Of course, there’s there’s the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder that can run almost any team out of the gym with their superstars in the open court. LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Durant, and Westbrook will always have their teams in contention, but there’s teams with well-rounded teams excelling in the NBA this year.

I hope Tony DiLeo has his notebook out and is taking a look at what teams like the Indiana Pacers,  Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Chicago Bulls are doing. The Bulls are going through a similar dilemma that the Sixers are, except they’re winning. Chicago’s superstar Derrick Rose has yet to play this season after tearing his ACL in the postseason last year. All of these teams should be the model for the 76ers, and they all have a lot in common.

Here’s just a few things:

 1. Defense - The Grizzlies, Pacers, and Bulls rank first, second, and third in points allowed per game respectively. Indiana ranks first in opponents’ field goal attempts from 16-23 feet and second from 10-15 feet. Clearly, consistently shooting mid-range jump shots isn’t a formula for success. The Sixers should know that first hand, they rank first in field goal attempts from 16-23 feet in the NBA and the fifth most from 10-15 feet.

 2. Rebounding - Indiana, Memphis, and Denver make up the top-three in Total Rebounding Rate according to HoopData, while Chicago ranks seventh. Those four teams also rank in the top-six in offensive rebounding rate, Memphis at the top of that category. And the Sixers? They rank 23rd in total rebounding rate and 24th on the offensive glass.

3. Shot Selection - The Sixers offense has been awful this year. To prove exactly how awful, they rank 28th in the NBA in Offensive Efficiency and 29th in points per game with 92.3. They are 29th in the league in Free Throw Rate, and when they do get to the line, they shoot just 71.8%, which ranks them at a less than spectacular 25th. The Nuggets rank 3rd in Offensive Efficiency and first in field goal attempts at the rim. Indiana ranks 3rd in attempts from 3-9 feet, and Lionel Hollins’ squad is 5th in the same category. As I said earlier, the Sixers love contested mid-range jump shots. Any correlation with their putrid offensive numbers? I’ll leave that assumption to you.

So the blueprint is laid, Tony DiLeo. Protect the rim, hit the glass, and take good shots are all keys to success. With players like Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, J.J. Hickson, and Josh Smith all becoming unrestricted free agents this summer, and just over $46 million committed to player salaries next year, there is no excuse that the Sixers can’t be one of the best eight teams in the Eastern Conference next season. Regardless of whether or not Bynum is back, other changes need to be made to the roster to turn this team into a formidable one.

Feb 20, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick (7) drives against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Anyway, this week saw the end of the trade deadline so the links will be to sites talking about the small trades that went down.

Our first look is a trade between the Suns and Raptors. The Suns made another move that has me a fan of the team but lets stick to this one. The Raptors get Sebastian Telfair and the Suns get Hamed Haddadi & a second-round pick. The Suns had a backup PG already so they had room to give up Telfair. Meanwhile, the Raptors could use some help with the PG spot considering health issues. Seems to work out for both teams.

Our next trade is between the Wizards and Celtics. Wizards traded Jordan Crawford to Boston for Jason Collins and Leandro Barbosa. I thought Crawford was special but I guess Wizards trying to get a little older. But again, check out the links from the teams sites that cover those teams. They’ll know better than I. Also, Jason Collins is still in the NBA. He has a twin brother. This leads me to the next trade…

This was a 3 team trade with the Rockets, Suns, and Kings. In reference to my latest comment about twins, one of the players traded was Marcus Morris who now joins his twin brother, Markieff, in Phoenix. Cool. No, the Kings and Suns didn’t exchange players but I just linked these into one trade since they happened basically the same time.

Probably the biggest trade was between the Magic and Bucks. Magic traded J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith to Milwaukee for Doron Lamb, Beno Udrih and Tobias Harris. The Bucks are going to be pretty nasty from the outside and this deal makes me fear even more for the Sixers’ playoff chances. Magic are also not too far behind the Sixers and while I don’t think they will catch the Sixers, the Magic are still…I don’t know. Bucks win for sure.

Hawks and Mavericks made a deal. Hawks traded Anthony Morrow to Dallas for Dahntay Jones. This deal doesn’t make a splash but again that was the common theme for all of the trades made Thursday.

Heat and Grizzlies made a move but I always find these types of trade boring. A player for cash/picks/draft rights. That’s what we’ve seen though and the rest of the trades here will be on that scale. Heat trade Dexter Pittman, a 2013 second-round draft pick and cash considerations to Memphis for the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez.

Knicks and Thunder had an exchange. Ronnie Brewer to Oklahoma City for a 2014 second-round draft pick and cash. Yeah. I will say that the Thunder may find of use for Brewer. A wing defender that can shoot a little bit. Another cute little story, Matt Shetler (editor of Knicks blog) is the assistant NBA division director and Andrew Kennedy is the director (editor of Thunder blog). So it was a trade between our leadership. Battle of the bosses! Or something. So yeah.

Thunder also sent Eric Maynor to the Blazers for the rights to Georgios Printezis and cash. I wish the Sixers could’ve gotten Maynor as a backup PG but I’m cool with Pargo.

The Warriors made another trade besides the one made with the Sixers. They traded Jeremy Tyler to the Hawks for cash and future draft considerations.

And I did save the Sixers’ “move” for last. They got Charles Jenkins and cash from the Warriors for a protected second-round draft pick. So cool.

So that’s it for NBA News from FanSided! Tune in next week for more awesome FanSided content!