The NBA trade deadline is mere hours away and the Philadelphia 76ers are at the forefront of everything going on in the trade world. They obviously have a big piece to fall in the form of Ben Simmons and they are involved with the Brooklyn Nets to try and acquire James Harden.
The team convened at their practice facility in Camden, NJ for practice on Thursday, but with the team involved in so many rumors, it was hard for the team to focus. So, coach Doc Rivers did what he felt was right and he decided to cancel practice on Thursday.
“Today was strange,” said Rivers. “I canceled practice. There’s just so much stuff that’s going on, so many rumors. I just thought the human thing to do instead of the coaching thing was just be very straightforward with our guys and tell them I get it. Everybody’s names and all this stuff so we’ll shoot around tomorrow with our team, guaranteed.”
There is a lot going on with the Sixers at this moment in time. Guys like Tobias Harris even admitted that this time is very stressful and that can take a mental toll on guys, especially in this very unique situation. Rivers just wanted to give his guys a break.
“I just thought the human thing to do was let guys get shots up,” he added. “To think we were gonna get something out of them today would have been a waste of time so I thought it was the right thing to do on a human level.”
Rivers was then asked if he expects to have the same roster at shootaround on Friday when the team gets set to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder after he said he wants the team to add a guard before the deadline.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Rivers added. “I told our guys that. I wish I could tell you who we’re gonna be and all that, but I don’t know. Every team is working on trying to improve their team right now and we’re no different than any other team.”
This doesn’t mean that a deal is imminent. The Sixers have a lot of options they need to weigh when it comes to this situation. As Rivers stated, with the deadline quickly approaching, it will be up to president Daryl Morey and the rest of the front office to decide what has to be done in order to improve the team.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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