NBA Rumors: Sixers May Want To Explore Trade For Thunder Guard

The Philadelphia 76ers are filled with future young NBA stars although most of them are in the front-end of the team's roster. Their backcourt has been a problem right now and potentially exploring the case of some veteran guards could do them good.

One player that CBS Sports suggests is Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 34-year-old guard has been performing well this 2019-20 NBA season, averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists in 46 games per Basketball-Reference.com. Considering he has been often injured in the past years, the fact that the 4th overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft has managed to stay healthy has befuddled critics.

While acquiring Paul makes sense, the monetary side of things makes the possibility unlikely. Paul will not come cheap considering he has roughly $123 million left in his current deal that he got with the Houston Rockets last year per Spotrac.

There is no telling if the Sixers can pull off a trade with the Thunder. The money needed to do so is quite huge, possibly meaning they would have to deal off some blue-chip youngsters.

If not CP3, there are still other guards they could target. There is Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. But the best option of the three is Paul with Lowry the second choice - assuming the Raptors are willing to engage in a trade.

The thing with Paul is that the Thunder know they can also ask for something special. Oklahoma City is supposed to be in rebuilding mode but head coach Billy Donovan and his boys have managed to stay competitive. In fact, the Thunder are in the 7th spot of the NBA Western Conference, meaning they are most likely to advance to the playoffs this season.

In a previous post, it was mentioned how Paul is likely to exercise the player option of his contract and may not be readily available by 2021-22. A key point to consider here is his age. By the time his current contract runs out, he would be 36-years-old. At that point, there is no telling if the nine-time NBA All-Star will still be as sturdy.

Hence, if the Sixers or any other NBA team want to fully draw out the best of CP3, it has to be now. Sadly, that means investing millions to get the 6-foot-1 guard to play the point at this stage.