The Philadelphia 76ers Are Unknowns
By Bret Stuter
Trade Yes, Surrender No
Now, that is not to say that a mind blowing offer would not require some immediate assessment, particularly if the pieces offered had a similar potential to upside as anything the Sixers have offered on their side of the deal. But the premise with seeking veterans is the gathering of “knowns” to this roster. Since any pieces commanding trade interest from the Sixers will involve potential NBA starters, the Sixers must expect at a minimum a starter from another team with All Star potential.
NBA teams do not typically line up to surrender that talent level in a trade. We do know that NBA teams continue to play in a center-centric league, and that the Philadelphia 76ers have cornered the market on centers who are both young and roster impacting and potentially available.
But there is no reason to rush this along. Knowledge is power, and the longer the Sixers can delay any trades is all the more knowledge they can generate over the players they currently have. While many of us would love the pairing of Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons on this roster, the cost may be something that does not thrill the fan base in the future.
Sam Hinkie knew the intrinsic value of his players and constantly remain attuned with that value as the true value tracked with the market value of players. When he detected a huge difference between his assessed value and that of public opinion, he pulled the trigger on a trade.
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That’s the goal now. The team should pause before executing a trade from which there is no going back. We can’t suddenly “make it right” if we surrender two of our three centers, only to find that other teams are succeeding in post season due to the contribution of one of the players obtained from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Time is on our side. We should not be so eager to shed our players who have potential to be NBA stars someday, in hopes to acquire another potential NBA star. Bryan Colangelo is eager to leave his mark on the destiny of the Philadelphia 76ers. The risk at this point in time is not doing too little, but in doing too much with too little information.