The Philadelphia 76ers Failed At the NBA Trade Deadline

The Philadelphia 76ers have a very fun team to watch this season, and with a strong trade deadline, they could’ve solidified themselves as contenders in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, they had a terrible deadline and somehow made it worse, failing to add any players to the roster.

Their first move came yesterday, trading Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a load of draft picks, headlined by the Houston Rockets’ 2026 1st round pick. The second move was a pure salary dump, shipping Eric Gordon off to the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2032 second-round pick swap. Owner Josh Harris made his goal clear: he doesn’t care about winning, just ducking the luxury tax.

76ers Moves Made No Sense

The Gordon move was expected, and when he was dealt today, it came as no surprise. The McCain trade was one of the most surprising of the entire deadline. McCain was excellent in his first year in Philadelphia and was on track to win rookie of the year if he didn’t suffer a season-ending injury. He struggled to find his stride this year, but was starting to look better as of late. For a team that has emphasized getting younger, why would they trade one of their better young pieces?

It seems like they traded him solely to get under the tax, which is absolutely pathetic. McCain played a huge role in the energy on a nightly basis and was a big voice in the locker room. Trading him to save a few million dollars without even considering how it affects your other players is asinine.

Tyrese Maxey expressed his frustration with the trade today and made it clear he had lost what he considers a true brother. Not to mention, only getting a first-round pick that is projected to land in the high 20’s is an awful return for the 76ers.

Josh Harris Is To Blame

While many are quick to point the finger at Daryl Morey, Harris should be the one who fans take out their frustration on. Harris has been dead set on ducking the luxury tax every single year, no matter how close the team is to winning a championship. Joel Embiid came out publicly and said he hoped they didn’t try to get under the tax this year, but of course, Harris didn’t listen because he’s completely out of touch with everything that happens with the 76ers.

It’s truly embarrassing how, after everything Joel Embiid has done for the 76ers, they couldn’t even have the decency to honor his fair request to simply keep the team together. Entering the week, many were hopeful that times would change and that Philadelphia would look to add rather than subtract, but as we now know, that didn’t happen. Today was a terrible look for the entire front office, and I’m sure the players are extremely frustrated with how things panned out.

What’s Next For Philadelphia?

As they’ve done in the past, they’ll likely turn their attention to the buyout market. Morey covets the buyout market more than anyone in the entire NBA, and there are a ton of options that make sense for the 76ers. They really need another guard who can run the floor and play make with the loss of McCain, and play alongside Quentin Grimes. The lack of bench scoring is what’s going to hurt Philadelphia come playoff time, even if they add from the free agent pool.

Even with Paul George, the Philadelphia 76ers are not championship contenders. They’d need literally everything to fall their way, health and matchup-wise, which never happens. Regardless, they are still a fun team to watch, and the pairing of Maxey and VJ Edgecombe remains one of the best in all of basketball.