NBA Trade Rumors: 5 best destinations for Goran Dragic
By John Buhler
Philadelphia 76ers
East, Atlantic
The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t a great basketball team by any means, but seem to be done with their tanking ways. Through 36 games, the 76ers are two games up on the Heat in the Eastern Conference standings at 11-25. Philadelphia has already won more games (11) than it did all of last season (10).
76ers head coach Brett Brown has an emerging superstar in center Joel Embiid and a ton of interesting players in the frontcourt that are probably available for trade. The two guys that could have Miami’s intrigue are centers Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel. It could be a frontcourt logjam with either Noel or Okafor starting next Whiteside with Miami. However, Okafor is a great low-post scorer and Noel has shown that he can play alongside varying types of big men at the four.
Realistically, the 76ers need to seriously consider getting better at point guard now. T.J. McConnell can only tread water for so long for Brown now that veteran Jerryd Bayless is out for the year. Keep in mind that No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft small forward Ben Simmons will be back some point this winter to play some point forward.
Dragic could like playing for a head coach in Brown and the Colangelos in the front office who are set on winning here soon. Philadelphia could be a playoff team before the end of Dragic’s contract expires.
Overall, Philadelphia has the assets to trade for Dragic with Miami. However, do they want a ball dominant player in Dragic possibly thwarting Simmons’ development in the coming years? Dragic makes the 76ers instantly better in the short-term, but could hinder this young corps’ development in the long-term.