The Sixers were expected to be among the best teams in the league, but through two-thirds of the season, they’ve been a major disappointment. Injuries are part of that, but fit among Philadelphia’s highest-paid players is a major reason why the team has failed to meet those lofty expectations.
The franchise inked Al Horford to a four-year, $109MM deal this offseason and the big man may not make it to year two in South Philly. According to Jeff Zillgett of USA Today, the Sixers may be open to dealing the veteran big this offseason if they can get shooting in return.
The Sixers did not try to move Horford at the trade deadline, Zillgett adds. Horford’s lucrative contract, which features a partial guarantee on the final season, may be a deterrent for potential trade partners if Philadelphia looks to move the 33-year-old.
Yeah, kind of hilarious how the Celtics were mocked for not signing him when in reality Philly signed an old mediocre jump-shooting big to a huge contract.
Exactly! Head scratcher.
Two more years at 34, 35 years of age at $27.25
million a year.
Strange brew…..
Yup. Danny knew Al didn’t have much left in the tank. Horford got greedy and will soon find himself playing among the league’s fodder. I’m thinking…Knicks. Or Sacramento
There are worse things than playing in Orlando, and making 28 million dollars. I mean, if it were me, where do I sign up? I wouldn’t care if I lost 82. Lol. I get what you’re saying though, from a competitive standpoint. We’re all wired differntly however. So to say it’d be a bad thing to him, I mean, do we know?
He did them a favor. They were able to sign Kemba because he opted out. Turned out great for Celtics.
Luck of the Irish?
They still need what they call in Old England, some silverware.
He’s good. He just doesn’t fit with Phila.
The Sixers should not have let JJ Redick go. I understand that he (illegally) spoke with The Pelicans before ‘trading season’ opened, but the Sixers should’ve had him signed before that.
It was one of the most stupid contracts of last years…
They won t have anything for him, they must give something and pray someone to take him
An old school coach might.
I’mma play devil’s advocate here.
Horford is only 33 years old. He can hit the three. The problem with the 76ers if mostly Ben Simmons, who they gave a worse contract to compared to Horford, and Joel Embiid who looks great when he’s healthy and looks invisible when he’s hurting cuz he ain’t able to play.
There’s only three years left at 80m, when there are still Wiggins contracts out there. Teams are just now getting out from under the Crabbe & Bazemore contracts, Mozgov’s ‘n Deng’s.
They also let Butler go and Reddick and got Richardson back, who they’ve even admitted is a tricky fit since he’s like the total opposite of Butler.
Horford is the least of their problems. They should find a way to make it work with him, much easier than overpaying Simmons before he’s even become consistent and Embiid is still processing like a YouTube upload.
Sidenote: I don’t understand the logic of a team option being a negative aspect to his contract in relation to teams being interested in Horford. Unless that’s a typo and it’s a player option.
Not disputing what you said, but wouldn’t Richardson be a slightly more ideal fit alongside Simmons and Embiid since he’s more of a shooter than Butler and was once regarded as a decent defender? I could see him being an unideal fit when Simmons sits since Butler was basically running the offense during those minutes.
3% isnt there for either.
It didn’t say the team option is a negative aspect. It’s the value of his contract as a whole, with 3 years remaining at $27M per season.
And the team option isn’t entirely accurate. According to Spotrac the final year of his deal has $14.5M guaranteed.
Horford is going to be 34 in a couple of months. He is shooting a below-average 33 percent from 3. It was an awful signing.
The problem is Simmons??? Big Al is the least of their problems?? Ha, another know-nothing Simpleton who obviously doesn’t follow the team. The team should and will be built % around Ben Simmons. Embiid missed his first two years, will never play in more than 1/2 the games in a season, and is just one rebound away from a Sam Bowie career ending injury. Not even going to address your stupidity as far as Horford goes Dumbo.
The problem is Simmons??? Big Al is the least of their problems?? Ha, another know-nothing Simpleton who obviously doesn’t follow the team. The team should and will be built % around Ben Simmons. Embiid missed his first two years, will never play in more than 1/2 the games in a season, and is just one rebound away from a Sam Bowie career ending injury. Not even going to address your stupidity as far as Horford goes Dumbo
Are you related to Simmons or sumn?
Nice write and yes JoshR does not have the same take-charge utility that Butler had for them.
