NBA near-trades are usually an afterthought considering it didn’t come to fruition and just fuels a lot of what-ifs. Still, it does make for a lot of juicy stories. Like every NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers also had several high-profile trades that never happened. The franchise has enjoyed an abundance of superstars over the years, but they could have had more had these deals pushed through.

Let’s recall three of the craziest Sixers trade rumors of all time.

Charles Barkley to the Lakers for James Worthy and Elden Campbell (1992)

As brilliant as Sir Charles was for them in his early years in the league, the Sixers brass was not fond of his outspoken nature towards the franchise. Barkley was quite vocal about his displeasure with Philly for supposedly failing to surround him with talent.

As per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s archives, a deal was set up for the Lakers to take in Barkley and Ron Anderson in exchange for Worthy and Campbell.

The tradeoff was quite nice for the Sixers, considering Worthy could have easily replaced Barkleys’ spot in the starting unit, while Campbell gave them another viable option at center.

Barkley even caught wind of the deal and was pleased to be playing in Hollywood. But Philly reportedly backed out at the last minute. The Round Mound eventually found his way out of Philly via a trade to Phoenix that summer.   

Larry Hughes to the Raptors for Tracy McGrady (1997)

Before making a name for himself with the Wizards and the Cavs, Hughes first shared the Sixers backcourt with Allen Iverson. The 6-foot-5 guard was pretty solid in his first two seasons in the league and was getting noticed by several other teams.

So much so, that Toronto was willing to give up the unproven McGrady to acquire Hughes. That deal should have been a no brainer for the Sixers. Although T-Mac was not yet the offensive juggernaut that he came to be, he was bigger than Hughes, could cover multiple positions, and would have complemented AI better.

Philly screwed this one up big time, as they experienced cold feet and foolishly backed out of the deal. The Sixers eventually shipped Hughes to the Warriors, while AI managed to lead the team to the 2001 finals without him.

Imagine if Iverson had McGrady at the time. Maybe the Sixers could have given the Lakers a much better fight.

Allen Iverson to the Pistons in a 4-team deal (2000)

Iverson did eventually find himself in a Pistons jersey in 2008, but it could have happened way sooner.

At the time when AI’s indifference with then-head coach Larry Brown reached its peak, the Sixers were ready to ship him off to Detroit even for meager returns.

The Sixers had to navigate through a complicated 4-team deal with the Pistons, Hornets, and Lakers just to offload their troubled superstar.

Philly was set to absorb Eddie Jones, Glen Rice, Jerome Williams, and Dale Ellis. Charlotte takes Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and Travis Knight. The Lakers were going to receive Anthony Mason, Toni Kukoc, and Todd Fuller, while Detroit would have gotten Iverson and Matt Geiger.

The blockbuster deal appeared to be set in stone, up until Geiger complicated things. The 7-foot center refused to forfeit his $5 million trade kicker, which eventually killed the agreement.

This, of course, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Sixers. Iverson eventually patched things up with Brown and cemented his place as one of the game’s all-time greats.