Nothing ever seems to make sense with this organization, does it? Whether it's a GM with burner accounts, a peanut allergy bordering on a life-threatening situation to a young player, or first overall picks forgetting or not willing to take jump shots, the stories are often impossible to make up. The script for 2024-25 has also been one that no one could have foreseen.
If I told you back in October that Jared McCain was going to flirt with the Rookie of the Year award and Guerschon Yabusele would be averaging 10 and 5 in just 26 minutes per night, you would have viewed the Sixers as a viable title contender. Unfortunately, McCain's ROY flirtations were short-lived due to his meniscus injury ending his season. Yabusele appears to now be one of the team's top trade chips, if they sell, due to his strong production and expiring contract on a team that never seems to have everyone healthy.
But it's that "if they sell" part that still seems to be up in the air as we close in on one week before the NBA Trade Deadline. For most of January, it looked like a consensus opinion was emerging amongst the fanbase. Any small fraction of goodwill that the team earned from an impressive road win in Boston on Christmas Day was washed away when they lost 10 of their first 12 games in January, a stretch that included a seven-game losing streak. Even one of those two wins in the first 12 games of 2025 was far from impressive as the Sixers hung on to beat lowly Washington 109-103 at home. The Sixers led by as many as 16 in that Washington game, and by 14 to start the fourth quarter, but the Wizards managed to take the lead with 2:33 remaining in regulation, only to eventually give it back to the Sixers for good.
The seven-game losing streak had moved the Sixers into the seventh spot in the lottery standings, which was significant because it increased their odds to retain their top-six protected first-round pick. More losing would need to be done for those odds to increase further, but selling off any expiring contracts for draft assets would only make it more likely that the team would lose more games. So naturally the Sixers went out last weekend and defeated the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference and the team directly above them in the conference standings that they would need to supplant to make the play-in tournament.
The team's schedule will get easier after the trade deadline, but every opponent between now and Feb. 6 is currently in either a playoff or play-in tournament spot. Therefore, if the Sixers' winning ways continue before the deadline, the team would hit the deadline on a winning streak against mostly playoff teams. Marc Stein wrote at the beginning of the week that it seems like Daryl Morey and company are going to take this all the way down to deadline day to determine what the best course of action should be:
"The belief is that the Sixers want to gauge results over the next week-plus before firming up their trade deadline approach. After back-to-back wins over Cleveland and Chicago, Philadelphia entered Monday's play at 17-27 and just a game out of 10th place in the East behind the 19-27 Bulls.
Joel Embiid has still only appeared in 13 games this season for the 76ers, but a case can be made to resist trade pitches for Yabusele and [Eric] Gordon if a second-half push for at least a Play-In Tournament spot is within reach."
With just over a week remaining until the deadline, it does not seem as if a consensus opinion amongst NBA insiders has emerged on what Morey should or will do. ESPN's Bobby Marks seemed undeterred by the strong weekend for Philadelphia and lobbied for the Sixers to recoup some draft picks with an additional pick owed to the Nets down the line as well. Marks wrote the following on the Sixers in a trade deadline primer:
"Instead of taking an aggressive approach to improve the team, such as trading multiple first-round picks or a player such as KJ Martin or Caleb Martin, Philadelphia should wait until the offseason.
Viewed as the "winner" of the offseason, Philadelphia is in danger of not just missing the playoffs but also the play-in. The 76ers' first-round pick will go to Oklahoma City if it falls outside of the top 6. They will also send Brooklyn a top-8 protected first-rounder two years after the conditions to Oklahoma City are met.
The 76ers' disappointing season, coupled with the potential loss of a lottery pick, should have Morey thinking about trading Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond and even Guerschon Yabusele for draft capital. All three players can be free agents in the offseason (Drummond and Oubre have a player option)."
If you're asking for my two cents, I think the train is already too far off the tracks on this season for any kind of saving grace to be had at the deadline. If there is a younger player that comes with some control that the Sixers feel they can unlock and have that player become a part of their future while also trying to turn 2024-25 around, then maybe that's worth looking into. But that's about the only scenario in which it makes any sense for the Sixers to add to this roster.
Even with last weekend's two wins, the Sixers were still 10 games under .500 after the victory in Chicago. The Bulls might be catchable, but there is a small cushion between the rest of the teams in the play-in tournament and Chicago at the moment. It's almost certain that the best-case scenario on the rest of the regular season still puts the Sixers in the play-in tournament. However, there have been a few teams recently that have made deep playoff runs out of the play-in tournament. Whether you like it or not, it may only take a few more wins before the trade deadline for Morey to talk himself into this roster for the rest of the season.