NBA Trade Deadline: Should Sixers Trade Henry Sims?

At the beginning of the season, there were hardly any players on the Sixers roster worthy of trade talks outside of the likes of Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid. Recently, however, the Sixers have been playing much better, showcasing both coach Brett Brown’s ability to develop young talent, and Sam Hinkie’s knack for drafting teachable, athletic players.

As the NBA trade deadline approaches (February 19) , all 30 of the League’s teams field calls from the opposition, and make calls of their own, trying to trade for a capable player. In some cases, team will attempt to rid themselves of a player absorbing too much of their salary cap (cough, cough, New York Knicks). This is normal in the life of an NBA general manager.

With all the success the Sixers have had lately (12-41), is it possible that general manager Sam Hinkie would consider breaking up the group for future assists and potentially a few more losses?

One could never know when it comes to our Dark Lord, but we’ll evaluate a few of the players on the roster to gauge their potential trade value. Today, we start with:

Henry Sims

The 6’10″ center is only 24-years-old and has shown plenty of potential as a backup big man. The team acquired Henry Sims in a trade last year that dealt Spencer Hawes to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As soon as he arrived, Henry’s presence was noticeable. He showed a willingness to fight for rebounds in traffic and played solid post defense. And though he lacked the fancy three-point shooting of Hawes, he certainly displayed a toughness that Spencer seemed to lack. Sims started 25 of the 26 games he played for the team last year, averaging 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

Brett Brown announced at the beginning of this season that he would start Sims at center for some games to get Nerlens Noel comfortable playing in the power forward position for when Embiid returned to claim the five spot.

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So far this season, Sims has started 28 games and has averaged 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds. Reasonable numbers considering his minutes have dipped from 27.2 mpg to 20.7 mpg from last year to now.

So would he be worth trading?

Reasons for a Trade

He shows great athleticism for a man his size—a trait common amongst all Sixers’ players—and has shown the ability to spread the floor with his mid-range shooting. Any team with a starting center would likely want to add another skilled big man to come off the bench.

Sims greatest strength would seem to be on the defensive size, where the big man has a defensive rating of 105, which is close to average. Despite lacking any flashy defensive numbers, Henry plays with a lot of grit and hustle, demonstrating a team first mindset.

Jan 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard

(8) drives the lane against Philadelphia 76ers center Henry Sims (35) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

A team fighting for playoff contention would gladly receive a frontcourt player with Sims’ ability—for the right price of course.

If Overlord Hinkie were to trade Sims away, he would land at least a second-round pick and perhaps some cash or an expiring contract. Knowing Sam though, he’d find a way to pry a few more second-round picks out of the deal.

Reasons to Keep Him

Sims is a team player, and he’s young. He has shown that he can play alongside fellow big man Noel and has seemingly bought into the team’s rebuilding plan. Why wouldn’t you want to keep him around?

Also, Sims’ contract only has a base salary of $915,243.00 this year, which raises to just under 1.2 million next year. Having a talented big on your team for that type of money is certainly something you know Sam Hinkie smiles about.

As mentioned, Sims is great defensively and has shown some offensive potential. With coach Brown’s development team, Henry will only continue to improve and would be a nice player to bring off the bench behind Nerlens and Embiid next year.

For these reasons, and possibly some unreasonable trade offers made by other teams, I feel strongly that Sims stays.