Who should the Sixers trade to avoid luxury tax in 20-21?

[pickprotection]

The Sixers salary sheet for next season is pretty hefty once Ben Simmons extension kicks in. You would have the following salaries barring any major trade:

Tobias: 36 mil
Embiid: 29.5 mil
Simmons: 29.5 mil
Horford: 27.5 mil
Richardson: 10.8 mil
Scott: 5 mil
Thybulle: 2.7 mil
Zhaire: 3.2 mil
Ennis: 2.1 mil (player option)
Korkmaz: 1.7 mil (team option)
Shake: 1.7 mil (team option)
Bolden: 1.7 mil (team option)
13-15 roster spots: 1.7 mil (vet minimum) * 3 = 5.1 mil
----------------------------------------------------------------------
total 20-21 salary: $156.5 million

20-21 salary cap line: $116 million

20-21 tax line: $141 million
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For comparison this season the Sixers are:

total 19-20 salary: $127 million

19-20 salary cap line: $109 million

19-20 tax line: $132 million
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So the Sixers are 5 million under the tax line this season and are paying no tax. Next season they will are projected to pay 15 million over the tax line with a 28 million tax payment so is Harris really paying 43 million in tax + salary over the tax line?

I have my doubts.

Horford is an albatross so it would cost too much to trade him.

Tobias is likely an albatross as well so it would cost too much to trade him.

You can cut the tax bill significantly if you dump Richardson for a pick and vet min his spot but you would still be in the tax for 5 million.

The only solution might be to trade Embiid or Simmons for a low salary package (players on rookie contracts + picks).

If the Sixers are a 1st round exit look for them to sell in the summer to duck the tax.

[clippertown]

I would love Horford on the Clippers as our owner does not care at all about luxury taxes.

LAC IN = Horford + O'Quinn
PHI IN = Harkless + Zubac + McGruder + Green

It takes away some of the Clips depth, but we still have a bench of Lou, Shamet, Robinson or Mann, Patterson and O'Quinn or Kabengele with Montrez starting alongside Horford.

I am sure PHI wants to keep O'Quinn, but getting rid of Horford for a bunch of smaller tradeable assets seems beneficial and Zubac can easily run the backup big man role.

[NotACat]

I really doubt that Philly would move either Ben Simmons or Embiid. Horford is going to be near impossible to move. There's definitely buyers for JRich, Zhaire Smith, and Mike Scott - but none of those really clear Philly from the tax.

I think Philly could find a buyer for Tobias Harris if their priority is to exit the tax. Potential buyers of Tobias that can provide an expiring contract:
-Minnesota sending back Dieng and Teague
-OKC sending back Gallo and Schrouder
-Cavs with Brandon Knight and Henson; would likely need to send Zhaire
-Mavs with THJ and Courtney Lee
-Portland with Whiteside and Bazemore - would need to do some tricky math to make it work
-Kings in some sort of 3 way deal

[Alatan]

Tobias: 36 mil No one wants Tobias on his contract unless you will be giving him away for free. There are plenty of players that give you 90% of what Tobias does for half the price.

Embiid: 29.5 mil If they trade Embiid them might as well blow it up. Enough said .

Simmons: 29.5 mil This is the guy that has to go. He might be a good defender when he wants to but you cant build an offense around him and he is almost useless without the ball as an offensive player. There are very few teams where he could earn his salary in a super glue guy, Draymond Green type role.

Horford: 27.5 mil No one wants a 34 year old on that deal. 34 is the age most players fall of a cliff if they arent already cooked.

Richardson: 10.8 mil If Phili is smart they will keep a good 3nd player on such a cheap deal.

[GutUNC]

Faulty premise. The Sixers wouldn’t have signed Horford and Harris if they knew they’d have to jettison someone this summer because of the tax. Once the offer was made, they were committed to paying the tax unless they got equivalent value back (which they won’t).


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[giberish]

It's easy to see the Sixers paying luxury taxes - even operating $10-20M/yr over the luxury tax line - as long as they're at least semi-contenders.

I'd worry more about the 21-22 season and resigning Richardson. Granted it's a bit far away and a lot can change but it's easy to see him making $20M/yr or more on his next contract and when you add that in to the Sixers continuing contracts they might push $30M+/yr over the luxury tax line. At that point they're paying $100M in luxury taxes and may look for relief.

