Sixers have ulterior motive in desired James Harden trade haul

The Philadelphia 76ers have remained gung-ho on acquiring guard Terance Mann in a potential James Harden trade this offseason. Throughout months of trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers, Mann has been a sticking point with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who has been adamant that the 27-year-old guard must be involved in any deal that ships Harden to the West Coast. 

One of the biggest questions throughout the Harden saga has been why an 8.0 PPG career scorer would be such a must-have asset for Philadelphia. As it turns out, it has nothing to do with Mann ever suiting up in a Sixers uniform. 

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, "Philadelphia is known to already have trades lined up in which it would receive a first-round pick in exchange for Mann." 

Ideally, the Sixers would receive an unprotected first-round selection and pick swaps from the Clippers in exchange for Harden to go along with Mann, who they would then swap for the additional first-round pick. In this scenario, Philadelphia would have ammo to shop their slew of draft capital to yield a star-level player via trade to complement reigning MVP Joel Embiid. 

Of course, none of that matters if the Clippers refuse to budge on Mann, who they have deemed "untouchable" in trade talks, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.