Philadelphia 76ers. Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

Young is a really underrated performer. He averaged 14.8 points last season on 53 percent shooting from the field. His PER was a very respectable 18.2, which was better than Zach Randolph, Pau Gasol and Carlos Boozer — three players that have been considered elite power forwards in the last few years. The former Georgia Tech forward has an incredible motor and averages more than two offensive rebounds a game. No, he’s not going to be an All-Star anytime soon, but he’s a well-polished NBA player and one that could seriously help a contending team.

Nailing on your role players has been shown to be very important in recent years. Players like Mike Miller, Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers have all been absolutely vital to the Miami Heat winning back-to-back championships, yet none are considered stars. Thad Young’s contract has him earning $8.8 million this season, which is very fair for his level of production. Here’s three teams that may consider calling the phone and asking Philly to deal for the forward:

Oklahoma City Thunder

I’ve been beating this drum for a while now. The Oklahoma City Thunder desperately need another option to take some of the scoring load off of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Young could come off the bench — or start, with Ibaka at the 5 against certain teams — and be that third option in tandem with Ibaka. If Young could average 10 to 15 points, along with Ibaka, perhaps the beard-shaped hole left by superstar James Harden may slowly disappear.

What would they have to give up: Dealing with the Sixers gives the Thunder the opportunity to dump one of the worst contracts in the NBA: Kendrick Perkins’ $8.9 million a year, that actually goes up to $9.6 million through 2014-15. However, they would also have to give up one of Jeremy Lamb or Perry Jones III and a first-round draft pick. Still, this seems like a trade that makes sense for both sides.

Houston Rockets

Thaddeus Young could be a really nice fit next to Dwight Howard. A starting lineup of Jeremy Lin-Harden-Chandler Parsons-Young-Howard is one that I would pick to be a top-three team in the West. Young and Howard both rebound at an elite level; Young can help stretch the floor with his outside touch (admittedly not from 3-point range) while Howard dominates everything and everyone.

What would they have to give up: Omer Asik, unfortunately. Although this is where it gets tricky. Philly doesn’t really need Asik; they have numerous options at center and aren’t really looking to improve them. So a third team needs to get involved. What about the Bulls? Let’s say the Bulls want Asik back. A trade can definitely be worked out there, with Philly acquiring the picks and the bad contracts, with the Bulls and the Rockets taking Asik and Young, respectively.

San Antonio Spurs

Trading anybody to the Spurs would make them a better player, but I really think Thaddeus Young could benefit from a move to Texas. Tim Duncan is slowing down and having young, explosive legs around him in the frontcourt will help. Outside of Tiago Splitter, they don’t really have that.

A 3-4 tandem of Kawhi Leonard and Young could be really really fun. Make it happen.

What would they have to give up: Boris Diaw and a first rounder. They would also need to unload a little bit more salary to make the money work out. But it really wouldn’t have to be a lot and Thad could push them over the edge. Not that the edge is that big, anyway.

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