Sixers mailbag: Paul George’s suspension, Joel Embiid’s scoring surge and trade deadline targets

What will the 76ers do before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline?

Will Daryl Morey, the president of basketball operations, continue his trend of making a trade even if it’s just to get under the luxury tax threshold? Or will he decide to keep intact the Sixers’ deepest team since the 2018-19 season?

We’ll learn more in the coming days. In the meantime, I’ll answer a few of your mailbag questions.

Missed out on the party? No worries. Submit questions for next time by tweeting @PompeyOnSixers on X with the hashtag #PompeysMailbagFlow.

A: Thanks for starting the mailbag. This is a great question that many people have been asking me. Now, if George had a bonus for games played or point totals, he wouldn’t receive it if the 25-game suspension prevented him from reaching the required numbers. But overall, the Sixers cannot void his contract.

For a contract to be voided, there must be cause. The team could argue that this fits the definition of cause to void a deal, but it would lose.

» READ MORE: Paul George’s suspension brings back belief that he was a bad signing for the Sixers. Here’s why.

To void a contract, the infraction would have to be something that impacts a player’s ability to continue his career. For instance, a team can void a contract if a player commits a serious crime and could face jail time. Another example would be if he sustained a career-ending injury away from basketball or training.

Think about it, Miami Heat point guard Terry Rozier has been placed on unpaid leave following October’s arrest for his alleged involvement in an illegal sports gambling scheme. However, his contract has not been voided.

A: Yes, it has been a blessing in disguise as it relates to the salary cap, especially the luxury tax threshold to avoid being taxed. The 35-year-old will lose $11.7 million during his suspension. As a result, the Sixers will have around $5.8 million in tax variance credit. It leaves the team about $1.2 million above the tax threshold.

If not for the suspension, the Sixers would be $7 million above the allowable threshold. In that instance, the expiring contracts of Quentin Grimes ($8.7 million), Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.3 million), and Andre Drummond ($5 million) would have potentially helped them duck the tax.

The problem is, all three are major contributors for a squad that headed into Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

» READ MORE: Five reasons the Sixers should be cautious at the NBA trade deadline

Oubre is the starting small forward and has been the team’s X factor. Grimes, a reserve shooting guard, was an early-season candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year. And Drummond, a reserve center, is the Sixers’ leading rebounder.

Now, the Sixers can avoid the tax by making a trade on the margins and avoid parting ways with any of their key rotation players.

A: There’s nothing fake about Embiid’s recent scoring surge. I do think the Sixers will always have their fingers crossed that he won’t suffer another injury. And that makes sense considering the 7-foot-2, 280-pound center’s injury history. But his recent stint has been the best stretch of his career since he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30, 2024.

» READ MORE: A look at the Sixers’ movable contracts, and how Paul George’s suspension could impact their trade deadline plans

Back to playing at an All-NBA level, the 2023 MVP finished with a season-high 40 points along with 11 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. Embiid averaged 29.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 14 games in January. His scoring average for that month ranked fourth in the NBA behind Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Dončić (34.0 points per game), Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31.7), Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (31.0), and Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards (30.1). Even that’s misleading because Jokić played only one game.

So it’s hard to say Embiid’s scoring surge is fiction.

A: Boston Celtics post player Chris Boucher is a player the Sixers are reported to have some “exploratory” interest in, according to a HoopsHype report. A source downplayed the interest in the reserve power forward/center, who has appeared in only nine games this season with the Boston Celtics, averaging just 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 10.4 minutes.

» READ MORE: Forget about trading VJ Edgecombe for Giannis. Or anybody.

However, he flourished in the last seven seasons as a reserve glue guy for the Toronto Raptors. Sixers coach Nick Nurse was Raptors coach during Boucher’s first five seasons in Toronto. Nurse was able to get the best out of the undersized post player, who averaged 8.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 406 games as a Raptor.

Boucher signed a one-year, veteran minimum contract with Boston for $3.2 million, with a cap hit of $2.2 million.