Philly Front Office

I apologize for interrupting your good Eagles vibes to bring you this Sixers trade deadline report. I really thought I took care of this last week when we were clearly sellers, floundering in the bottom half of the standings. Funny thing happened on the way to futility though, the Sixers won 4 in a row including sweeping two back to backs. Granted they haven’t moved anywhere in the East hierarchy yet, but with teams flailing around them they are poised to ascend into playoff position soon. Despite a brutal 14-game stretch, the Sixers have managed to hang around.

So, are we buyers?

MAYBE!!! That 14-game stretch I mentioned started with 6 straight losses. A 3-11 or worse record would have really killed all hope for the year. We were on our way until the team inexplicably beat the league leading Cavs¹ and then the Bulls the next night. Two days later we did it again against the Lakers and Kings, really kicking the crap out of them without Embiid or Paul George. While this was going on, the teams around us started losing and going through their own dysfunction:

• 6-seed Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler suspended, lost 6 out of 9
• 7-seed Orlando Magic: Lost 9 out of 11
• 8-seed Atlanta Hawks: Jalen Johnson out for the year, lost 7 in a row
• 9-seed Chicago Bulls: Lost 8 out of 10 (including to the 76ers)

Now reports are that Embiid will probably play against Denver and then who knows? As of right now, we are still 8 games below .500, but only percentage points out of the Play-In and 4 games out of the 6-spot. It is still on the table to lose the remaining 4 games before the deadline, but I just can’t imagine we are selling at this point.

Wait, you didn’t answer me. Are we buyers?

You caught that did ya? Assuming we are buyers, what do we need? For the love of God Daryl, we need a high-end backup center. We just can’t act like this is a guy who won’t get any run because we have Joel Embiid. That is like filling a glass with a hole in it and acting surprised when it’s empty. Most teams are looking for 3-and-D wings, and though we could always use someone like that, we are pretty solid in that area. Instead, we could use someone who can play D and handle the ball. These are needs this year and in the future, so the Sixers are in position to aim at bigger contracts than the usual expiring contracts.

The Sixers have trade chips including players, salary, and future first round draft picks. The biggest non-draft asset to sell is Yabusele. He is playing so well and his $2m salary is so low that we almost have to move him. Capped out teams will overpay the Sixers for a player like him. However, this does not have to be a straight move-him-for-picks kind of deal. Think of him more as an asset that can be moved for different talent. He could be part of a 3-team trade that lands him with a strapped contender who sends picks to another team and send us someone else.

Everyone loves a good trade hypothetical, here we go:

• Trade for a backup center
  • Kelly Olynyk comes to Philly for Andre Drummond, KJ Martin, 2 second rounders. This may seem like a waste of picks but this allows the Sixers to get off of Drummonds completely wasted $5m salary next year (player option), gives them a future expiring contract, and a shooting and rebounding backup center. Honestly, Olynyk should have been Embiid’s back up for the last 5 years as he bounced around the league.
• Help Minnesotta
  • Sixers get Dante DiVincenzo, trade Yabusele and Eric Gordon to Minny and KJ Martin to Atlanta. Randle goes to Atlanta. Deandre Hunter and Bogdanovic to Minny. Atlanta consolidates their roster problem in a lost year while Minny gets out of their Knicks inspired headache. I’m not sure Atlanta does this, but it isn’t crazy and the math works. We absorb DiVincenzo and put him back in his Knicks role.
• Get in on the De’Aaron Fox sweepstakes
  • Sixers get Anthony Black from Orlando while sending Yabusele and their 2026 conditional first-round pick to Sacramento. Fox goes to the Magic with Mo Wagner, Cole Anthony, KJ Martin, and more firsts going to the Kings. Honestly this is a bad trade for the Kings, but they are a bad organization so it’s possible. Black gives the Sixers a ball handling, defensive, backcourt running mate for both Maxey and McCain for years. He can’t shoot, but the other two can.
• Get in on the trouble
  • Miami needs to move Jimmy Butler. If we can facilitate a deal for him to go to a 3rd team in any way with KJ Martin and Yabusele, we should. Someone smarter than me at the trade machine needs to give this a try.
  • Phoenix has all sorts of problems, from Bradley Beal to Jusef Nurkic. A deal that involves Ryan Dunn coming to Philly along with one of the picks they just received from Utah for Yabusele and salary would be a winner in my book. I couldn’t get the math right though. (try here: NBA Trade Machine & Cap Manager | Fanspo)

I mean, that still really doesn’t mean that we are buyers, does it?

No getting anything by you, huh? Regardless of what happens this week, the Sixers are probably not really buyers or sellers, rather just looking to be involved. Their chances this year are completely contingent upon Joel Embiid being healthy. If he can play, the Sixers owe it to all involved to be competitive. If he can’t then we have no shot whatsoever. We won’t know this until the season ends.

This means we can expect the Sixers to look out for assets while also trying to improve the team for this year and next. Maybe some role players go out while others come in. Expiring contracts this year for expiring contracts next year type trades. 3-team trades. With 3 max guys, we were not going to be in the market for splashy moves anyway.

So, we wait. We see if the Sixers and Daryl Morey can make the team a little better now and even better for tomorrow. In the end, nothing of significance will probably happen. For the next week, just keep me on in the background and I will keep you informed while you fully indulge in Super Bowl coverage.

1. Why haven’t the Cavs leaned into some sort of cow alternative mascot? You know, calves? I’ll show myself out. ↩︎