NBA trade deadline: Sixers' approach won’t change following Wilson Chandler’s injury

SACRAMENTO – The 76ers’ approach to the NBA trade deadline won’t be impacted by Wilson Chandler’s injury.

Sixers coach Brett Brown said so on Saturday following the team’s shootaround prior to Saturday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings.

Chandler, the Sixers' starting power forward, will be sidelined two to three weeks with a right quadriceps strain. He will miss at least six games heading into the NBA All-Star break. The trade deadline is set for 3 p.m. Thursday, and the Sixers were already thin in the front court before the injury.

“If he came in and said this is a six-to-eight-week thing, you’d really start to be nervous about, ‘Well, we need help. We need help,’” Brown said. “With the trade deadline coming up, that help might be expedited or you might be really forced to make a decision you don’t want to.

“I think with a few-week thing, you don’t feel as pressed. Maybe we can take care of business with the group that we have.”

In that scenario, the Sixers “will sort of reshuffle the deck” by giving players more minutes at secondary positions to make up for Chandler’s absence.

As a result, All-Star point guard Ben Simmons could play around 20 minutes at power forward. That would give backup point guard T.J. McConnell and starting swingman Jimmy Butler more ball-handling duties.

On Saturday, Mike Muscala was placed in Chandler’s starting spot. Muscala got the nod over Jonah Bolden, who started when Chandler missed consecutive games last month with an upper respiratory infection.

But his absence doesn’t come at a good time for the Sixers.

After being sidelined with a left hamstring strain at the start of the season, Chandler was finally finding his groove as a solid role player. In addition to playing power forward, he saw a lot of action as a backup small forward.

The 31-year-old veteran is averaging 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 39 percent on three-pointers in 36 games. He was averaging 8.1 points in his last seven games.

Chandler admitted to being a little frustrated with sustaining the injury, especially the timing.

“I’ve just got to stay focused and control the things I can,” Chandler said. “The things I can’t, just stay level headed.”

Chandler missed the first nine games of the season with a left hamstring strain. He missed two more with a left quad contusion. Chandler also missed one game with left hamstring tightness and another for rest in addition to missing two because of upper respiratory infection.

He said the injury is a result of somewhat overcompensating for the injuries in his left leg.

“The strength probably isn’t where it needs to be on the left side,” he said. “So it probably comes from that.”

In addition to Chandler, the Sixers were without shooting guard JJ Redick against the Kings. The 34-year-old sharpshooter missed the game as part of a scheduled rest day. Rookie Landry Shamet started in his place.

Redick should be well-rested for Tuesday’s showdown with the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center.

Meanwhile, Chandler will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

“I’m good, given the circumstances,” he said. “I think it’s part of the game. No matter how mad you want to be out there, sometimes stuff like this happens.

“You have to keep a clear head and keep working at it.”

Saturday marks the eighth of 12 consecutive games against teams with winning records. The Sixers were 5-2 in the first seven games.

“From a team standpoint, we are in a good place,” Chandler said. “We are playing good. I think that makes [dealing with the injury] easier.”