The NBA trade deadline isn’t that far off as it is scheduled on March 25th, 2021. With that in mind, the Philadelphia 76ers are clearly buyers in the trade market as they are looking to do a deep postseason run.
Whenever there are buyers in the NBA, there are always sellers in the league as well. There are at least five sellers that the president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, general manager Elton Brand, and the rest of the Sixers front office need to keep an eye on leading up to the deadline.
5 potential sellers to watch near the trade deadline: Minnesota Timberwolves
Despite having two young All-Stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been the worst team this season as they hold the worst record of 7-24. While it seems unlikely that their core will become available, they do have some interesting role players on the roster.
The recent emergence of Anthony Edwards, the first overall pick in this past draft, makes other wing players like Malik Beasley, Josh Okogie, and former lottery pick Jarrett Culver possibly available. Based on Beasley’s recent re-signing and Culver being drafted just two years ago, Okogie might be the most available of the wing players. Still, none of these players make the most sense as a trade target.
Veteran Ricky Rubio could be a great addition to the Sixers bench. While he can’t space the floor well, he can certainly run a club’s second unit at this point and defend at a high level. However, the Timberwolves will be without Russell for an extended period of time, and making a trade would be difficult as Rubio is set to make $17 million this year and $17.6 million next year. That’s way too much for just an above average backup point guard.
Minnesota might want to consider tanking the rest of the season, not only because they have lost Russell to surgery, but they also owe the Golden State Warriors their first round pick if it falls outside of the top three selections. At this point, it might be better for them to purposely tank and try to hold on to that pick for dear life in what is supposed to be a deep draft.