Although the NBA trade deadline isn’t even within striking distance as the new season just got underway, the recent stretch of days has felt almost like a mini-deadline for the 76ers. Following the trade sending James Harden to the Clippers, Philadelphia is reporting targeting another big move, this time for a “high-level guard” with the assets received from Los Angeles, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
And after the first shoe dropped on the report of Philly's next potential move, names began to emerge. But one that stood out was Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, who has two years remaining (including this one) on his five-year, $163 million contract extension which also features a player option for 2025–26.
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The 76ers will “monitor” Mitchell’s status with Cleveland, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. The analyst also cited Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic as another name the team plans to keep an eye on while listing both Zach LaVine and OG Anunoby as well, who Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix highlighted this week.
Mitchell is coming off the best season of his NBA career in 2022–23. The 27-year-old guard posted a career-best season from a scoring perspective, averaging 28.3 points per game. Mitchell also had his most efficient season shooting the ball as well, knocking down 48.4% of his field goal attempts and shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc.
