By Jack Fritz, Sports Talk Philly editor
Now this, this is something I can get on board with.
According to Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders, the Sixers are high on Malik Monk but view taking him at the third pick a reach:
Sources familiar with the Sixers' thinking still have Malik Monk ranking quite highly on their depth chart. Considering the presence of Jahlil Okafor, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Ben Simmons, it would be curious for the Sixers to draft another front court player. At the same time, drafting Monk at three (although he is the best fit) might be a bit of a reach. So one scenario that's being mentioned as plausible is for the Sixers to engage the Kings on a trade that would end up with the teams swapping their number three and number five picks. The Sixers would presumably land Monk while the Kings, in moving up to three, would guarantee themselves Fox. For that reason, I stick with Monk and Fox going at three and five, though they could flip flop if the aforementioned trade does happen.
For me, unless Lonzo Ball gets past the Lakers at two or they don't trade the pick for Klay Thompson, this is my favorite scenario for the Sixers. Trade with the Kings, get back the fifth and tenth pick (depending on how much they want De'Aaron Fox), get your shooter to surround with Ben Simmons and take Donovan Mitchell at ten to be your 3 and D guard to make up for Monk's defensive deficiencies.
Now, some people would say, "Why not just take Monk at three then?" Don't listen to those people. Having assets is always better than not having assets especially for moving down two spots to get the guy you always wanted anyway is good business. The Sixers are right, Monk would be a reach at 3, but the other options there are players that simply don't fit for what they want to do. Fox is the shorter, less transcendent talent that is Ben Simmons. He is a horrendous fit and Josh Jackson would be fantastic if you could trust that jumper a bit more around Simmons. Jackson is going to be an extremely valuable player in the NBA, but he doesn't fit what the Sixers need at the moment.
Monk does fit, and outside of Fultz and Ball he probably is the best fit for the Sixers in this draft.
This is one of the more intriguing, and seemingly realistic, trade scenarios to keep your eye on as the draft approaches.
