NBA rumors: Why Sixers may be hamstrung at trade deadline

Fans following the NBA trade rumors along closely are no doubt noticing the Sixers have ties to Tyreke Evans, as well as a bevy of other A-list players on the trade market ahead of the imepending Feburary 8 deadline. And sure, Philly would love to add a scorer like Evans or Lou Williams later this week. The issue is, Philly is a buyer, not a seller, for the first time in years.

And as such, they need assets to sell to rebuilding squads and ones they’re willing to give up.

They don’t have many.

Philly has its own first round pick, which as of right now will fall outside the lottery, as well as — potentially — the Lakers pick if it falls at No. 1, or above No. 5 after their trade with the Celtics this past summer.

Trading one of those will likely be mandatory if they want a top player. 

They also have a handful of second round picks and contract-year veteran Trevor Booker to move. But that’s about it.

None of the Sixers starters will be shopped. Nor, most expect, will first overall pick Markelle Fultz be made available. 

That being said, the Sixers need help. They have the 29th rated bench in the NBA and are hovering between the seventh and 10th spots in the East, all seperated by five games. Philly needs to make a push, and be thrifty while doing so.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggests that Philly having a limited number of assets “might limit their purchasing power to whatever they can nab for second-rounders.” And that sounds about right.

Adding a bench piece sounds like the most likely scenario. Making a blockbuster trade? Bryan Colangelo will need to be pretty creative to pull that one off.