The Sixers have engaged in exploratory talks with several other teams over the past few weeks about trading Michael Carter-Williams, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports amid his reader chat. Some but not all among Sixers officials don’t view him as a long-term asset, according to Ford, who suggests that Philadelphia is holding out for a high return. Carter-Williams is making slighly more than $2.3MM this season in the second year of his rookie scale contract.
Ford reported this past May that the Sixers had considered trading the reigning Rookie of the Year, and Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote that they made a hard push to do so around the draft. The Lakers wanted Carter-Williams and then-Sixer Thaddeus Young in return for the No. 7 pick and Steve Nash, though the Sixers rebuffed that proposal, as Ford wrote then. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News suggested the Lakers weren’t serious about that pursuit.
Scoring is down for the 23-year-old Carter-Williams this year after offseason shoulder surgery, and while his assists are up, so are his turnovers. Backup point guard Tony Wroten has continued to progress for Philadelphia, so much as to draw the rumored pursuit of the Clippers, so the Sixers have a an in-house replacement should they opt to deal Carter-Williams.
Hard to find a good fit for a PG that can’t shoot. Boston? Could potentially play alongside Smart, who appears to be outperforming his scouting profile as a negative shooter. Sacramento seems to be sniffing around for a PG upgrade too. Doesn’t seem like a great fit next to Kobe or Melo and the Nets don’t have any assets to make a deal. Maybe the Pelicans? Denver seems to be on the verge of blowing things up too
Not too many fits for him. Wild guess but maybe OKC? Especially if Reggie Jackson gets dealt elsewhere. Cheap contract and it gives OKC a ball handler off the bench and a potential replacement in case Westbrook walks in 2017. I think the Lakers could potentially be a good fit for post-Kobe era. Lakers have to start planning for once Kobe is done and not try to be a contending team right now. However as a Lakers fan, I’d much rather them use their cap space in the summer on a PG like Dragic, Knight, or hell even Rondo. May not be likely that Rondo lands in LA, but knowing the Lakers they’ll be pursuing him.