Philadelphia 76ers: 5 players who won’t finish the season with the team

3. PJ Tucker

Despite the exhausting Harden ordeal, the Philadelphia 76ers remain hellbent on riding their core and trying to fulfill the franchise’s spread-eagled edict to win a championship. So why would they even consider trading a clearly win-now piece in PJ Tucker? There are good reasons why and realistic scenarios to clear out the picture.

At 38 years old, Tucker will not have a robust selection of teams to play for, but that concentric circle of clubs that make sense for his services will undoubtedly be littered by those that will show interest in a prospective trade. The demand will definitely be there.

That being said, the 76ers will approach the season with more optionality than before in the forward position. Keeping Tucker, who’s still owed more than $20 million in the next couple of years, is definitely the safe choice given the franchise’s direction, but the wiser move would be to cash in on his value while it’s still relatively high.

A Tucker trade transpiring at this juncture is improbable, but the 76ers should probably seek to gauge his value before the trade deadline, when they will have a sense of how indispensable he remains considering their options. At that point, fellow contenders and playoff teams who need to fortify their defense will likely come getting on the phone with them anyway.