Philadelphia 76ers: Potential blockbuster trades ahead of 2017 NBA Draft

Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks

Kristaps Porzingis‘ name entered headlines recently when he decided to skip the Knicks’ exit interviews at the conclusion of yet another disastrous season. This was reported as being due to the “drama and dysfunction” surrounding the organisation. As a result of this, it was also reported that several teams reached out to the Knicks in the days following his non-appearance to discuss potential trades for Porzingis.

If the Sixers weren’t one of these teams, they should be. At 7-foot-3, Porzingis fits the criteria of a modern-day stretch-4, or stretch-5 if needed. He can hit the three-ball, put the floor on the ball, cross over his opponent and finish strong inside. And he has only scratched the surface of his seemingly limitless potential.

This season, Porzingis averaged 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game. However, playing alongside All-Star forward, Carmelo Anthony, Porzingis’ role in the offense was often underutilized. In terms of frontcourt touches per game, Anthony averaged 50.3 to Porzingis’ 38.4, while also being superior in field goal attempts per game, 18.8 to 14.9 per game.

And then there is the issue of the triangle offense, which was implemented more and more as the regular season went on — despite the protestations of the Knicks players. This, of course, is due to the significant influence of Knicks president Phil Jackson. Porzingis stated the following during the season when describing trying to incorporate the triangle offense:

"“It’s very random.”"

And further, to quote legendary Knicks beat writer Frank Isola from a recent piece:

"“….he’s (Porzingis) just as confused as any of his teammates as to why (Phil) Jackson is taking on a more hands-on approach with the team.”"

One of Porzingis’ best performances came early in the season in a win over the Detroit Pistons. Playing 40 minutes, Porzingis scored a career-high 35 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Furthermore, he was a +15 while on the floor.

The highlights of this performance can be seen here:

This now leads us to the Sixers.

Considering their combination of young talent and future picks, the Sixers are in a great position to make a run at Porzingis. The aforementioned column penned by Isola was titled “Kristaps Porzingis’ hacking scandal further muddles relationship with Phil Jackson, Knicks.”  This is in reference to a curious tweet Porzingis posted recently, which simply said “LA Clippers,” accompanied by three smiling emojis.

And although Porzingis claims his account was hacked, as the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Therefore, the Sixers will need to thoroughly think about an attractive package to propose to the Knicks.

A trade proposal consisting of the following should certainly be considered:

This would provide Phil Jackson and the Knicks a strong nucleus to build around. Dario Saric is at the forefront of Rookie of the Year contenders, while Jahlil Okafor is just two years removed from being selected with third overall pick of the draft. With the Knicks earning the No. 8 overall draft pick in this week’s lottery, two top-eight picks in a loaded draft represents a great rebuilding tool.

Furthermore, Robert Covington has established himself as one of the elite wing defenders, and hence a substantial upgrade on Anthony at that end of the floor. From the Sixers’ perspective, Covington comes out of contract at the end of 2017-18 and is likely to command a hefty extension. Such a trade would avoid that scenario coming to a head.

Plus, if the Knicks were able to find a suitable trade suitor for Carmelo Anthony this summer, it’d represent a completely fresh start for Jackson and the franchise.