By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers are in the process of building a team to contend in the future and they have some good pieces in place with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and even Dario Saric. In order for the team to get to the next level, though, they may need to consider parting ways with some of the assets acquired by Sam Hinkie to bring a proven scorer to Philadelphia. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer put together a piece that goes into the trade market this season, one that could be more active than past years. In the piece, O'Connor mentioned the Sixers in two situations involving Portland's guards Allen Crabbe and CJ McCollum.
Crabbe has been a guy that Sixers fans have talked about throughout the season as he could potentially provide a scoring boost that the team currently lacks. Earlier in the year, there were some very premature rumors swirling about Nerlens Noel being a good fit for Portland and that a possible return could be Crabbe and a pick. Crabbe, 24, is averaging 11.2 points per game this season, shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 45.9 percent from three-point range.
O'Connor mentions that as a deal in his article, but states that the trade would be beneficial for Portland, but the Sixers may be hesitant to trade Noel, who's performed well lately with extended playing time. The proposed trade would have Noel going to Portland for Crabbe and a first round pick. If Philadelphia sees Nerlens as a better fit behind Joel Embiid than Jahlil Okafor, then they may be weary to strike a deal.
That’d be a smart deal for the Blazers, but I’d decline if I were the Sixers. There’s nothing stopping them from holding onto Noel; he’s reentered the rotation and excelled over the last five games at the expense of Jahlil Okafor, who has been benched for the last two games due to coach’s decision. Conventional thinking suggest the Sixers are showcasing Noel for a trade, but maybe they’re actually seeing what they have in him; the promise of having both Joel Embiid and Noel to enforce the paint for all 48 minutes must be intoxicating. The Sixers shouldn’t deal Noel unless they get back a player who can shoot the lights out (like Crabbe) and run some point.
The more intriguing deal in the post is one that would bring 25-year-old shooting guard CJ McCollum to the Sixers. The assets that Philadelphia would need to part with are viewed by many to be quite steep, but perhaps the proven commodity of McCollum would be more of a 'sure thing' than trying to land a scorer in the draft. O'Connor says that the proposed base of a deal could be Nerlens Noel, the Sixers unprotected 2017 first rounder, the Kings 2018 top-10 protected pick (becomes unprotected in 2019) and a combo of second rounders. This would leave Philadelphia with the top-3 protected Lakers pick in 2017 and their own first rounder in 2018.
Is it really worth it? Might be. McCollum, 25, is averaging 23.9 points per game, shooting 48.5 percent overall and 41.3 percent from beyond the arc. Over his three plus seasons in the league, McCollum is shooting over 40 percent in spot-up 3's. He's erupted during five game this month so far, averaging 35 points, 5.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, scoring 35+ in four of the five games.
It would be a difficult deal for Philly to make, but McCollum is exactly what the Sixers should look for to pair with Simmons, who will be the de facto point guard, anyway. McCollum is an outstanding shooter, hitting over 40 percent of his spot-up 3s for four consecutive seasons, per SportVU. When the ball is in his hands, his fast-twitch movements allow him to create space for his lethal pull-up jumper.
Keep in mind that these deals are just possibilities and that none of them are officially in the works. That being said, a core of CJ McCollum, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric would give the Philadelphia 76ers a nice group of players 25 and under to become a serious playoff team in the coming years.
