Report: Sixers, Hawks Talking Trade of Nerlens Noel for Jeff Teague

Could the Sixers make a trade to acquire Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague?  | John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report from Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, the Sixers and Hawks are in discussions about a potential trade that would be centered around Nerlens Noel going to Atlanta for Jeff Teague.

According to Charania, the deal is not yet imminent.

Atlanta and Philadelphia are discussing a possible trade centered on Hawks guard Jeff Teague and 76ers center Nerlens Noel, league sources told The Vertical.

The sides have discussed the deal recently, but an agreement isn’t imminent, sources said.

— Shams Charania, Yahoo Sports

Teague averaged 15.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for Atlanta last season, while shooting a career best 40 percent from three-point range, although he shot just 38 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range in the playoffs. For his career, Teague has averages of 12.1 points and 5.2 assists per game, and has shot 35.5 percent from long range.

Teague, who will turn 28 next week, is about to enter the final year of the 4 year, $32 million contract he signed in the summer of 2013. He will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

That would put the Sixers in a little bit of a tough predicament. Like this offseason, the salary cap is expected to jump significantly next summer, from the $92 million it’s projected to be at for 2016-17 all the way up to $107 million. That’s going to create a surplus of teams with salary cap space, which is going to lead to teams that are more capable than the Sixers of providing Teague with the chance to win. That would mean the Sixers may have to overpay Teague to stay or risk losing Noel for just a one-year rental.

Using the figures I calculated last summer (which are slightly off, since the projected 2017-18 cap fell from $108 million to $107 million, but is good enough to provide a rough estimate), Teague would be eligible for the following max contract extension:

2017-18: $30.5 million (29 years old)
2018-19: $32.8 million (30)
2019-20: $35.1 million (31)
2020-21: $37.4 million (32)
2021-22: $39.7 million (33)
Total: 5 years, $175.4 million

(Note: this is not me saying he will receive that contract, just that the above is around the maximum the Sixers, or whoever holds his bird rights, could offer him).

No word yet on what else is being discussed along with Noel and Teague, and whether this would preclude a Jahlil Okafor trade as well.