The Philadelphia 76ers followed their initial trade with another one early with the deadline rapidly approaching, ditching KJ Martin and sending him to Detroit, in addition to a second-round pick, in what was widely seen as a move to open up some more cap space for the front office to play with this season.
While Martin has enjoyed a productive season so far, his long absence due to injury made it pretty easy to dangle him away. The front office’s previous deal involving Caleb Martin showed that they are willing to pivot quickly, although that one was also tossed up to the team trying to keep itself away from the luxury tax.
On the surface, losing the younger Martin should be nowhere near a disaster for the 76ers, which have been playing sans him already for quite a while. However, this only proves that the franchise could just be concealing its real plan behind the scenes, much to the dismay of everyone.
The 76ers could be ducking contention after their newest trade
Inasmuch as it prompts everyone to think that the 76ers might be onto something big behind the scenes under the guidance of Daryl Morey, it would be a reach to put that belief on a pedestal. Some of the biggest names in basketball are indeed constantly floated around, but it would take te entire house to just go after those guys. Simply put, it’s unlikely to happen this season.
What, then, could be the pursuit of the front office in trading the Martins? Well, it could be nothing more than to stay away from the luxury tax as much as possible. And for a franchise as ambitious as the 76ers, that is a blatant misstep in the direction they sought for themselves.
Surely, a team that willingly signed an aging Paul George to a max contract would not fre the luxury tax, right? Well, Philly’s actuations point to the contrary, and this feeble stance certainly proves that they are already having a lot of doubts about their nucleus (to be fair, who would not?).
Yet despite the lack of actual damage of not paying the tax, it is attendant with huge opportunity costs. Should they continue traversing on this road, they would already inhibit themselves from making major upgrades to the roster with high-end role players and whatnot.
Ultimately, this latest trade of theirs signals that the Philadelphia 76ers are having some sense of hesitation on their current track. And if this is indeed the case, fans could be in for a rude awakening if the team fails to get out of the hole it finds itself in.