Let’s say that the Bull’s were willing to part with Caruso, but wanted Springer and at least one pick as part of the package.
That would leave us with both Melton and Caruso to pair up with Maxey as our top three guards, with Pat Bev as the fourth.
What would be maximum offer you would bid to make it happen, or is it a non starter?
This is a really tough question. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t expect much from a young player like Springer so quickly, but Joel vouching for him so heavily speaks a lot.
Personally, I’d be more inclined to first see if moving Melton for Caruso in some 2 or 3 team trade would be possible. Melton is a better scorer than Caruso, but Caruso is a better defender and ballhandler, which are skills that the Sixers need more.
The problem with Melton is that while he’s a solid player who is worth keeping, he’s a free agent at the worst time for the Sixers (in a year where they might have genuine cap room to play with). Unless the Sixers made a mid-season move that eliminated their offseason cap flexibility, it’s going to be really hard to justify keeping Melton if it limits their offseason flexibility so drastically because Melton is going to command 20 million+ in an era of inflated salaries. In comparison, Caruso is locked up for another year at a steal of a contract.
So if this could be arranged, you could have at worst a primary SG rotation of Caruso, Springer, Beverly (with others contributing spot minutes) and still retain all of the Sixers draft assets for a big-time deal, while still retaining enough cap flexibility to potentially go after a big piece in the offseason.