The trade deadline is about a month away and usually when the trade talks start to heat up the Philadelphia 76ers are right in the middle of things. This year that may not be the case though as the 76ers have already made a lot of changes this year whether they were roster changes, coaching changes or organizational changes. General manager Sam Hinkie expects to remain relatively quiet over the next month, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News.
The 76ers will not be ignoring phone calls from teams but their thought process at the moment isn't to make big trades. Hinkie says that if something comes along that is too good to pass up they will do it but for right now it doesn't seem likely.
"We will continue to look for opportunities if there are things that we can do to add players for now and the future. We will look, but I'm not sure it will happen," said Hinkie.
Over the past three seasons the 76ers have been extremely active in the trade market. In the two seasons prior to this one specifically they have been very active around the trade deadline. Two years ago the 76ers traded Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen for Danny Granger (who was an expiring contract) and a bunch of second round picks. Last season the 76ers were involved in the blockbuster trade that sent Michael Carter-Williams (Rookie of the Year with the 76ers the year before) to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Not having the 76ers be active around the trade deadline will certainly be strange but it's not as if they haven't made trades this year. Before the season the 76ers made a trade with the Sacramento Kings in which they acquired Nik Stauskas and a lot more for the rights to two European players, a trade which many people felt they won by a wide margin. Less than a month ago the 76ers also traded for Ish Smith who is now their starting point guard so they clearly have been active already this year.
This 76ers team is very young for the most part and doesn't have much to trade at the moment so the fact that they may not be active shouldn't come as a surprise. It is possible that a team comes to them with a very enticing offer for somebody like Robert Covington, who can really shoot the ball, but the 76ers would have to really like the offer to trade him because he is under control for the next two years at a very reasonable price and that is the case with a lot of their players. Overall it seems like Philadelphia has made its big moves for this year so any other moves would come as a surprise.
