6 Trade Targets For The Sixers’ No. 16 Pick In The 2024 NBA Draft

The Philadelphia 76ers are entering the offseason with as much flexibility as nearly any team in the NBA. That begins on draft night, when their No. 16 overall pick could be very much up for grabs.

In late May, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo expected the pick to “surface in trade conversations, as has been team president Daryl Morey’s M.O. for quite some time.” The problem is that the draft starts on June 26, four days before the official beginning of free agency on June 30.

The Sixers can create up to $65 million in salary-cap space this offseason, which could put them in play for any free agent up to Paul George or LeBron James. But if they flip the No. 16 pick on draft night—whether for an established star or a role player—they’ll be cutting into their potential cap space before free agency even begins. They’d have to weigh whether the value of the trade outweighs their realistic options that they’d spend the same money on in free agency.

With that in mind, six veterans in particular stand out as potential draft-night trade targets for the Sixers.

Alex Caruso, Chicago Bulls

Spoiler alert: Every good team will want to steal Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls this offseason. That means the Bulls will likely maintain a lofty asking price for him in the hopes of stoking a bidding war between now and the February trade deadline.

The Bulls wanted “multiple first-round picks to even consider parting with Caruso” ahead of last year’s trade deadline, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but Caruso is now heading into the final year of his contract. He’s earning only $9.9 million, too, which limits what the Bulls could offer him in an extension if they wanted to go that route. (He can sign a four-year, $78.8 million deal beginning July 6, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.)

Even if the Bulls decide against running back the same core, they might be looking for more than just the No. 16 overall pick for Caruso. But if they were amenable to only that pick—or the Sixers were willing to throw in more—he’d be a perfect fit alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.

Caruso has earned All-Defensive team nods two years running, and he averaged a career-high 10.1 points 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 28.7 minutes per game while shooting 46.8% overall and 40.8% from deep this past season. He could spare Maxey from having to guard elite backcourt options, and he has enough secondary playmaking and shooting chops to keep the Sixers’ offense flowing.

Having Caruso to handle the likes of New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson or Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton would be a godsend for the Sixers in the coming years. They’d just have to make Chicago see the light by draft night.

Dorian Finney-Smith, Brooklyn Nets

Like the Bulls, the Brooklyn Nets find themselves squarely in NBA purgatory at the moment. They owe control of their first-round picks to the Houston Rockets through 2027—including the No. 3 overall pick this year—which is seemingly dissuading them from going with a traditional post-superstar-trade rebuild. (See: Trail Blazers, Portland.)

According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, the Nets have expressed “expressed zero interest” in trading Mikal Bridges anywhere, as they view him “as a costar to whichever big name” they acquire in the future. While Bridges seems to be off-limits, perhaps they’d be more amenable to moving some of their other veterans for younger players and draft capital, including Dorian Finney-Smith.

The Sixers are short in young players to offer other than Maxey, although they could use Paul Reed’s $7.7 million non-guaranteed contract in creative ways this offseason. One option could be trading Reed and the No. 16 pick for Finney-Smith if the Nets are looking to clear longer-term salary.

Finney-Smith would be a low-usage, three-and-D weapon at the 4 alongside Embiid. He’s been in at least the 85th percentile of Dunks and Threes’ estimated defensive plus/minus in each of the past of the three seasons, and he’s knocked down 36.3 percent of his 5.2 three-point attempts per game over that span.

In other words, Finney-Smith could be what the Sixers were hoping to get out of P.J. Tucker. However, it’s unclear whether the Nets would be open to swapping him for the No. 16 pick, as they rejected an offer of two first-round picks for him at the trade deadline, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards won the No. 2 overall pick at the draft lottery and hold the No. 26 pick as well, but they reportedly don’t want to be done there. They’re expected to “look to acquire another first-round pick,” according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. as they are “focused on building through the draft—including an eye towards the highly regarded 2024 draft—while developing the team’s younger players.”

That could make Kyle Kuzma the odd man out of Washington sooner than later. Fischer reported that he’s expected to be on the trade market, although he added that “Washington’s asking price for the veteran scorer prior to February’s trade deadline was too rich for most rival teams.”