[gambitx777]

Played around with this deal earlier.
NYC get : Simmons and Scott
76 get : Barret , Robinson, and one of (Smith Jr or nitilikina or Knox) 2-4 firsts and 1-3 seconds.

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[GutUNC]

Played around with this deal earlier.
NYC get : Simmons and Scott
76 get : Barret , Robinson, and one of (Smith Jr or nitilikina or Knox) 2-4 firsts and 1-3 seconds.

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Sixers aren’t selling Simmons for a mini-rebuild and they’re certainly not handing him to a division rival who’s struggled adding stars for a decade.

[ecuhus1981]

I'm glad to see that someone else sees it as I do.

I made a thread a few days ago (plug: here it is). One of my motivations for the blockbuster was that PHI's collection of players, though highly skilled, have not gelled and may not ever truly gel. For a team that looks unlikely to win a postseason series against the top-3 teams in the East, being cap-strapped to 4 incongruous starters is not sound FO strategy. My deal would draw down their 20-21 payroll by almost $40mil, and net them a high pick in this year's draft.

Sure, it's an Eurostep contending move, for a team that thought on paper they were going to dominate for the next 3-4 years. But it could pay bigger dividends down the road, and IMO, this current configuration has a ceiling that likely includes the repeater tax and likely doesn't include a chip.

[GutUNC]

I'm glad to see that someone else sees it as I do.

I made a thread a few days ago (plug: here it is). One of my motivations for the blockbuster was that PHI's collection of players, though highly skilled, have not gelled and may not ever truly gel. For a team that looks unlikely to win a postseason series against the top-3 teams in the East, being cap-strapped to 4 incongruous starters is not sound FO strategy. My deal would draw down their 20-21 payroll by almost $40mil, and net them a high pick in this year's draft.

Sure, it's an Eurostep contending move, for a team that thought on paper they were going to dominate for the next 3-4 years. But it could pay bigger dividends down the road, and IMO, this current configuration has a ceiling that likely includes the repeater tax and likely doesn't include a chip.

The Sixers are currently 5-2 against the top-3 seeds in the East.

[gambitx777]

Barret and Robinson are good young players and fit well. And a point guard is desperately needed Philly. the picks just add to the war chest so that they can maybe get better in trades and Philly needs cheep young plays to fill the squad with 3 near or full max guys on the team. It's not a mini rebuild it's just a solid move.

Played around with this deal earlier.
NYC get : Simmons and Scott
76 get : Barret , Robinson, and one of (Smith Jr or nitilikina or Knox) 2-4 firsts and 1-3 seconds.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

Sixers aren’t selling Simmons for a mini-rebuild and they’re certainly not handing him to a division rival who’s struggled adding stars for a decade.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

[GeorgeMarcus]

Rather than making any huge deals, our best bet is to add 1 or 2 catch-and-shoot guys to compliment our existing core. We have a lot of draft stock to work with, as well as Thybulle (who I would rather hold on to).

[GutUNC]

Barret and Robinson are good young players and fit well. And a point guard is desperately needed Philly. the picks just add to the war chest so that they can maybe get better in trades and Philly needs cheep young plays to fill the squad with 3 near or full max guys on the team. It's not a mini rebuild it's just a solid move.

Played around with this deal earlier.
NYC get : Simmons and Scott
76 get : Barret , Robinson, and one of (Smith Jr or nitilikina or Knox) 2-4 firsts and 1-3 seconds.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

Sixers aren’t selling Simmons for a mini-rebuild and they’re certainly not handing him to a division rival who’s struggled adding stars for a decade.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

It makes a team that wants to contend worse by trading a 23-year old All Star for futures - it's the very definition of a mini-rebuild.

And Robinson - who would be the 3rd center in Philadelphia - "fits well". You're just saying things now.

[gambitx777]

Simmons may be an " all star " but the fit on the team is bad, embid is a complete player and Simmons isn't and he may never be current Simmons is not worth 29 mill on that team. So you either blow it up and build around Simmons. Or you trade Simmons and get some good pieces that fit right in , make another love or two and you don't miss to many beats and you're still contenders in the east with out Ben Simmons

Barret and Robinson are good young players and fit well. And a point guard is desperately needed Philly. the picks just add to the war chest so that they can maybe get better in trades and Philly needs cheep young plays to fill the squad with 3 near or full max guys on the team. It's not a mini rebuild it's just a solid move.

