With about three weeks remaining until the trade deadline, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves in a unique situation. Daryl Morey, known for being active in making mid-season moves during his tenure as an executive, faces uncertainty as the team currently sits outside the playoff picture. It’s unclear what decisions he will make between now and February 6th.
When evaluating the roster, the Sixers don’t have many obvious trade assets. One player who has long been speculated as a potential trade piece is forward KJ Martin. Morey signed him to a relatively sizable contract that could be moved to facilitate improvements before the deadline.
In the NBA, teams must wait a specific period after signing a player before they can include them in a trade. Typically, this waiting period ends around December 15th, but because Martin was signed later in the offseason, the timeline was extended. As a result, he became trade-eligible earlier this week.
KJ Martin originally joined the 76ers last season as part of the James Harden trade and was retained in free agency. Currently, he is one of several players on the team’s injury list. In the 24 games he has played this season, Martin is averaging 6.4 points per game and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 38.1% from three-point range.
With a 15-25 record, the Sixers have a significant gap to overcome in their pursuit of a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference. Their most realistic path to the playoffs, given their current standing, is through the play-in tournament, where they trail the 10th place Chicago Bulls by just two games.
Now that Martin is eligible to be traded, Daryl Morey can start exploring potential deals. It remains to be seen whether he will focus on moves to enhance the team’s competitiveness for the current season or prioritize positioning for the future.
Leave a Reply