Elton Brand and the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to be active ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline as the club scrambles to right the ship and give itself a chance to live up to lofty preseason expectations.
Just after midnight Thursday morning, with about 15 hours remaining before the deadline, we got the first report of activity from the Sixers when Adrian Wojnarowski reported the team had acquired Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III from the Warriors for draft compensation.
By acquiring two players while not sending any out, the move will prompt further action from the Sixers as they find themselves over the roster limit. The only question is exactly what that action will be.
One option is to simply waive two players. Jonah Bolden, Kyle O’Quinn, Raul Neto, and Trey Burke would seem to be the most likely players the team would consider moving on from in this scenario.
The other possibility is that this move is a precursor to another one in which the Sixers send out two more players than they receive, a three-for-one for example.
It feels like the second scenario is the more likely one, as it’s debatable just how much the acquisition of Burks and Robinson III moves the needle for the Sixers.
However, it’s fair to question just how big of a move the Sixers could actually pull off, or if they are even interested in doing something drastic rather than improving on the margins. Even if they are just looking to improve on the margins, it’s still possible they could find a three-for-one deal to accomplish that.
What we know for sure is that the Sixers will need to shed two players one way or another. Whether that’s through waiving a pair of players or by making another move before 3 p.m. Thursday only time will tell. Until then, it will be interesting to see if Brand has anything else up his sleeve.