Getty P.J. Tucker #17 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
There are two lines of thought when it comes to the Philadelphia 76ers‘ trade deadline.
On one hand, they saved roughly $16 million by skirting the luxury tax and avoiding the repeated penalty by replacing Matisse Thybulle for Jalen McDaniels, essentially a cheaper, slightly less defensively productive wing.
On the other hand, the Sixers didn’t do enough to address the roster’s most glaring need: backup big. This was a problem Michael Pina of The Ringer hammered Philadelphia for after the draft
“Finding a backup center for Joel Embiid has always been an impossible, tortuous journey for Philadelphia,” Pina wrote. “P.J. Tucker may be able to moonlight in that role for certain playoff matchups when Philly goes small and spaces the floor around James Harden. Or perhaps they find the big they need on the buyout market.”
As a result of that quiet deadline and Philadelphia’s two-game skid, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report slid the Sixers down two spaces to No. 4 while the Milwaukee Bucks climbed all the way to the No. 2 spot in the site’s recent power rankings.
The Bucks, meanwhile, landed Jae Crowder to buff the team’s wing depth in a move that Bailey noted suddenly makes Milwaukee “tailor-made for another deep playoff run.”
At the moment, though, everything is hypothetical with the Sixers. Perhaps McDaniels slides in like a glove, adding some offensive identity that Thybulle lacked while also packing a defensive punch.
Sixers Targeting Backup Bigs in Buyout Market
Fret not, however. The Sixers can still find a decent-enough backup big on the league’s buyout market.
While head coach Doc Rivers has given a vote of confidence to the big men currently backing up Embiid, Michael Kaskey-Blomain of CBS Sports believes the Sixers could still have one more move coming.
“[Dewayne] Dedmon could be a target for the #sixers on the buyout market,” Kaskey-Blomain tweeted.
The veteran big man had appeared in 30 games this season with the Miami Heat, averaging 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game.
Dedmon isn’t the only buyout name that might intrigue Philadelphia. NBA champ Serge Ibaka could draw interest from the Sixers, according to Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report.
“The Sixers have been looking for a reliable backup for Joel Embiid all season and were surprisingly quiet at the deadline. They’re going to ramp up activity once the buyout market starts and could be a strong Ibaka suitor,” Conway wrote.
Since free agent signings are prorated, the Sixers could ostensibly sign a buyout candidate to the league minimum and still remain under the luxury cap threshold.
Sixers Reuniting with Danny Green?
Another surprising name to keep an eye on: Danny Green.
According to Conway, the Sixers could look to reunite with the fan-favorite Green after he was sent to the Houston Rockets in a salary-dumping move at the deadline.
“Green will nevertheless garner interest once he clears waivers, with a reunion in Philadelphia seeming like the most obvious fit,” Conway wrote. “The Sixers took care of Green last offseason by using his contract as trade bait rather than waiving him to save space, and he had a strong relationship with the Philadelphia locker room.”
In two seasons with Philadelphia, Green averaged 7.8 points on 39.5% shooting from three.