The Philadelphia 76ers have been mentioned in trade rumors with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers and they may trade Thaddeus Young in the Kevin Love trade to get Anthony Bennett and that would be a very shrewd move by the Sixers, as they could end up with a former number one overall pick out of this deal to join their young and rebuilding team and that would be a win for GM Sam Hinkie.
The Sixers are obviously in a hard rebuild and while Young is a solid player and a strong rebounder, the team has needs everywhere and getting young only gives more room for the roster to grow. Bennett has plenty of potential and while his rookie season was a mess, he has time to work that out and if he is traded to the 76ers, he will have the chance to play and develop without too much pressure on him. According to ESPN.com, the Wolves see Young as a potential replacement for Love in their lineup and he could help the team at least make up for the production they will lose when he is dealt.
The Sixers have a stable of young players in Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid and those players are likely the core of the future for the franchise. Adding Bennett to that mix gives the team some hope for the future and while they will be terrible this season, there is a chance that the Sixers will be competing in a couple years. Young is a very solid player, but getting Bennett and his potential could be worth the deal since Young also has a player option on his contract coming up.
The Sixers traded for Nerlens Noel last year for Jrue Holiday with the Pelicans and after he sat out all last season, he looks ready to play. The team made another draft pick with an injured player in Joel Embiid, but in five years that could look like a genius move, as many said that if he was healthy he could have been the number one overall pick and likely would have if he didn't come down with that foot injury ahead of the draft.
Last season Young averaged 17.9 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Sixers and while that's not quite the 25 and 13 that Love averaged last year, it's a start to making up for that lost production. The trade with Bennett and Wiggins to the Timberwolves for Love cannot happen until the end of August anyway since rookies cannot be traded within 30 days of signing their contracts, but it looks like this deal is all but done.
The Cavaliers are now the easy favorites in the east and possibly for the championship. Having a trio of Kyrie Irving along with LeBron James and Love is just too good to miss and now they have the chance to bring the city a championship. James returning to Cleveland was massive and now that return will get Love to Ohio as well. Winning isn't easy, but it becomes much easier when you have an All-World player, an All-Star player and a former All-Star MVP on the team together.
