Photo(s) Credit: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images / AP

How Philly Won The Trade They Weren’t Even Involved In

The days leading up to the trade deadline as well as deadline day itself was an anti-climax to say the least. After big names like Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony looked on their way out, nothing significant seemed to transpire as the clock ran down. There were a couple of smaller dealings, but nothing that shook the NBA quite like two days prior, when the Pelicans landed former Sacramento Kings superstar DeMarcus Cousins in a huge coup.

Despite the Pelicans massively improving their front court as well as Kings investing in their future, the biggest winners of all may indeed be the Phladelphia 76ers, who weren’t involed in the trade at all. You see, it wasn’t just that the potential departure of promising big man Jahlil Okafor diminished, but many forget the 76ers still hold the Kings’ 2019 unprotected pick (with pick swaps).

Given the fact the Kings have traded away their best player in years, that unprotected pick in the 2019 draft could well be the number one overall pick given the direction the Kings are likely headed. Without the dominance of Cousins, the Kings are now probably within the three worst teams in the association. Their best player is now Darren Collison, and with all due to respect to him, that’s not a good thing if you want to win games of basketball in the NBA.

The next point that has 76ers fans jumping for joy is the fact that this will likely remain the same next season as well. The Kings look absolutely certain to now strip down and re-build again, which makes this process all that more sweeter for the Philly faithful. As an already smaller market within the league, a great collection of talent is unlikely to sign with the Kings in the forseeable future, thus, maintaining a losing record moving forward. The upside for potential free agents is minimal, as the Kings find themselves in a terrible situation with upcoming draft picks. They can possibly bring in mid-level players available on the market, but it wont make them significantly better than they are right now.

Everyone around the association is hung up on the Celtics asset situation, but now the 76ers rival them if not better them in that department.

If we now turn our focus to the 76ers, their upside looks remarkably promising. Their projected five year plan is right on track and here’s a breakdown of what Philly fans can look forward to in the not-so-distant future.

Via csnphilly.com, they currently have:

– The 2019 unprotected Sacramento Kings pick.
– The Lakers pick, which becomes fully unprotected next year if it doesn’t convey this year.
– They have their own picks in 2018 and 2019.
-T hey have the Thunder’s 2020 pick.

Throw in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, and it’s an already brilliant foundation to build around.

Their future picks are as follows:

2017
• Pick swap with Kings

• Lakers pick (top-3 protected; becomes unprotected in 2018 if it doesn’t convey)
• Two second-round picks

2018
• Their own first-round pick

• The Lakers’ unprotected first-round pick (if L.A. gets the first, second or third pick in the 2017 draft)
• Second-round pick from Cleveland or Brooklyn (whichever is higher)
• Second-round pick from Clippers or Knicks (whichever is higher)

2019
• Unprotected first-round pick from Kings

• Their own first-round pick
• Second-round pick from Knicks
• Second-round pick from Bucks or Kings (whichever is higher)

2020
• Their own first-round pick

• Thunder’s first-round pick (top-20 protected)
• Second-round pick from Nets
• Second-round pick from Knicks

It’s quite impressive indeed, and if the 76ers want to use these picks and build slowly they can, or they can use their assets to attract a big free agent name to speed up the process.

Either way their plan is working, as the wheels are fully in motion.
Keep your eyes peeled as the 76ers puzzle continues to come together.