After making four final trades for the year, the 76ers couldn’t address the depth at the center position.
The President of Basketball Operations for the Philadelphia 76ers disclosed months before to the 2024 NBA trade deadline that the team intended to give top priority to obtaining a backup big man to supplement Joel Embiid in the depth chart.
I would say that there are a few areas where, if we do suffer an injury, you’re obviously going to be a little bit challenged in the playoffs no matter what, but to get us through periods where important players are out, I do think some depth at the big might be helpful. I try not to get too prescriptive or proscriptive on that. Morey stated, “I do believe some depth at guard,” following his December contract extension with the 76ers.
Well before the Sixers faced their most difficult test of the season, Morey made his remarks. After missing two games because of knee swelling, Embiid made his court debut on January 30 against the Golden State Warriors. Sadly, he sustained a meniscus injury against the Warriors, ending his night early.
After leaving the game against Golden State early, Embiid had surgery to address his condition almost a week later. The Sixers know they’ll be fine without their big man for the foreseeable future, even though they expect to have him back in action before the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Many anticipated that the Sixers would give ending a big man in the trade market even more priority in light of this recent development. Despite being connected to Chicago Bulls center Andre Drummond, the Sixers made four trades before the trade deadline passed, none of which included a center.
Following the deadline, Morey said that the team’s intention to target a center on the trade market remained unchanged. Regretfully, they were unable to address that this time around.
“In actuality, no majors were exchanged,” Morey clarified. “That shocked me,” I said. We tried hard to accomplish it, but they were simply unavailable, so it didn’t work out.
There are changes to the post-deadline roster. The 76ers will have the chance to potentially add several prospects in the upcoming weeks thanks to the buyout market, even though all team-to-team trades are restricted until the summer. Though Morey cautioned against the notion that they’ll acquire a player who will enter the game and steal significant minutes from Paul Reed and Mo Bamba, a center could be in play.
“It’s clear that there are many players in the buyout market. That role has, in my opinion, been lighter than others,” said Morey. “.. We appreciate Paul and Mo’s contributions, but it’s clear that, except from maybe one or two teams lately, we’ve been the league’s most sick or injured club. We would like to add one more player as well. We might bring in a player [on the buyout market], but I don’t think you should necessarily expect them to have a significant impact.
Although Reed and Bamba’s combined output didn’t look like it could top Joel Embiid’s league-leading output, the Sixers clearly still need to find out how to make the most of the two backups who have been given larger roles.
Morey concluded, “We’re going to have to stay creative.” “I believe our coach to be the most inventive in the league. Needless to say, we’ve had setbacks lately. My name is Nick [Nurse]. He will have the strategy to give us a chance to win if we have a chance. Our guys will keep battling hard because they are doing so now.