Getty James Harden #1 (L), President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, Philadelphia 76ers
With the NBA Trade Deadline less than a month away, many will keep their eyes peeled on what the Philadelphia 76ers do. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey may have potentially hinted at a trade in the works when he tweeted that he met with the Sacramento Kings’ President of Basketball Operations
“Just met with @mmcnair because flying to a team’s city is of course how it is done,” Morey said. In his tweet, Morey also had a still from the film Moneyball where Oakland Athletics’ executive Billy Beane met with Mark Shapiro of the Cleveland Indians to discuss possible trades, thus hinting that he was discussing a possible trade with the Kings.
Just met with @mmcnair because flying to a team’s city is of course how it is done
There haven’t been any rumors of a possible trade between the Sixers and Kings this season, but that could change over the next few weeks. Both the Sixers and the Kings are very much in the thick of their respective playoff races this season, with the Sixers being 29-16 – tying them with the Milwaukee Bucks for the no. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference standings – while the Kings are 26-18, putting them as the no. 3 seed in the Western Conference standings.
Sixers Trade History With Kings
Since both franchises have come into the NBA, the Sixers and Kings have agreed to seven trades in total over the years. Since the the beginning fo the 21st century, the two teams have agreed to three trades, with only one of them happening at the trade deadline.
The Kings traded Chris Webber, among others, to the Sixers in exchange for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson, and Brian Skinner at the 2005 NBA Trade Deadline. The Sixers acquired Webber in the hopes of putting another star around Allen Iverson, but it the acquisition led to one playoff appearance.
The other notable trade the Kings and Sixers agreed to happened in 2015 when the Sixers acquired Jason Thompson, Nik Stauskas, and Carl Landry, as well as a 2017 pick swap and an unprotected 2019 first-round pick from the Kings in exchange for Artūras Gudaitis and Luka Mitrović, neither of whom played a minute in the NBA.
The Sixers would go on to trade both of those draft assets to the Boston Celtics to gain the rights to the no. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, where they would select Markelle Fultz.
Kings Make Ex-Sixers Big Available
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports revealed that the Kings have put Richaun Holmes on the market.
“Richaun Holmes is available for trade, league sources told Yahoo Sports. After signing a four-year, $46 million deal in the 2021 offseason, Holmes has not been a part of head coach Mike Brown’s rotation this season,” Fischer said.
Brown has favored Trey Lyles over Holmes in his rotation this year, though Holmes started in place of Domantas Sabonis when the Kings faced the Los Angeles Lakers on January 18. Holmes played for the Sixers from 2015 to 2018 before being traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Holmes could be a possible target for the Sixers given their needs for more frontcourt depth, but they would have to trade several contracts to the Kings to match Holmes’ salary at $11.2 million this season.