Recent NBA trade rumors have linked the Philadelphia 76ers to Zach LaVine as his days with the Chicago Bulls seemingly start to come to an end. The Sixers have positioned themselves nicely to be big players in the trade market but LaVine may not be the guy they try all that hard to get.

The Sixers are one of many teams that LaVine is rumored to have reciprocated interest in. His numbers are down across the board this season as the Bulls slowly die out and collect loss after loss. There are some warranted concerns about LaVine's willingness to change his game into a style better suited for winning at a high level and as a third option. But if he truly wants to win, he has skills that would make him a great fit in Philly.

LaVine would greatly help the Sixers shoot more threes because 1) he can shoot them himself in a variety of ways and 2) he can create them for teammates with his ability to pressure the rim. While he would take some on-ball reps away from Tyrese Maxey, that's not entirely a bad thing. It would allow Maxey to get some work off the ball reps, an area where his talents can be (expertly utilized (and have been before he took the lead-ball-handler role). Plus, it would give Joel Embiid another dynamic guard to work with when Maxey sits.

Many of LaVine's red flags — that he's a shot-chucker who doesn’t care about defense and hasn’t contributed to winning basketball — are similar to the ones around Kelly Oubre Jr., who has seemingly bought all the way in on the Nurse way and showed that he can be a key contributor for Philly as a defender and off-ball scorer.

Of course, changing the calculus for a face-of-the-franchise star isn’t quite the same as doing so for a minimum-contract journeyman. However, there are recent examples of high-level guys who displayed a willingness to take lesser roles on new teams and succeded in them.

Aaron Gordon and Andrew Wiggins showed what happens when a player buys into a less glamorous role on a good team. Top options on respective poor teams became valuable linchpins in different, better squads. Of course, LaVine's path wouldn’t follow those burly forwards who dropped their tendency in one-on-one scoring to become versatile defensive beasts and complementary scorers to other stars. For him, it would be tapping into his skills as an off-ball scoring weapon while buying more into defense.

As recently as last season, LaVine proved he could be a part of a strong defensive unit. Can he be a major part of it? No, but he doesn’t have to be. The Sixers have a very good defensive infrastructure anchored by Embiid and other perimeter players who can be more primary defenders.

There is a path for LaVine to fit very well with the Sixers if he adopts the right mindset. But for one gigantic reason, Philly will probably not be going all out to trade for him.

Unless the Sixers believe LaVine has serious untapped potential or the price is ridiculously cheap, there isn’t much reason to believe Daryl Morey will trade for a player with his contract. Morey has made it clear that he wants to use Philly's gobs of cap space to improve the team and LaVine is owed at least $43 million in each of the next two seasons on top of having a player option after those years.

Out of the other options that could be up for grabs, New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley checks the most boxes.

Why Immanuel Quickley is an ideal Sixers trade target

Immanuel Quickley in a Sixers jersey

Quickley is one of the key players on a Knicks team fresh off of its first playoff series win in a decade. The likelihood that New York decides to trade him — much less to a division rival — does not seem very high. But the door is not totally shut on the possibility. For an executive like Morey, that may be all the space he needs to pursue him.

New York has stockpiled draft picks with many of its recent trades, like sending Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers for two second-rounders in the distant future and the wheeling and dealing from the 2022 draft that netted multiple protected first-round picks in the coming years.

Could Knicks president Leon Rose have eyes for the picks that the Sixers own from the Los Angeles Clippers, who could enter a rebuild in the coming years? Based on his track record, it seems very plausible.

Around this time last season, the Knicks were rumored to be open to trading Quickley for a first-round pick. Things have obviously changed since then, as New York ended up keeping the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up. But his future in the Big Apple is still not secured after he and the team failed to come to an agreement on a contract extension. Following those negotiations, there hasn’t been any reporting like that around Maxey not getting an extension, where it was evident from the jump that Philly intends to keep him and withheld his extension to keep cap space open.

Although the lack of an extension doesn’t mean the two sides won’t be able to find one this offseason — nor does it indicate that the Knicks are likely to deal him before that point — it makes the young guard much easier to trade. Quickley has no money on the books for next season (though he does have a $12.5 million cap hit) and is still under team control, making him the perfect addition for Morey and his plan to preserve the Sixers' cap space this upcoming offseason.

Morey doesn’t sound totally sold on the idea of re-signing the player the Sixers end up trading for. In an interview with the Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast, he was asked if the intention of their trade acquisition is to sign him to a new contract. His response: “You would want to go in feeling good about it but I don’t think you can go in with [the mindset of], ‘It has to happen!’ because you can make mistakes. Because it's a cap-room-type situation, you want to keep that optionality alive.”

Morey does say that the Sixers can’t be picky, so it wouldn’t come as a total surprise if they, in his words, have to “find something and make it work.” Quickley, for various reasons, can be what works.

So far this season, Quickley is averaging a career-high 15.7 points per game in 24.8 minutes per game. He's shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 36.1 percent from deep, and 89.4 percent from the free-throw line. Throughout his career, he has shot threes and drawn fouls above the league-average rates. His handle is very solid and he is a sound playmaker.

His production isn’t a result of playing against bench players, either, as he has averaged 21.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in his 27 career games as a starter (21 of which occurred last season). His shooting splits from the floor are actually quite higher as a starter (46.0 from the field, 39.1 percent from deep) than as a bench player.

Defensively, Quickley is one of the better guards in the entire league. Always working his tail off on that end, he can do just about everything a team would want from a guard his size. He fights through screens, communicates constantly, contests shots well and is adept at turning defense into offense. As added bonuses, he's only 24 years old and is a friend/former college teammate of Maxey's.

The Knicks' willingness to make Quickley available for trades right now isn’t known. While it would be foolish for them to trade away a guy who is young and good, the front office seems to be hellbent on acquiring draft capital. For the Sixers' purposes, he fits the type of player they want the best.

Morey said that two-way value and playmaking are ideal traits in a trade candidate. He is adamant about keeping as much cap space open for this offseason as he can. There are not many guys who could seemingly be available for trade that have little or no money tied up for next season and have either star pedigree or potential.

LaVine's current teammate, Alex Caruso, is one of the best defenders in basketball and is on a deal for just under $10 million for next season. While that may not stop the Sixers from pursuing him, his value on offense is less certain. Quickley has shown to be a more reliable shot creator on top of being a smart shooter and passer, the two main skills Caruso would bring to Philly's offense.

Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, like Quickley, is good on both ends of the floor and not under contract for next season. OG Anunoby is another Raptor who brings value to both ends of the floor, especially with the volume of his three-pointers on the rise. However, Toronto's front office is perhaps the most difficult to trade with. Speculating one of those guys to land in Philly is anyone's guess.

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is a good player on a rebuilding team but he does have another year left on his deal. Even though his $18 million salary is a bargain for how good he is, Morey's words suggest he badly wants to have as much cap space as possible this summer.

Another Bull, DeMar DeRozan, is actually on an expiring contract but doesn’t seem to fit on the Sixers as well as other trade candidates. His inability to shoot threes and poor track record in the playoffs dampens greatly his appeal.

Buddy Hield's shooting would certainly add some juice to the Sixers offense and his contract is expiring. But it's tough to see the Indiana Pacers wing as the splashy move Morey believes will boost his team.

Immanuel Quickley fits the billing the best for the Sixers — there are reasonable factors that suggest he could be a trade candidate, is a very good player and keeps the team's future flexibility intact. If the Knicks have even the slightest idea of making him available, the Sixers should rapidly make a hard pursuit.