Sixers aren’t selling Simmons for a mini-rebuild and they’re certainly not handing him to a division rival who’s struggled adding stars for a decade.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

It makes a team that wants to contend worse by trading a 23-year old All Star for futures - it's the very definition of a mini-rebuild.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

[GutUNC]

Simmons may be an " all star " but the fit on the team is bad, embid is a complete player and Simmons isn't and he may never be current Simmons is not worth 29 mill on that team. So you either blow it up and build around Simmons. Or you trade Simmons and get some good pieces that fit right in , make another love or two and you don't miss to many beats and you're still contenders in the east with out Ben Simmons

Barret and Robinson are good young players and fit well. And a point guard is desperately needed Philly. the picks just add to the war chest so that they can maybe get better in trades and Philly needs cheep young plays to fill the squad with 3 near or full max guys on the team. It's not a mini rebuild it's just a solid move.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

It makes a team that wants to contend worse by trading a 23-year old All Star for futures - it's the very definition of a mini-rebuild.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

Or maybe....and hear me out on this....you give this new core more then 1/2 of 1 regular season before you declare it an unsalvageable failure. Especially considering they're undefeated against the East's top-2 seeds thus far.

[Prospect Dong]

Rather than making any huge deals, our best bet is to add 1 or 2 catch-and-shoot guys to compliment our existing core. We have a lot of draft stock to work with, as well as Thybulle (who I would rather hold on to).

Is that really true anymore? We're mostly talking late firsts and high seconds, right?

[Prospect Dong]

Simmons may be an " all star " but the fit on the team is bad, embid is a complete player and Simmons isn't and he may never be current Simmons is not worth 29 mill on that team. So you either blow it up and build around Simmons. Or you trade Simmons and get some good pieces that fit right in , make another love or two and you don't miss to many beats and you're still contenders in the east with out Ben Simmons

It makes a team that wants to contend worse by trading a 23-year old All Star for futures - it's the very definition of a mini-rebuild.

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Or maybe....and hear me out on this....you give this new core more then 1/2 of 1 regular season before you declare it an unsalvageable failure. Especially considering they're undefeated against the East's top-2 seeds thus far.

I think that's fair, and this thread should really be about offseason moves, on the assumption that the sixers don't come close to winning it all this season.

But if they don't... in much the same way as trading significant assets for Jimmy and Tobias didn't imply a cast-iron commitment to keep them both at any cost, it's entirely possible that this version of the team has a one season expiration date, particularly if it doesn't perform up to expectations in the playoffs.

And I'd agree with others that, assuming you're sticking with a win-now objective and just don't want to pay tax for a team which is less than the sum of its high-cost parts, Simmons is the obvious candidate for a trade which could both save money and bring back lesser talent which might now win many less games.

[gambitx777]

I don't think anyone is saying the team is bad or unsalvageable. But, they issue isn't this year per say. The issue is Ben Simmons getting paid 29 million and won't shot an out side shot. He's on bad injury or 1 more non progressive season away from being a really bad contract. If you can get a haul for him now do it then you can maybe smash some of those picks together and maybe move Horford for someone like Dlo or holiday or something else, then you have another all star plus a couple good affordable young guys.

Simmons may be an " all star " but the fit on the team is bad, embid is a complete player and Simmons isn't and he may never be current Simmons is not worth 29 mill on that team. So you either blow it up and build around Simmons. Or you trade Simmons and get some good pieces that fit right in , make another love or two and you don't miss to many beats and you're still contenders in the east with out Ben Simmons

It makes a team that wants to contend worse by trading a 23-year old All Star for futures - it's the very definition of a mini-rebuild.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

Or maybe....and hear me out on this....you give this new core more then 1/2 of 1 regular season before you declare it an unsalvageable failure. Especially considering they're undefeated against the East's top-2 seeds thus far.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

[GeorgeMarcus]

Rather than making any huge deals, our best bet is to add 1 or 2 catch-and-shoot guys to compliment our existing core. We have a lot of draft stock to work with, as well as Thybulle (who I would rather hold on to).

Is that really true anymore? We're mostly talking late firsts and high seconds, right?

I was speaking relative to other win-now teams like the Clippers, Rockets, Lakers, etc. We didn't have to sell our soul to get here, but you're right it's mostly late firsts and a bunch of 2nds. Still enough to land the type of lower usage floor spacer(s) that we need.

[NYG]

I feel like a Simmons trade down the line a bit is inevitable so I would trade him for an overpay return.

Problem is who has both the assets AND ambition to overpay for Simmons?