I agree that Horford does have trade value but… he should me moved next after the coach. Horford has a conservative nature that relies on a definite PG or system in order to flourish. He wants an OK or a call but these are not likely without injury to the designated stars.
Again, the Sixer problem is what I am guessing at, the secretive foriegn personality of Simmons and his behind-the-scenes clout and need to be the PG.
The team would need to hire a new coach to even find out.
I mean it was a questionable fit when they gave him the contract. I feel like Philly gave Horford a contract figuring they were getting rid of one of Embiid’s weaknesses and (hopefully) weakening a competitor (Boston) without considering fit. Spacing was an issue for them last year and they didn’t really do anything to address that.
I may attempt to trade my 1989 Dodge Dakota truck this off season too. I don’t think there will be too many takers though.
I’ll trade you my 1980 Nissan 200sx and a six pack of Coors.
You might not be able to trade it for a 2019,but as long as you maintained it,finding a trade wouldn’t be as hard as you might think.
There’s plenty of bad contracts around the league.
Hey man.. I got 6k for my 2004 Dakota after a year of holding and driving on the weekends. Only paid 2650 for it. I think you could probably get 2 1sts from the Rockets since it’s a classic.
Real issue is roster construction. Simmons isn’t good, in a day and age where 3’s are king dude lives in paint and cant make free throws. If they were smart they would deal simmons as he is a slightly better lonzo ball on a huge contract.
Simmons just can’t shoot but can average close to a triple double. They need to surround him with shooters when he’s on the court or trade him or embiid.
You may – or may not – understand, but Simmons doesn’t average close to s triple-double because he’s great… he does because SIX-TEN, has the ball all the time, and passes to wide open teammates like he’s a workout guy.
In today’s game, DARIUS MILES would have the same stats.
Oh boy why do you keep insisting in commenting in this site??? Dude all you speak is garbage, do you even read what you post? Do you even watch the NBA? I don’t see any other 6-10 averaging a near triple double, do you? Quit while you are behind!
Horford and Embiid or Simmons for Draymond, Wiggins and the two 1st round picks has gotta be one of the deals on the table the Warriors will try and pull off this offseason.
Why would Philly trade Embiid or Simmons for two lottery picks in the worst draft class in the past 10 years?
Unless Embiid can average close to 40% on threes, you have to trade one of them and it’s usually safer to take the guard nowadays than the big.
Swing and a miss. Again it appears.
I’d take that all day if I was Philly.
It’s CP3 all over again. Poor fit on his team and he has a bad contract based mostly on his age. But, by metrics and optics, he is still an elite 2 way / 2 position big. A team built to win now that comes up short this year in the playoffs might be more than willing to buy the next 2 years and eat the partially guaranteed 3rd year. There are no guys like him in FA this year, and most such teams won’t have cap space in any event.
He isn’t elite…come on. He used to be good, now he is average and in two years he will be below average. They might be able to move him for another bad contract.
I can see a Horford/Wiggins swap. GS can use a C in their lineup.
If he lost anything, it was since last season (no diminution until then). Guys can lose it quickly in their mid-30s, but a guy with his body type, health and skill set generally don’t lose it over one off season.
Horford should be easier to trade because he makes $27M/year while CP3 at $40M/year is almost impossible to trade.
And yet we somehow got a former MVP who was averaging a triple double for several seasons running. Strange league. I thought we would never be able to trade CP3, much less for an arguable top 5 player in the league.
Westbrook isn’t even a top 5 player in the state of Texas.
To be fair, Horford doesn’t go to another team and provide the value CP3 is providing. Not value in play per $ earned but elevating a non contender to a contender.
But he’s at least as good a bet as CP3 would be to take a contender and put them over the top. Since the (real) market for any player in their mid-30s is among contenders, that’s the real issue. Look, the contract is bad, but supply and demand in the coming off season suggests they’ll be a few opportunities to move him without taking a bath. Hopefully, for your team, Brown isn’t day dreaming about his Australian national team when they arise.
Nice signing Elton no neck
Al Horford plus 2 second rounders for Harrison Barnes.
Horford is old and overpaid yes but Barnes is overpaid also. You give give up some second rounders to get rid of him.
If Horford leaves your going to want to send him out West because you still don’t want to come up against him in the playoffs because Embiid struggled against him that’s why we signed him.
For the kings it would fill that centre position they have struggled with ever since Cousins left and I think Horford would be a good old wise head for the locker room. He would fit well on the court with Bagley who likes to be athletic and physical down low and Horford wouldn’t clog the paint but defensively Horford would be a nice addition cause he is good defending in space.
