Days away from the Feb. 6th NBA trade deadline, it’s uncertain what direction the Philadelphia 76ers will go in. However, with the Golden State Warriors seemingly desperate to improve their roster, the 76ers could make a change that could dramatically shift their future.
Golden State has been placing calls about multiple All-Star-caliber players that it could pair up with star guard Stephen Curry. The Warriors have shown interest in Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, and 76ers forward Paul George – ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday afternoon.
"The Warriors are legitimately calling about every All-Star player. Just name the All-Star player. ... LeBron, players like Kevin Durant, players like Jimmy Butler."@ShamsCharania says the Warriors are dead set on adding an All-Star to pair with Steph 👀 pic.twitter.com/6p1zslQdo7
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 3, 2025
Like many 76ers players, George has dealt with numerous injuries that caused him to miss 18 games this season. He’s posting 17.1 points per game on 54.4% true-shooting, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 4.7 assists per game. At first glance, these are passable numbers as a third option, but with Philadelphia’s poor injury luck, he hasn’t been able to fully embrace that role.
The 76ers’ star trio of George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey have only played 10 games this season, in which they held a 7-3 record. Embiid has logged only 13 games this season for a variety of reasons, which has put lots of unexpected pressure on George to help Maxey carry the offensive load.
With that being said, Philadelphia’s President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey would unlikely be willing to part with George, who is in the first season of his four-year/$212 million maximum contract he signed in the 2024 offseason. However, the Dallas Mavericks trade involving superstar guard Luka Doncic proved that anything is possible in the NBA.
What would a trade look like?
If George were to be traded to Golden State, Philadelphia would likely receive a package surrounding forward Andrew Wiggins, who is in the second season of his four-year/$109 million contract. Potential names that could be included in this package are guard Gary Payton II and forward Kyle Anderson.
While the 76ers wouldn’t be getting a player of George’s caliber in return, they’d gain more financial flexibility, especially if they were to Payton, whose contract expires after this season. Philadelphia could potentially use that cap space to offer forward Guerschon Yabusele the non-tax-payer mid-level exception ($12.8 million) if the right dominoes fell.
76ers fans have floated the idea of facilitating a trade involving multiple teams where ultimately Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler is traded to Philadelphia and George is traded to Golden State. Such a trade is more on the unrealistic side, but crazier things have happened in the NBA.