Waiving instead of trading
It was a forgone conclusion that the Philadelphia 76ers would have the to make additions moves after trading for Robinson and Burks. The Sixers only sent three second round draft picks to the Golden State Warriors for the two veterans. The 76ers needed to make at least two open roster spots, but ended up doing three so that they could sign Norvel Pelle.
They first traded Ennis to the Orlando Magic for a 2020 second round pick, via the Los Angeles Lakers. Not projected to be a great pick, but they could decide to flip in another trade later. Sadly, that was the only time at the trade deadline that they traded a player make roster space.
The other two spots they opened up by waiving Burke and Jonah Bolden. As Christopher Kline of The Sixer Sense has written before, Bolden didn’t look to have a future with Philly, so it makes sense that Philly decided to move on from him. Burke on the other hand, had value as a shot creator for the Sixers, but he was losing the backup point guard battle to Neto.
Despite my personal affinity for Burke, it’s understandable why the 76ers moved on from him and Bolden. However, Brand and the rest of the front office failed by not finding a trade partner to send either player to.
Burke still holds value for teams looking for offense coming off the bench. There’s no doubt that Bolden has foul problems, but he’s still a young enough prospect that some team should want to take a chance on. Surely, at least one of those players is worth a second round pick.
Not finding any takers for either Burke or Bolden is a failure on Philly’s part. Luckily for Brand and the Sixers, the two players will only count against the salary cap for the rest of this season. Waiving both will not have any negative long term affects on the franchise.