How Should the Sixers Approach Trade Deadline Week?

The Philadelphia 76ers should be an active team as the NBA Trade Deadline approaches, but their strategy may be the decider when it comes to success.

The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to be a very active team as the NBA Trade Deadline comes up this week. The deadline is on Thursday at 3pm, and the Sixers should be a team that is mentioned in a fair amount of NBA trade rumors.

The conversation around the room this year has been surrounding the frontcourt logjam. The Sixers have three starter-caliber centers who are former lottery picks on their team, and they are simply not meshing together well at all. Since the season began, Sixers fans have been holding their breath waiting for team president and general manager Sam Hinkie to make a move.

Deadline week is here, and still nothing. The Sixers still have all three centers.

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A trade appeared to be imminent last weekend when the team sat Okafor reportedly for trade rumor reasons. Based on reports about the Sixers using Okafor as a bluff of sorts, some Sixers fans have concluded that Colangelo is not really doing everything he can to get a trade done, and that he’s also overvaluing his big men.

The strategy approaching the trade deadline may be the biggest thing. There’s a few approaches the Sixers could take as far as dealing with other teams, and choosing the right one may make or break the success of the trade deadline.

Conservative approach

A conservative approach seems to be what the Sixers have gone with so far. They’ve talked with plenty of teams, received plenty of appraisals on the value of their bigs, sat on decisions, waited, thought about it, and waited some more.

There’s plenty of pros and cons to a conservative approach. Let’s start with the positives.

You have plenty of time to think about what you want back for your players, and plenty of time to weigh each outcome and the possibilities that come along with it.
Other teams may get tired of waiting, and if they want your player, they will offer more just to get a deal done.
Appearing not rushed can give the upper hand in bartering.
Avoids getting a bad deal in a trade.

Now, the cons.

There may not be enough time left before the deadline to go with this approach.
Waiting forever gives the perception that you are unaware of the value of your players.
Teams will get sick of waiting and simply move on to the next best offer (see the New Orleans Pelicans getting DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings after being “close” on a deal for Jahlil Okafor for a prime example).

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Liberal approach

A liberal approach may have been more like what Sam Hinkie did with the team when he was here. Although he wasn’t rash and quick to pull the trigger all the time, he certainly did less sitting on his hands and contemplation than we’ve seen Colangelo do.

Here are the pros of a liberal approach.

A deal gets done, wasting less time with players on the roster that don’t fit, which often can result in lost games.
The rushed mindset can get into your trade partner’s head and make them believe they need to offer something big to get the deal done as well (although this is not always how this plays out).
You don’t look foolish placing a value on your players that is wildly too much.

And here are the cons.

Getting a deal done quick provides less time to weigh options and think about what the best option truly is. This can be damaging long-term.
The rushed mindset discussed above doesn’t always make the opponent believe that they need to offer something big. In some cases, it could make them believe the opposite (that a small value is fine, since the deal is going to be quick).
You may undervalue players when rushing to get a deal done.

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A mix between the two

A mix between the two can be something that is done as well. Here, you can look at the pros and cons and try to get the best of both worlds. Maybe you call teams and exude an attitude of rushing or liberalism with a trade mindset, but when you hang up the phone you’re slow, taking your time to weigh all your options. This way, you’re in the other team’s head and making them think a trade needs to be done, while you may not actually feel that way.

There is no perfect mindset, so choosing a mixed approach doesn’t allow you to completely eliminate the cons, but it may allow a team to decide which cons they are okay with having to endure. For instance, at this point, maybe undervaluing a player is smart if getting a deal done is the top priority. A team could be okay with accepting that and could get a deal done quicker if they have a mixed approach.

What works best?

This should vary team-by-team, but in my opinion, for the Sixers right now, a mainly liberal approach with a tiny bit of conservative works the best. Getting a trade done should be the top priority, and the Sixers should be rushing to do so. The hint of conservative approach with it should be the team thinking about their actions and ensuring any trade talks they are in are smart.

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The future is most important

Above all, the team needs to weight what is important for their future. This season has been great, and the increase in wins has been fun to watch. That said, it’s astonishing how quickly some fans have changed their mindsets completely, going from being patient to wanting the team to win right away.

If we can just take a step back, look at what the future holds, and think about trades from that perspective again, the deadline may result in something that is fruitful for the future, rather than just the less than half a season that remains.