The Philadelphia 76ers are in some trouble. They may have beaten the Brooklyn Nets the other night, but that puts them at 3-12, good for 14th in the Eastern Conference.
Sure, the Sixers could attribute their issues to all the injuries they’ve dealt with. However, it’s become clear that their roster has flaws.
Chief among them is their lack of spacing. The Sixers are shooting 32.1% from three-point range, or 29th in the NBA. The only team shooting worse than them is the Orlando Magic.
They need more floor spacing to get back to where they were. Losing Buddy Hield and Nicolas Batum hurt them in that regard. They have one ace in the hole to save them in that regard: KJ Martin’s contract.
Martin is in the first year of a two-year, $16 million contract. The second year of his current deal is non-guaranteed, so rival executives believe the Sixers will trade it.
Jake Fischer reported on Marc Stein’s substack what these executives believe the Sixers will do with Martin’s deal.
“As for any changes to the roster, the Sixers have plenty of optionality with K.J. Martin’s $7.9 million salary and other potential outgoing pieces, with rival executives having long expected Philadelphia to scour the power forward market as we get closer to the Feb. 6 trade deadline.”
So combine their lack of shooting with their need for power forward, and it’s clear that they need a stretch-four. One player who would fit what they need is Detroit Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio.
Fontecchio would give the Sixers both size and shooting
The Italian forward has not factored much into the Pistons’ semi-successful start this season, which is why he’d be the perfect trade candidate in this instance.
Indeed, he hasn’t started the season well, but Fontecchio has proven that he can shoot in the past. Last season, he shot 40% from three on high volume (5.1 three-point attempts a game).
He wouldn’t single-handedly solve the Sixers’ spacing issues—very few players can do that by themselves—but he checks off two boxes for the Sixers with his skillset alone.
The Sixers may look for potentially better players first before they look into him, but if those options aren’t available, Fontecchio would be the best player they can acquire.
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