The Sixer Sense
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Supplemental Players Will Lead to Big Man Trade Getting Done

By Josh Wilson

Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) and center Jahlil Okafor (8) celebrate a score against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) and center Jahlil Okafor (8) celebrate a score against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia 76ers need to trade a big, but at this point, extra players included in the trade may be more important to making the deal happen.

The Philadelphia 76ers need to get rid of a big man. That is probably the only thing that is certain about their future. Well, that and the idea that Joel Embiid is a big part of the team’s positive elements (and on some nights, the only positive element). But aside from those two things, much is up in the air regarding the developing team and its future.

Many potential trades encompassing both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor have been discussed, but with the team having made it this far and still not having completed a deal — and now with no more rumors of trades involving the Sixers popping up either — discussing the trades that are straight up for Okafor and Noel has become a mundane task, and it seems futile.

No longer is there much interest in either player around the league. Their value has been plummeting at an alarming rate for weeks, if not months. Even in the Sixers own world, neither center is worth much of anything  to fans in comparison to Joel Embiid, who has become the paragon of Hinkie’s best player available lottery picks (with rookie forward Ben Simmons still pending). So instead of the trade being about the big, the components that will get the deal done are the extras — the sweeteners, if you will.

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Almost every trade in the NBA has these supplemental pieces that go along with the bigger picture and the main idea of a trade.

A great example of this was the trade that sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015. Everyone remembers that Smith and Shumpert were the big pieces (and most remember that Dion Waiters was traded to the Thunder, the third team involved in that trade), but not many people remember that the Knicks received Lance Thomas from the Thunder as well as Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk, and a second-round 2019 draft pick in return for Shumpert and Smith.

Side note: While the main idea here is that supplemental trade pieces are important, it may also go hand in hand with the idea that a third team will be brought in regarding a big man trade, just to work out those supplemental players and where they end up going.

There’s a few reasons trades are rarely straight up in the NBA.

The biggest reason is because salaries between the traded pieces need to match up to a reasonable amount for a trade to go through (mainly, they have to be within 20 percent of each other).

For most big trades, these sweeteners are the reasons the deals get done, but for the Sixers this year, they will be even bigger than normal. In fact, the trades may be more about the extra pieces than the big men themselves.

The Sixers issues with having too many big men are not a classified by any means. The team has practically broadcasted the fact that they have too many big men on their roster all season long, with even head coach Brett Brown — who is usually quite savvy with the media, and anything but a public relations nightmare — has said the Sixers current frontcourt situation is the hardest thing he’s had to go through since coming to the Sixers.

With that in mind, and all 29 other teams in the NBA knowing that the Sixers have to trade a big man, there will be little to no return for the Sixers’ big men, unless a team is absolutely obsessed with one of the two — which is incredibly unlikely at this point in their careers.

Sixers team president and general manager Bryan Colangelo showed little rush the last time he spoke to the media about making a trade, and also indicated that he would not be making a trade if it didn’t better the team and yield a decent value in the long run.

Trades: How Do the Sixers Fit In to NBA Trade Rumors?

A trade for Noel or Okafor straight up has no value for the Sixers It’s just not a feasible thing to expect.

Of course, there can be some value to a trade for Okafor or Noel straight up, simply due to the rules of the trades. Salaries are supposed to match up as stated earlier (although often things such as future draft picks are included in trades to make up for salaries that don’t match), but the two players are both still on rookie deals, meaning that even their raw value is low. The Sixers have to get something in return, but the value will be virtually nothing for all intents and purposes of the improvement of the Sixers.

But with supplemental pieces, teams the Sixers are discussing trades with may be willing to add in some players that can actually benefit Philly.

Trades: Sixers Must Deal 3 Big Men

Players may be looking for a rim protector, and Noel can fill that. But with the team knowing they can get Noel for practically free, they won’t be inclined to improve much about the deal to get him. But if the Sixers say they won’t send Noel alone, and would have to include another player — let’s say, Ersan Ilyasova, just for giggles — perhaps a team would give up their best bench 3-point shooter, or even their best bench point guard (and maybe they would have to, just to make the money work).

Throw in a Sixers player that may have some more long-term value because of a longer contract and more security for the team being able to use the player long-term (that would be a player like Gerald Henderson or Jerryd Bayless, both players signed this offseason) then maybe the Sixers can muscle out a player on another team’s starting rotation.

Next: 4 Players Who Will be Expendable Next Season

The trade — due to the waiting game that has gone on way too long, courtesy of Bryan Colangelo — is no longer about the bigs. It’s all about the add-ons, the extras, the supplemental pieces of the trade. It’s become a very complicated situation to try to forecast, and in all reality, predicting what is to come out of the frontcourt logjam in Philly is just not a real possibility.

Someone has to go. It’s just a matter of who, when, and how. And it won’t just be a big. Not if the Sixers want anything at all in return.