Can the Philadelphia 76ers Orchestrate a Kendall Marshall Trade?

The Philadelphia 76ers may be on track to make a move at the deadline that frees up a roster spot.

The Philadelphia 76ers have found themselves with some peculiar situations at the point guard slot this season, and as a result, may want to move some players around at the deadline. The Sixers started this season with some troubles at the point guard spot, but some promising players in Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall looking to make a name for themselves in this league. Although both players were coming off of ACL tears, there looked to be potential in both players.

Marshall especially had shown bursts of high play throughout his career. His ACL injury had cut his previous season short, but in one season with the Lakers he was on track to be on the assist leaderboards in the NBA, and looked to be well on his way to being a master passer in the league. Philly hoped he could do that for them as well, along with some buckets from time to time, too.

Marshall finally made his debut on December 11th.

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Over the next few weeks, Marshall and Wroten both didn’t do much to please the Sixers. They combined for 6.2 turnovers a game in the month of December, and there certainly wasn’t high praise for them anywhere around the league. Ish Smith was traded for in late December because the Sixers front office felt like none of the guards were the full package, and they weren’t.

Wroten was released, and Marshall was moved to the bottom of the food chain. So far in 2016, he’s playing just 12 minutes per game. His impact on games is negligible, as he’s putting up just 2.3 points and 2.2 assists per game in 2016.

His minutes were non-existent after his father went on a Twitter rant smashing the organization for being racist, which is a notable occurrence, but probably not the reason for him getting sent to the seats. Likely, it’s just because he simply hasn’t played well.

Now, Marshall means nothing to the Sixers. It’s a shame, because he looked to be a good backup guard even with Ish Smith involved, but he has been unable to do even that. Moving Marshall and freeing up a roster spot would be in their best interest. Christian Wood and Sean Kilpatrick are both currently on the Delaware 87ers, and bringing up either of them would be a plus for the team. Wood has already shown signs of being a future NBA star, and Kilpatrick is setting records in the D-League.

The team could just straight up release Marshall, but with his track record, there’s a chance they could trade with someone desperate for a backup guard and get a second round draft pick in return. The Sixers traded away two second-rounders for Smith, so it would be nice to get one of those back.

Looking at trade deadline needs, I see one team that could potentially be open to hearing about a trade for Marshall. This doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, far from it, but there’s some potential here.

The Brooklyn Nets season up to this point has been a soap opera gone bad, and it makes the Sixers rebuild look like a well-organized and coherent plan. The Nets have fired their head coach and made it clear that they have no idea what they are doing for the next several seasons. The Nets goal should be to clear cap space and get players off of their roster that are taking up a lot of money. According to Matt Moore of CBS Sports:

"NEED: Cap space, draft picks, youth and a fresh start. The Nets are one of the most active teams in rumors, despite their (presumably) (obvious) leaking that they are not going to do anything at the deadline. Either the Nets are lying or every other team that’s talking with them is lying.Either way, they need to get Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, or some combination of any/all three out the door in order to clear cap space and they desperately need a pick just to fill some roster with younger talent. They need change and hope."

This article is one from last year, but it’s interesting how relevant it still is (not just for Brooklyn, but a lot of the team’s situations have stayed largely the same).

Marshall’s contract isn’t that large, coming in at about $2 million for this season. He could do decently with some playing time in Brooklyn. There is no need for the Nets to make a trade to win this season, so the fact that Marshall has not played very well at all this season shouldn’t be all that important to them.

Brooklyn won’t build around Marshall, but they’re not looking for a player to build around right now. They’re going to be looking for that in the draft and in free agency. So it may be difficult for them to part with that second round pick that falls in the 50s overall, since they could potentially get a steal of a player that does well for seasons to come. It’s not clear if the long-term reward for the risk of taking Marshall for a second-round pick for next season would be worth it, but perhaps the Nets would be willing to give up a late first rounder or second-rounder in the draft next season as opposed to this season. That doesn’t seem that far out in return for simply Kendall Marshall.

They’re going to have to make this a multi-team trade, because Brooklyn is going to want to get rid of some of their players that are taking up big money, and the Sixers don’t need those guys right now. A team that could use Joe Johnson or Brook Lopez could hop in and take them from Brooklyn while Philly takes a draft pick, or just gives Marshall away to make room.

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Marshall is a player who hasn’t played decent minutes in a long time, and he’s really becoming dead weight to this Sixers team that really looks to be moving forward by the end of this season. They’ve got to use that roster spot to give someone like Christian Wood or Kilpatrick a chance.

I’m not sure this is a move I could put money on, but it’s one of the only trade scenarios around the deadline that I would be able to confidently stand behind and say it is in the best interest of the Sixers’ future.