Last July, the Wizards re-signed Kuzma to a four-year, $90 million contract that descends in value each year. He’s projected to take up only 11.4% of the salary cap in the final year of his contract in 2026-27 ($19.4 million), which isn’t much more than the projected non-taxpayer mid-level exception that season ($15.6 million).

Kuzma set new career highs in points (22.2), assists (4.2) and overall shooting percentage (46.3%) across 70 starts with the Wizards last season. He’s nowhere near Caruso or even Finney-Smith defensively, but he isn’t always a glaring minus on that end of the floor.

The Sixers might be willing to entertain moving the No. 16 pick for Kuzma, but the timing of the draft—namely, a few days before free agency—does them no favors. Even if they cleared their books to just Embiid’s $51.4 million salary and Maxey’s $13.0 million cap hold, adding Kuzma’s $23.2 million salary would leave them with only $42.5 million of cap space, nearly $7 million short of a 35% max deal.

If the Sixers are certain that they won’t get George or James in free agency, perhaps they’d be willing to take on a contract as large as Kuzma’s on draft night. Otherwise, it might close off a bit too much optionality ahead of free agency for Morey’s liking.

Malcolm Brogdon, Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers, who went 21-61 this past season, are currently on pace to be above luxury-tax territory in 2024-25. As they continue to rebuild around Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, veterans such as Deandre Ayton ($34.0 million), Jerami Grant ($29.8 million), Anfernee Simons ($25.9 million), Malcolm Brogdon ($22.5 million) and Robert Williams III ($12.4 million) could all become expendable.

The Blazers already have the Nos. 7 and 14 picks, so they might not be in the market for another mid-first-rounder. Then again, they aren’t guaranteed to stay at those spots. If they package those two picks to move up—or need another first-rounder to sweeten a trade offer of their own—they could be interested in flipping a veteran like Brogdon, who’s headed into the final year of his contract and seemingly does not factor into their long-term plans.

Brogdon has topped 60 games in a season only three times across his eight-year NBA career, and only once in the past five years. Given Embiid’s lengthy injury history, they might want someone who they expect to be more available than Brogdon figures out be.

Then again, Brogdon could be a deadly conceptual fit for them. He’s averaged at least 5.5 assists per game in four of the past five seasons, so he could handle a complementary playmaker role alongside Maxey, and he’s a career 39.1 percent three-point shooter. Health is the biggest concern with him by far.

Since Brogdon is earning $22.5 million, the Sixers could have only $43.6 million at most in cap space after acquiring him, which would leave them short of a 35% max. Much like with Kuzma, the Sixers’ willingness to acquire him could come down to which of their free-agent options look the most realistic by the draft on June 26.

Collin Sexton/Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz

In mid-April, Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge told reporters that he was ready to go “big-game hunting” this offseason. He added that he was looking for a “transformative player” and was “not really interested in dinosaurs,” and that he’d prefer “good 6-7 year (players).”

Those types of players typically cost a ton of draft picks. Luckily, the Jazz have that in spades. They have the Nos. 10, 29 and 32 picks in this year’s draft along with all but one of their own first-round picks and multiple future first-rounders and pick swaps from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

If they were looking to add more draft capital to beef up a trade offer, the Sixers could be a willing partner with the No. 16 pick. They’d likely ask about Lauri Markkanen first and would instantly get shot down, but Collin Sexton or Jordan Clarkson could be reasonable fallback plans.

Clarkson won Sixth Man of the Year in 2020-21 and is fresh off averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 threes per game last season. Sexton, the No. 8 pick in the 2018 draft, just had a bounce-back season in which he averaged 18.7 points on 48.7% shooting, a career-high 4.9 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 threes per game. Sexton is a far better shooter from deep (38.3%) than Clarkson (33.5%), but he’s also more expensive moving forward.

Both Sexton and Clarkson are under contract for two more seasons. Sexton will earn $18.4 million next year and $19.2 million in 2025-26, while Clarkson will earn $14.1 million next year and $14.3 million in 2025-26. The former would leave the Sixers just shy of being able to create enough cap space a 35% max contract, while the latter would take up nearly all of their remaining room if they did sign someone to a 35% max.

Still, either one could be a potent sixth man for the Sixers.