The Sixers are clearly in rebuilding mode, with a bargain payroll and just four players making more than $3.2MM this season. One of them is Jason Richardson, who’s been out all year with injury. Philadelphia would surely like to find a taker for his albatross of a contract, but most of the trade talk around the team this season has focused on the other three: Spencer Hawes, Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young.
GM Sam Hinkie is reportedly prioritizing the addition of first-round picks as he scours the market, and apparently he won’t take on a “lesser player” unless the Sixers receive such draft considerations in return. Those sorts of constraints might make it more difficult to pull off a deal, but the consensus around the league seems to indicate that Philadelphia will make a move. The Sixers have begun to more aggressively engage other teams in conversations about Young, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who adds that most executives think it’s a “lock” that Hinkie will try to trade Turner. There’s been less talk about Hawes, but when the Rockets were shopping Omer Asik, they appeared to make Hawes, and not Turner or Young, their primary target.
Hawes will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, while Turner’s free agency this summer will be restricted. Young is under contract through 2015/16, as I noted when I examined his trade candidacy earlier this week. Each plays a different position with a different skill set, offering the Sixers, and other teams, an array of choices. So, let us know which of the three you think is most likely to leave Philly by the February 20th trade deadline, and elaborate on your choice in the comments.