Today is Tuesday, and that means the time has come for our weekly Sixers mailbag. Stay tuned for a bonus mailbag tomorrow, but for now, let's talk about some wild hypothetical trade concepts surrounding the Sixers and the latest controversy within the NBA's rulebook:
From @Jack_Michael17: Not asking if it’s realistic but what is a package that the Sixers could put on the table for Giannis Antetokoummpo? Do they have to take into account that it’s likely they’ll be an apron team? Would a potential move be worth eschewing some of the youth they’d built up to be more win-now?
For all of the reasons that so many Sixers fans are clamoring for the team to reset and trade Joel Embiid and Paul George, the Milwaukee Bucks should not have any interest in trading for those players. With four years and $248 million left on Embiid's contract — and plenty of uncertainty about the state of his left knee — and three years with about $162 million left on George's deal, the Bucks have no reason to take either player, let alone in exchange for Antetokoummpo, who is a perennial top-five player at worst, with far lesser durability concerns.
If I was Bucks general manager Jon Horst and got a call from Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey about Antetokounmpo, I would tell him the best offer they can make is going to center around Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, the No. 3 overall pick and any valuable future draft capital the Sixers currently own.
As far as the salary cap is concerned, the Sixers' goal if they had interest in such a deal would likely be to add enough players surrounding Maxey and McCain to send out an additional $12.5 million in salary and finalize a deal in which they send out more money than they take back. Otherwise, they will be hard-capped at the first apron. At that point, they would have very limited means to fill out the rest of their roster.
In a vacuum, it may be worth sacrificing short-term depth to add a player of Antetokounmpo's caliber. But shortening a roster to add Antetokounmpo is not just a bet on his brilliance; it is also a bet on Embiid and George being available and productive enough for the organization to have a serious chance of winning a championship in the next few years. That feels like a risky gamble right now.
Ultimately, this entire hypothetical conversation will likely not matter, as Milwaukee should be able to easily field better offers for Antetkounmpo. But if there is anyone who believes in Maxey, it is Bucks head coach Doc Rivers.
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From @ARicky5: Would you rather have the 3rd pick in the draft or McCain? Which/Who do you think has more trade value?
Even while acknowledging the valid concerns about his long-term fit with Maxey, in a vacuum I believe McCain is a better bet than the No. 3 overall pick for the Sixers. If the question were about having Cooper Flagg at No. 1 — or even the No. 2 pick and the right to draft Dylan Harper — my answer would be different. But the reason the uncertainty in this draft starts with the Sixers is because there is no clear third-best prospect in the class.
In fairness, just as there are questions about Ace Bailey's handle and shot selection, V.J. Edgecombe's on-ball scoring upside and Tre Johnson's defense, McCain is an imperfect player. He obliterated expectations as a playmaker in his rookie season, but can he be a full-fledged point guard at this level? If not, his defense at the two will be exploited even more than it might be if he can stick as a floor general.
But McCain has something none of Bailey, Edgecombe, Johnson, Kon Knueppel or any of the other prospects in this draft have: a 23-game sample of thriving against NBA defenses as a 20-year-old. What McCain did in November and December, even if many of his stellar performances came in losing efforts, was not normal. To blend scoring volume, versatility and efficiency the way he did while getting his feet wet at the professional level in the way he did is special.
It may seem like too small of a sample, but a 23-game stint in the NBA is far more predictive of how a player will look at that level than a much larger collection of games at any other level. It just cannot be ignored that McCain has already thrived as a focal point offensively against the best defenses in the world, oftentimes with very little support. And he quickly showed signs of making the players around him better:
All six of Jared McCain's made threes vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers: pic.twitter.com/ocPJV3o546
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) November 14, 2024
Another important factor in this calculus: McCain is set to make just over $15 million across the next three years. Whichever play gets drafted at No. 3 overall will make $50 million over a four-year span. If the player who gets drafted hits, their value will be immense on that deal. But it is unquestionable that McCain's salaries — $4.2 million in 2025-26, $4.4 million in 2026-27 and $6.7 million in 2027-28 — will be massive aids to his team's roster construction.
As far as trade value is concerned, it depends on the team the Sixers are dealing with and their evaluations of players like Bailey and Edgecombe. If a team believes one of those players has superstar upside, they would rather have the pick. The same is true if they have a small, ball-dominant guard or a crowded backcourt rotation. But if they want ball-handling, shooting and scoring, McCain is a much better option than whatever will be available in the draft beyond Harper.
MORE: What history of draft trades says about value of No. 3 pick?
From @yduker.bsky.social: Intentional fouls at the end of games make for bad basketball and worse entertainment. Here’s an easy fix: Like with penalties in football, give the option to decline a foul. What are the arguments against?
At first glance, there is no objection here from me, aside from that it should be a time- and score-specific rule. Teams should not be choosing to decline fouls in the middle of the second quarter, though I struggle to think of any scenarios in which they would outside of Hack-A-Shaq-esque moments. Being able to decline a foul and have a sideline out of bounds pass instead of the free throws inside the final minute while trailing could be justifiable to me.
Honestly, this might be the first proposal to counter the fouling-up-three technique that I have given any consideration to. I understand that it can be deflating to watch a game end with a massive series of free throw attempts, but to draw another football comparison, should we outlaw quarterback kneels to end football games because they are not fun to watch?
However, I think reading this idea is the closest I have come to supporting a rule change as it relates to intentional fouls late in games. Nice work!
MORE: Finding targets for Sixers with No. 35 pick based on Morey's history
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