youngcrev wrote:I hear you, I just think White is neither the fit nor the caliber of player they'd be looking for if they actually put McCain on the table.
Given the restrictions on what type of salary they can match and who would realistically be available, I have a hard time imagining a deal involving him in the first place, but I get that's the goal of this thread in the first place.
Herb Jones is at least interesting in that he's got multiple years left on his deal and would fit like a glove into the starting unit long-term. Although even there I imagine a heavy pick package would be the preferred outcome.
Given the Sixers long-term salary restrictions, I don't think it can be understated how huge it was for them to hit on a cost controlled guy building block piece like McCain.
I think White and Jones both fit pretty well.
Jones' fit is obvious, though I'm not sure you can count on him to make enough 3s in multiple tough playoff series. With White, obviously you lose defence, but you also get a 4th serious scorer and I'm not sure how anyone stops a lineup of Maxey-White-George-X-Embiid other than completely ignoring the other guy and one of Martin, Oubre or Yabusele can probably hit a corner 3.
I think either would help, they're immediately Philly's 4th best player, that's a big deal in the playoffs. A probably Philly title (this year or next) probably means beating 2 of the Knicks/Cavs/Celtics and let's say the Thunder. Right now, the #4-6 guys look like this:
Cavs - Jarrett Allen, Okoro, Levert
Knicks - OG/Bridges, Hart, McBride
Celtics - Jrue Holiday, Porzingis, Horford (or Pritchard if Porzingis is injured)
Thunder - Hartenstein, Dort, Caruso
and Philly counters with:
Martin, Oubre, Yabusele (McCain once he's back, drop out one of the forwards)
That just seems like a massive gap in the 2nd half of the top 6 or 7 that ultimately determine most playoff series. So even if you get the one great run from Embiid and George stays healthy for that run, I just don't see those 3 or 4 (could play all 4) playoff series wins.
Unless Philly thinks they either can't win the title anymore or they can win it with the current roster - and I don't really see the case for either, I think George and Embiid will always have injury issues, but they can be healthy for 25 straight games simultanously at least once or twice- I don't really see the point in hanging on to the non-Philly 1sts and McCain. If you move any Philly picks, yeah, you're risking long-term deep depression (though a Maxey trade to get your picks back from wherever they are is probably doable when the time comes), but odds are those 2 non-Philly 1sts simply help Philly not bottom out post-Embiid, which has to be a lower concern than actually trying to win a title one of these last few Embiid season.
Maybe you can keep McCain and just move 1 or both of the non-Philly picks and Kenyon Martin, though. Basically the deal Portland made in getting Avdija, for a similar kind of guy on a good deal.
Right now, without the trade, the probable outcome for Philly is no title during the Embiid era and then what, you're building around Maxey and some decent picks, that's probably a range of Bulls to Kings play-in city. Maybe you get to being a Portland type team with Dame and McCollums, but that wasn't a real title contender either.
I think Philly, along with the Knicks, Nuggets, Golden State and the Lakers, would be at the top of rankings of teams that should be aggressive and have assets to make a trade to improve. Milwaukee would also be here, but they don't really have assets. And the Lakers, Golden State and Milwaukee all have a recent title. Knicks core has a few years left to go before decline so they can consider not going all-in yet (I kinda thought they had, but they have a couple picks left to move). Luka is younger, so I wouldn't say Dallas is quite there. So you really could argue Philly is in the situation where going all-in makes the most sense.
