National Basketball Association

Hawks, Sixers reportedly discussing a trade involving Jeff Teague, Nerlens Noel

Published Jun. 2, 2016 7:59 p.m. ET

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Now that Sam Hinkie is no longer the GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, The Process he famously put into place is officially gone with him. The once indefinite cycle of losing to obtain top draft picks is over, and the new leadership has been instructed to make decisions that will result in a faster franchise turnaround.

One way to do that is by trading for some proven veteran talent, and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports that the Sixers are speaking with the Hawks about doing exactly that in a deal involving Nerlens Noel and Jeff Teague.

Noel is a solid young piece, but with Joel Embiid expected to finally be healthy enough to play this season and Jahlil Okafor also in the mix, the Sixers have too many front court players in need of minutes to develop, and if all three players are healthy, it makes sense to deal one for help at another position.

But there are two things wrong with this from the Philadelphia side.

The timing is bad, because with the NBA Draft on June 23 and with free agency set to get going on July 1, it would make more sense to see what players you can acquire there before dealing Noel, a quality defensive big man on a rookie scale contract, for a serviceable but middle-of-the-pack point guard who turns 28 years old on June 10.

The other issue is Teague's contract. It's certainly affordable at $8.55 million, but it only goes through the end of next season. Giving up Noel for a player who could leave in free agency after one year doesn't seem like a wise decision, and if the intention is to re-sign Teague on a long-term deal in the summer of 2017, with the salary cap spiking significantly both this summer and next, it would come at a considerable cost.

If the report is true, these are only discussions at this point, and a deal could involve other players and draft picks to eventually become more equitable for both sides. But as it stands with this limited amount of information, Sixers fans wouldn't be at all happy with the first major roster decision under the team's new regime.