NBA Insider Shares Latest Trade Chatter Involving Raptors OG Anunoby
The Philadelphia 76ers are now the latest team to pop up in OG Anunoby trade chatter.
Both Anunoby and Zach LaVine are said to be players to “keep an eye on” as potential 76ers targets and players Philadelphia has conveyed interest in, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The 76ers appear lined up to make another move this season after dealing James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers early this year. Philadelphia acquired multiple first-round picks in the deal and is expected to try and make another deal ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
It’s unclear what the 76ers would be willing to give up for Anunoby ahead of his free agency this summer. Save for Tyrese Maxey who would be untouchable in trade talks, Philadelphia doesn’t have much in terms of valuable young players. The 76ers do, however, have matching salaries in terms of Marcus Morris, Nicholas Batum, and Robert Covington who can be traded as soon as Dec. 30 in a multi-player deal.
Complicating this picture is the 76ers’ ability to go after Anunoby in free agency should Philadelphia opt to create cap space this summer. It’s not clear that the 76ers will go down that path, but they could create nearly $40 million in cap space this offseason to offer Anunoby a near-max contract while keeping Maxey and Joel Embiid under contract.
Toronto has yet to make any moves to suggest the organization is ready to move Anunoby and it’s believed the Raptors are more likely to move Pascal Siakam at the trade deadline than Anunoby. That said, with multiple teams believed to be interested in Toronto’s All-Defense forward, a bidding war may leave the Raptors with a deal too good to pass up.
