Sixers trade deadline primer: Assessing areas of need, Kyrie Irving’s impact, and the buyout market

The NBA trade season got off and running Sunday, when the Brooklyn Nets dealt All-Star — and controversial — point guard Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks about 48 hours after his request to be moved became public.

That massive personnel shift occurred well before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline, yet less than a year after the Nets and 76ers were at the epicenter of that buzzy checkpoint on the league calendar. After months of speculation surrounding Ben Simmons, those teams pulled off the blockbuster deal last February to exchange the disgruntled former Sixer for future Hall of Fame guard James Harden.

That means it’s time to update this season’s Sixers trade season primer, which was first released in December after most players league-wide who signed new contracts this past summer became eligible to be dealt.

» READ MORE: Daryl Morey believes the Sixers are championship contenders. But he will ‘turn over every rock’ as trade deadline nears.

The Sixers are not expected to be the trade-market players they were last year, when they needed to find a new team for Simmons after he refused to play and asked out of Philly. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey recently told The Inquirer that he believes the roster is already championship-caliber, and that exploring moves at this stage is challenging because “it’s frankly not easy to find upgrades who are better than our 11th guy.”

Yet, considering how quickly this Irving situation unfolded — along with Morey’s history of aggressiveness and creativity as a roster-builder — it would be unwise to rule out any possibility. Here is a primer on where the Sixers stand and the potential impact of the rest of the trade market.

Backup frontcourt: Sunday’s loss to the Knicks provided glaring evidence of this deficiency, when Montrezl Harrell was a minus-15 in three minutes and Paul Reed was a minus-14 in eight.

Embiid needs to rest sometime during games, and the Sixers could use a clear-cut option for when he is off the floor. They do not have a traditional 7-footer behind their MVP contender, who was previously backed up by Dwight Howard in 2020-21 and Andre Drummond last season before he was part of the Simmons deal. Reports surfaced Sunday that the Sixers are interested in former center Nerlens Noel, who is currently a nonfactor with the rebuilding Detroit Pistons but remains friends with Embiid.

After toggling between Harrell and Reed earlier this season, Harrell had appeared to solidify his spot as the backup center and occasionally put up impressively efficient numbers. But he has been replaced by Reed twice in the past week. Harrell also can be a defensive liability — and is not always playable during the postseason.

Reed, meanwhile, still lacks experience — and, clearly, coach Doc Rivers’ trust — even after moving into the rotation during last year’s playoffs. P.J. Tucker is also a small-ball option at center, but has not played there much during the regular season.

Outside of center, the Sixers have also reportedly expressed interest in Utah Jazz forward Jarred Vanderbilt. He is a versatile defender and fantastic rebounder, who could boost a Sixers team that entered Monday ranked 28th in the league in that category at 40.7 per game.

3-and-D wing: Though the Sixers already have De’Anthony Melton, Matisse Thybulle, and Danuel House Jr., these types of players are always coveted.

The Inquirer reported the Sixers tried to acquire Eric Gordon on draft night, before instead trading for Melton. Outside shooting, comparable to what JJ Redick brought during his Sixers tenure, will always be beneficial around Embiid. The Sixers enter Thursday fourth in the NBA in three-point percentage (38.5%).

» READ MORE: Sixers guard Furkan Korkmaz has requested to be traded before Thursday’s deadline, sources say

Jae Crowder, who has not played for the Phoenix Suns all season while awaiting a trade, is very publicly on the market. The Sixers, though, feel like a long shot to land him, after the Milwaukee Bucks were granted permission to speak to Crowder.

Crowder brings size and a rugged style, and is not afraid to let it fly from deep. He was a trade-deadline boost for the Miami Heat when they went to the 2020 Finals, then filled a key role on the Suns the past two seasons before a falling out with the organization.

Traditional point guard: Though Rivers has complimented the aggressive scoring ability of the Tyrese Maxey-Shake Milton backcourt duo in the second unit, the Sixers do not have a prototypical point guard on the roster.

That might not be as important in the modern NBA, especially with Harden dishing out 10.9 assists a game. But Rivers clearly values players who can handle the ball, set the pace with kick-ahead passes, and make sharp decisions within the offense’s structure.

The Irving trade has obvious ripple effects across the NBA — including on the East playoff race and, thus, the Sixers’ championship quest.

What else will the Nets do in the Irving aftermath? Could MVP contender Kevin Durant revive his trade demand from last summer? Could Simmons be on the move for the second consecutive deadline? Brooklyn entered Monday fourth in the Eastern Conference at 32-20, but could tumble if this is the start of a roster blowup — or remain steady if Durant returns healthy and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, who both came over from Dallas in the Irving trade, prove to be important complementary teammates.

The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors, who are both in the midst of disappointing seasons, will also be interesting to monitor this week.

Chicago’s 26-27 record entering Tuesday could put several prominent players on the trading block, from the expiring contract of Nikola Vucevic, to energetic role player Alex Caruso, to stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

The Raptors, who are 25-30 entering Tuesday, could also be in line for a full pivot to build around 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. That could make several players available, such as defensive stalwart OG Anunoby, sharpshooter Gary Trent Jr., veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, and even versatile star Pascal Siakam.

Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins, meanwhile, is seemingly in trade rumors every year.

» READ MORE: Inside Sixers: Subdued reactions to Kyrie Irving trade, Whataburger debates and more from an uneven week

This is a post-trade deadline option for the Sixers, who still possess an open roster spot.

The usefulness of the buyout market depends on who is available, of course. It’s easy to celebrate when the Sixers picked up Erson Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli in 2018 as part of their fabulous regular-season finish. But Sixers fans would also prefer to forget last season, when veteran big man DeAndre Jordan was a failure as a late addition after Drummond was traded.