December 15th marks the unofficial beginning of the NBA trade season. That is when the majority of players signed in free agency become eligible to be traded. January 15th is when the other players signed in free agency become trade eligible. Plenty of teams will be worth watching as potential sellers. For example, the 2-25 Detroit Pistons will look to dish veterans Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris, and/or Joe Harris before the deadline. But there will also be buyers. One team that could be among that group? The Philadelphia 76ers.
Remember when the question regarding the Sixers was whether or not James Harden would play for them this season? Well, the answer to that question was a resounding no, and it hasn't mattered at all. The Sixers boast the league's best net rating at +11.4 points per 100 possessions according to NBA.com. Joel Embiid is once again playing like an MVP candidate and Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a full-fledged All-Star. But they aren't all the Sixers have. They are getting stellar play from everyone on their roster, including the likes of Tobias Harris, De'Anthony Melton, and players they acquired in the trade James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers: Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington and Marcus Morris Sr.
With their stellar play, new first round picks to play with and expiring contracts galore, the NBA world is waiting for Daryl Morey's next move. What will the Sixers do before the trade deadline? Here are a couple of predictions to answer that question.
The Sixers don't trade for Zach LaVine
Ever since the Bulls and Zach LaVine announced that the two sides were more open to a trade than they've ever been, the Sixers, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers, have been mentioned as potential trade partners. That was once again the sentiment in reports within the last couple of weeks by both Shams Charania of The Athletic and Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports. While the idea of LaVine next to Maxey and Embiid is a tantalizing one, it may not seem like the best fit in actuality.
The main reason why? Defense. Tyrese Maxey is a speedy, fiery dynamo of a scorer and playmaker, but he is not known for his prowess on the defensive end of the floor. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Maxey tends to get picked on and exploited on that end of the floor. LaVine is not much better and has never been during his NBA career. The two do have similar games offensively that could work well with each other, but trading for LaVine while Maxey is tearing the league up as he is would seem redundant and unnecessary. LaVine shouldn't be the prize general manager Daryl Morey throws his chips in the middle of the table for.
The Sixers don't make a trade at all
We've seen Daryl Morey get rewarded for his patience when it comes to not making a trade twice in his tenure as the Sixers general manager alone when he waited out Ben Simmons and James Harden's holdouts for the right deal. He doesn't have to make a deal any time soon this time around either. As mentioned earlier, the Sixers have the best net rating in the NBA and the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. While it's debatable as to whether or not the Sixers are actually better than the Boston Celtics or the Milwaukee Bucks, they don't need to make a major move to compete with them either.
Instead, Morey might be waiting for the summer to make his major moves. After factoring in Tyrese Maxey's cap hold, the Sixers are slated to have about $70 million of cap space this summer. That money can be spent on signing a star in free agency or using some of that precious cap space to make a trade then and perhaps accumulate more draft capital that way. Unless the right deal comes across Morey's desk, he shouldn't want to risk denting his cap space next year when his team is playing well enough that he doesn't have to do so.
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