NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Should Trade For Donovan Mitchell This Summer, ‘Hoops Habit’ Suggests
The rumored dispute between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell made most people believe that the Utah Jazz would be forced to trade one of them in the 2020 NBA offseason. As of now, several NBA teams who are in dire need of an additional star power to contend for the NBA championship title must be closely monitoring the ongoing situation in Utah. In the event that the Jazz chooses to let Mitchell go, one of the NBA teams who could express a strong interest in acquiring the All-Star shooting guard is the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Pete Sawan of Fansided’s Hoops Habit, the Sixers could offer a trade package centered on Joel Embiid to the Jazz in exchange for Mitchell. Sawan believes that trading Embiid and Mitchell would solve a ton of the Sixers’ problem. Aside from having a “true guard,” Mitchell would also enable the Sixers to replace Embiid with another All-Star caliber player that complements Ben Simmons.
“If the Sixers dealt Embiid for Mitchell, their lineup would shift slightly. For starters, Josh Richardson would shift to the forward position. Simmons and Mitchell would be the backcourt generals. Finally, Horford would move back to his natural position at the five. Now, what this lineup does is it creates more spacing for Simmons, he would have another proven shooter in the starting lineup, without compromising the middle. On top of that, Mitchell could handle the ball and Simmons would be able to cut without compromising his ‘dunker’ role, as Brett Brown has designated him. The spacing would be back and the paint wouldn’t be as clogged.”
Mitchell would undeniably be an incredible addition to the Sixers. He would not only boost the Sixers’ backcourt, but he would also give them a very reliable scoring option next to Simmons. This season, the 23-year-old shooting guard is averaging 24.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.0 steal while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Though he would need to make some adjustment with his game to make himself fit in Philadelphia, joining the core of Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, and Al Horford would give Mitchell a better chance of contending for the NBA championship title.
Meanwhile, though a superstar-for-superstar swap sounds intriguing, trading Mitchell for Embiid doesn’t really make any sense for the Jazz since they already have Rudy Gobert playing at the center position. If Mitchell is determined to leave Utah, the Jazz would likely seek a deal that could help them remain competitive in the Western Conference.
