Mailbag: Michael Carter-Williams trade target for Trail Blazers?

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@ripcityproject Could 76ers MCW be a realistic target? Could he be a 6th man playing the 1-2-3 roles when needed?
— Leuz Dolla 🇸🇳 🇬🇲 🇬🇳 (@Asallsince1993) January 31, 2015

Michael Carter-Williams is an interesting, but complicated trade target. Even though he is only in his second NBA season, the Sixers have reportedly made him available in discussions. This means two things: his anticipated ceiling is probably lower than his Rookie of the Year selection seemed to indicate, and the Sixers are looking to sell high while league perception is favorable.

And why shouldn’t they? Carter-Williams has the skills of a point guard, the length of a shooting guard, and the defensive acumen of a player beyond his years. There is a lot of potential there. That sort of versatility makes him an intriguing option for the scenario you’ve laid out, even if he does not climb much further than his present rung on the talent ladder. The asking price, however, creates a few problems.

The Sixers want return value that meets or exceeds their appraisal of Carter-Williams. In most circumstances, this would mean an exceptional starting caliber player; something Portland would not part with. Since Carter-Williams was a sort of “surprise star” with the 11^th pick of the 2013 draft, his consequent salary ($2.3M) makes that a hard deal to work out without involving another Sixer or two anyway; something else Portland would not consider. Which is why this isn’t “most circumstances.”

Jan 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) smiles back to the bench after a score against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers defeated the Timberwolves 103-94. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia wants draft picks. While sending picks sounds a lot better than sending starters, Portland is not really in position to do so. The prevalent suspicion is that Sam Hinkie wants multiple first rounders for Carter-Williams. The Trail Blazers are not bad enough to have a worthwhile trade chip this year, nor do they have any incoming picks from other teams. They would need to sweet talk the Sixers into accepting future firsts, but Neil Olshey would be taking a page from Dolan’s Inferno to put the franchise through that sort of hell.

If Carter-Williams is moved at the February trade deadline, it will probably be to an awful team looking to stockpile assets ahead of free agency. My guess would be the Lakers since they need some hope at point guard and can sling that first rounder they got from the Rockets in the Jeremy Lin deal last summer. We’ll see. It seems more likely that he’ll stay put, given the cost he represents.

As far as Carter-Williams’ fit with the Trail Blazers goes, let’s assume Portland pulls the trigger on a deal that puts him on our bench. For fun, we’ll say C.J. McCollum and our 2015 first round pick for Carter-Williams and a 2015 second round pick. Improbable, but we’ll ignore that for this hypothetical. How would Carter-Williams fit in?

Probably pretty well, though he would have to adjust to the wing. He could play a few spot minutes running the point, but it’s more likely that he’d end up bolstering the shooting guard position. On a team where he doesn’t have to be the star, his abysmal field goal percentage (38.5) would likely go up, but he would no longer be depended on for volume scoring. He would provide a minimal, yet reasonable boost in a scoring role.

His real upside would come on defense. He is one of the better individual defenders among the league’s youngsters and is a successful gambler in passing lanes. Terry Stotts’ defensive system almost entirely ignores forcing turnovers, but it never really hurts to have another player that is skilled at it for situations of necessity. With the energy conservation of a bench player, Carter-Williams could be a weapon at the two. I am not so much sold on him as a small forward.