Philadelphia 76ers: A 3-team trade deadline blockbuster proposal

Breaking down the deal

The parameters of the deal are as follows:

• Sixers receive:  C.J. McCollum, Jon Leuer, Shabazz Napier
• Pistons receive:  J.J. Redick, Markelle Fultz, Jusuf Nurkic, 1st round draft pick (from Portland)
• Trail Blazers receive:  Andre Drummond, Luke Kennard, 1st round draft pick (from Philadelphia)

Philadelphia 76ers

While Redick provides invaluable locker room experience and a deadly outside shot, he turns 34 in June and will be due for a contract extension in the summer. On the other hand, while Fultz has yet to be given really any chance to prove his worth, the fact that he is he a natural point guard, combined with the extraordinary start Simmons has made to his career, means this move makes a great deal of sense for the Sixers.

In McCollum, the Sizers are not only bringing in one of the elite shooters in the league, they would be adding someone who can create his own shot in clutch situations. At present, only Embiid on the current roster is legitimately able to generate their offense when things get stagnant.

Additionally, Napier is experiencing a career year with Portland, averaging 9.5 points per game while shooting at a 40.8 percent clip from 3-point range.

Detroit Pistons

This is naturally another huge gamble for the Pistons. On top of the Griffin deal, trading away their All-Star center in the midst of a career-year at age 24 could easily backfire big-time. But the opportunity to acquire a unique talent in Fultz is something very hard to overlook. Since the ill-fated selection of Darko Milicic at No. 2 overall in 2003, the Pistons have not struck gold in the draft aside from the selection of Drummond at No. 9 overall in 2012.

Even though they missed the playoffs from 2010-15, the highest they’ve been able to draft was in 2010, when they selected Greg Monroe at No. 7 overall. In essence, they have been bereft of acquiring absolute elite talent. In trading for Fultz, this becomes a possibility.

Furthermore, the addition of Nurkic provides the Pistons with a legitimate seven-foot presence in the paint, who at just 23 years old still has plenty of upside remaining. And then there is Redick, who gets to not only re-acquaint with his former Clippers teammate in Griffin, but is reunited with his first head coach in the league, Stan Van Gundy.

Granted, the move would likely dispense point guard Reggie Jackson to the bench, but that is a separate issue they would need to deal with. Overall, the move provides the Pistons with elite young talent to suitably complement Griffin as they attempt to rise the Eastern Conference standings.

Portland Trail Blazers

Breaking up the Damian Lillard-McCollum backcourt would naturally be quite difficult, but unfortunately is a necessary evil if the Blazers are to take the next step as a franchise. With Drummond, they are presented with a legitimately dominating presence at both ends of the floor to provide a great inside-outside balance with Lillard on the perimeter.

In addition, shooting guard Luke Kennard would arrive to fill in the shoes of McCollum. The No. 12 overall pick of last year’s draft, Kennard has shown real development in his debut season, averaging 6.8 points per game while shooting at a 42.2 percent clip from long range.

The Blazers would be required to hand over their 2018 first round draft pick to the Pistons in order to compensate them for this acquisition, but it’ll likely be somewhere in the 20s, and they’ll be getting a first-rounder from Philly’s treasure trove of extra draft picks.

Ultimately, this deal, which works out financially on the ESPN Trade Machine, has real possibilities for all parties involved.

Next: 2018 NBA Draft big board: End of January

Overall, a Simmons-McCollum-Covington-Saric-Embiid has the makings of a team ready to go to battle not only this season, but for many years to come.