The NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching. While trade talks have been relatively quiet, there are still plenty of minor moves that could be completed between now and February 6th. In fact, there’s one pseudo-contender who could greatly increase their chances of winning by making a minor midseason acquisition.
This pains me to say as a Boston fan, but the Sixers are the playoff squad that would most benefit from a minor trade. That’s mostly because there are two, clear, tangible areas where the 76ers could still improve: shooting and bench depth.
Right now, the team’s only reliable three-point shooter is Furkan Korkmaz, but his defensive deficiencies means you might not be seeing him play a whole lot come playoff time. If Philly could add even one knock-down shooter off the bench, they’d greatly increase their chances by the time the postseason comes around.
Right now, it appears that the Sixers have six of an ideal eight- or nine-man playoff rotation set: Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Joel Embiid with dynamic defensive rookie Matisse Thybulle coming off the bench. Thybulle mostly plays the 2 or 3, meaning the Sixers could look to target a point guard who can score (which is saying a lot) or a stretch four (which seems a bit more likely).
We obviously saw J.J. Redick’s importance to the squad over the years, and players like Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova proved to be invaluable in 2018. Plus, despite all of their deficiencies, the Sixers are perhaps the best bet to beat the top-three squads in the NBA (a grouping that includes the Bucks, Lakers, and Clippers). Besides Harris, each of their other four starters are above-average-to-elite defenders, and they have the wing defense to (somewhat) contain the likes of Giannis, LeBron, and Kawhi. Plus, if the Sixers have a healthy and motivated Embiid come playoff time, they’ll have a player who can go toe-to-toe with any of those aforementioned superstars.
Of course, the Sixers also have to get healthy if they want to make any noise in the playoffs, and it seems like they’re still struggling to find their ideal lineup (Simmons and Embiid have always been an awkward fit, and Horford hasn’t been as ideal of a fit as initially thought). Those will be two obvious areas to watch as the regular season winds down.
The Sixers are currently 4/1 odds to win the Eastern Conference, which seems like a preferable bet over the 6/1 Celtics, 10/1 Raptors, or 12/1 Heat. They’re also a whopping 16/1 odds to win the Finals, making them a sneaky-good bet… especially if the Sixers make a deadline acquisition that improves their chances.
