An NBA insider reveals how aggressive he believes the Philadelphia 76ers will be at the NBA Trade Deadline.
The first half of this season hasn't gone exactly as many expected it to for the Philadelphia 76ers. When it became known that James Harden was not going to be part of the team this season, the assumption was that the Sixers would end up taking a step back. At least for now, that hasn't been the case. Philadelphia is 26-13 through the first 39 games of the season, good enough for third in the Eastern Conference standings, and find themselves just 1.5 games back of the second seed.
Despite their strong start to the season, the overwhelming belief is that the Sixers still very remain a tier below the likes of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, the true championship contenders) in the East. However, at least for now, it doesn't appear as if Philadelphia has any plans to pursue a big move at the trade deadline.
The Athletic's Shams Charania revealed just how aggressive he believes the Sixers will be heading into the NBA Trade Deadline. In short, while he believes the Sixers will do their due diligence with some of the bigger names on the trade block, he also doesn't believe the Sixers will be all that aggressive when it comes to making a huge move (for Pascal Siakam, Zach LaVine, or Dejounte Murray) at the deadline. Shams believes Philadelphia could make a small move at the deadline but notes how they may be in a better position to make a big move during the offseason.
Would the Philadelphia 76ers be making a mistake by not pursuing a big name at the NBA Trade Deadline?
On one hand, it's easy to be a bit offputting by the Sixers electing to not be overly aggressive heading into the trade deadline. After all, punting on another year of Joel Embiid's prime is not exactly what the team should be doing. However, at the same time, if the Sixers do believe they have a better chance of elevating their team to championship contender status during the offseason, that's certainly something they should probably explore rather than making a rash move right now.
Either way, the Sixers are a team many will keep a close eye on heading into the final few weeks before the NBA Trade Deadline. With as many trade assets as they have, they could emerge as a dark horse threat at the deadline.