Sixers receive back Barnes who isn’t great but I still think he handy. He is a 2 way player who can play either forward position is good defensively and have stretch the floor a little. If he’s asked to step it up and score more points he can otherwise he’s happy to be a 4th option and he’s got playoff experience.
1. Simmons (6’10)
2. Richardson (6’5)
3. Barnes (6’8)
4. Harris (6’8)
5. Embiid (7 foot)
Then would think about promoting Korkmaz or another shooter to the SG position over J Rich and letting JRich play that sixth man role leading the second unit like Iggy did with GSW.
This lead Rich is averaging 14/3.5/3.3 which is down from last year where he had 16.6/3.6/4. His shooting numbers are also down 41/36/86 to 43/32/79. So I’d let him thrive as the second unit leader where he can get more touches can score more freely, can create for others and hopefully his numbers increase.
They will use Horford, Richardson, Scott, and Smith. 46.5M in trade capital. They will burn their 1sts just like the Rockets.
Not worried about them being able to make a trade.
Yeah, they have more than enough ammunition to make something happen.
Elton Brand as a GM…take a look at his short history.
One could only describe it as comical.
Brand as gm,is in a wait and see what happens stage.The Butler and Harris trades almost got them to the finals last year.They gave up nothing but depth pieces in those trades.
Butler was likely walking,and would’ve likely ended up in New York or La,without the Miami trade.The trade got them a nice piece in JRich.Harris would’ve been maxed out by someone,if not the 6ers.He fits with both Embiid and Simmons.Horford was a bad fit,but they only had last offseason to use that money.Brand can still redeem himself,depending on how he goes about tinkering the roster.
Shamet,Saric,and Rco are all 4th or 5th options at best.Miamis pick,with Butler and whoever else they end up adding,is more than likely somewhere in the 20s.Rco & Saric for JRich still isn’t a bad trade.And outside of cost efficiency,Harris is a better option than Shamet.Cost efficiency is a mute point,since last offseason was really their last real chance at using it.
And he drafted Thybulle,and Pelle could end up a nice find for the bench.
Getting Thybulle required a trade to move up, but respect for the courage, since espn for instance had him ranked way down until Boston started talking him up.
He was a mid 20s guy for most mocks leading up to a few weeks before the draft. They got him at what 20 or 21? Once you get out of the lottery its usually pick your guy vs BPA anyway
The Celtics surprised people by talking Thybulle up for their #14, if I recall. I posted it was a decent pick even though espn had him at #77 based on late-season tourny play.
I not espn ranked him higher based on tournament play. He did not get credit for outstanding PAC10 play, IMO. link to hoopsrumors.com
link to hoopsrumors.com
I could not find my post claiming espn rank #77 for Thybulle, but– found a post claiming espn ranked him #28 as of 5-26-19, 25 days preceeding the draft, and it was lower before. There’s no way to look up espn ranking updates directly.
NBAdraft.com put him at #53 then was slow to update him higher. (They have a new site design now.)
Pelle will be a better defensive Holmes
Ben Simmons would be leading the league in assists if the open wings could hit half of the wide open three’s the brick every single game. The shooters on the team, making more money in one game than you’ll make in 10 lifetimes are the problem.
Wow, Big Joel has played in 43 out of 60 games this year.
Making 30 Million and missing 1/3rd of the games……Yeah, Duh….let’s build around him…..duh.
Shaq did the same thing.
Portland and San Antonio seem like they’re perfect for Horford. Atlanta too, only I bet they don’t want him in the East.
Older bigs play just fine into retirement. Make him a small ball center and he’ll play great for two more years.
Horford for Harrison Barnes
That is quite possible. I still think they swing for Hield. A 1st and Horford for Hield. And if Parker opt-in he would be thrown in to get off the Kings books.
Why in the world would Sacramento want a 34-year-old Al Horford for 25 million a year?
He would fit nicely with Bagley because Bagley likes to play in the paint and Horford wouldn’t clog that up for him. Plus the Kings big weakness has been defence and Horford would be a good defender and good leader for this young team .
Heild would be nice but I think he would be to expensive to trade for but Barnes would be good because he’s a two way player, is a team player and has experience. Heild would mean moving Richardson to either SF or the bench and would mean him wanting more touches taking touches away from Embid Simmons and Harris