Measure Twice, Trade Once
In the haste to add certainty to the Philadelphia 76ers roster, a minimum level of veteran presence must be attained which will act as the “glue” to the team. The efforts of new president Bryan Colangelo must certainly key upon trading valuable players in the process.
The likelihood of attracting premier NBA free agents has all but been ruled out by Colangelo himself, and the rapidly escalating NBA salary cap places free dollars into the hands of many NBA teams this year. Dollars alone will no longer win the hearts of impact free agents this year. So the Philadelphia 76ers will likely pursue the trade channel as the means to transform this roster.
Valuable players whose potentials are unknown place a great risk to the Sixers in any exchange – we may be trading a future NBA All-Star simply for an overpriced veteran. Before we can assume any trade, our confidence level of what we are trading away must be greater than a 50/50 coin flip. If we take a chance on our player’s potential, that would cripple the building process of this team. Losing value now simply depletes the roster of potential. In the current uncertainty of what and who we have, any effort to rush that process along seems doomed before it starts.
The team roster is a moving target right now. The new faces to the roster could ignite a cohesion in the lineup that has been absent in the past just from the distinction of true roles, and not an experimental approach to this roster. But the wrong assemblage of players could prove to be a disastrous setback. It would be wiser to learn that our pieces remain incompatible than to set up a trade of players who would never gel together on our roster.
Next: Trade Yes, Surrender No