Orlando is looking to turn the corner this season and start competing. They have a bunch of work-in-progress guards who are poor shooters. With the Anthony Black pick, along with Fultz, Suggs, and Cole Anthony (the only one in the group who has shown decent shooting ability), they have a bunch of potential, but no one who is clearly their lead guard of the future to compliment their stacked frontcourt. They get a high volume shooter and a high level facilitator in Harden, who would be an excellent compliment to Paolo, Franz and WCJ, at the cost of a guard who has become expendable and a reclamation project.

For Philly, they get FVV to replace Harden, providing the reunion with Nick Nurse. At this stage of Harden's career, with him expiring and not wanting to be there, they aren't likely to land a better replacement piece. Fred should fit a lot better next to Maxey than Harden did.

For Toronto, Suggs has the history with the franchise, as the guy they were expected to pick in 2021, and the only club Suggs worked out for before the draft. He has struggled, and the pick of Scottie turned out to be right, but Suggs has started to show potential on offence, and is a bulldog defender. The Raps might not have wanted him over Scottie, but he would make a lot of sense now. With Fred gone, and minimal guard talent left on the roster, he would have a clear opportunity to realize his potential, instead of fighting with Orlando's crowd of guards for minutes. Meanwhile, Isaac is an intriguing reclamation project whose salary is not guaranteed past this season. He was viewed as a future DPOY before his injury, so a flier on him, knowing that you can cut him after this season if it doesn't work out, would be worthwhile. The lower cost of these two pieces vs Fred also helps the Raps re-sign Poeltl and stay below the tax, while potentially even having space to sign a non-tax MLE player, too, if they cut Thad.