It's wait and see on 76ers trade
NEW ORLEANS - The 76ers' message has been the same over the last 30 days: They will exchange phone calls but aren't looking to make trades.
NEW ORLEANS - The 76ers' message has been the same over the last 30 days: They will exchange phone calls but aren't looking to make trades.
Events leading up to the NBA trade deadline at 3 p.m. Thursday will show whether they actually do stand pat, and it could be a suspenseful wait.
With plenty of cap space, the Sixers would consider helping teams make a trade work, according to a league source. The source said the Sixers were sending out feelers Wednesday about being a third team in any deal to dump contracts. The Sixers would take on the salaries to receive draft picks, the source said.
For example, the New York Daily News reported that the Sixers could acquire Cleveland Cavaliers reserve center Anderson Varejao. He has $9.6 million guaranteed this season and $9.3 million guaranteed next season with a $1 million non-guaranteed bonus before becoming full non-guaranteed for the 2017-18 season. (Other reports say the Cavaliers could send him to the Orlando Magic.)
They are also in the market for a prized point guard, according to another league source.
A third league source said the Sixers have been contacted by teams about their interest in keeping Jahlil Okafor.
A trade "would have to make a lot of sense for them," the source said of the Sixers. "They would have to get a player that they deem the same level player at a different position.
"I don't think at this time anything will happen. Maybe in the summer time, but I don't see anything happening now."
Another source wouldn't be surprised if the Sixers call the Hawks at the 11th hour to follow up on their interest in Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague or backup Dennis Schroder.
The problem is that the Sixers would have to at least offer Okafor or Nerlens Noel to make that deal work. The Sixers don't want to part with either player - at least until they know the health of big man Joel Embiid, who has an injured right foot and has yet play since being drafted third overall out of Kansas in 2014.
"I think Sam, like every other president and general manager in the league, is busy on the phones just to see what's there," Sixers chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo said of Sam Hinkie, the GM and president. "That doesn't mean that we are committed to making a deal. Far from that.
"I think you always have to be aware of what the market is for acquiring something or considering a trade. But we are not actively looking to do deals."
So it's wait and see.
@PompeyOnSixers