It may be the middle of August, but that cannot stop Sixers fans from wondering about potential wholesale changes coming to the local basketball team.
Let's dive into this week's Sixers mailbag, with a focus on possible midseason trade talks to come:
*From @bpdunst.bsky.social:*How many of Joel Embiid, Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon do you expect to be on the roster at the end of the season, given the direction of the team moving forward towards the young Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, Quentin Grimes (?), VJ Edgecombe core?
I would guess that three or four of Embiid, George, Oubre, Drummond and Gordon make it through the season as members of the Sixers. Something dramatic would have to happen to change my perception that the team is locked into the contracts they handed Embiid and George last year; it is difficult to fathom another NBA team having any willingness to take those. So the bare minimum is two of these five players sticking around for the rest of the year.
The fates of Oubre, Drummond and Gordon all depend on what the Sixers' goals are by the time the trade deadline comes around in the first week of February. Perhaps they find themselves in an in-between situation like they were at the 2025 deadline, but it feels more likely that some level of certainty will exist as far as direction is concerned.
If the Sixers are playing well and looking to improve their roster at the deadline, Oubre becomes the most likely to stay, but certainly not a lock. His expiring contract worth over $8.3 million is the most trade-friendly deal the Sixers have right now, but he also figures to be a significant part of head coach Nick Nurse's rotation. Trading Oubre, Drummond and Gordon together would enable the Sixers to take back about $15.6 million worth of salary in any trade; it is possible an available player in that price range seems like a major upgrade over Oubre but not likely.
Because Drummond is 32 years old with over a decade of NBA experience, the conventional thinking might be that the Sixers moving him would indicate they are selling. But I think it is far more likely that Drummond and his $5 million expiring salary are used to help facilitate a deal where the Sixers bolster their rotation than it is that a contending team comes calling about adding him to give itself a better chance of winning a championship. Crazier things have happened than a Drummond resurgence next season, but his first full season in Philadelphia was so brutal that it is difficult to bank on any meaningful production from him for the time being.
Gordon could be moved in either scenario, but it will depend on if he actually looks the part of even a fringe rotation player. If the Sixers have another nightmarish season, they will not have use for him past the deadline. But if he does not show signs of life before then, neither will other teams. It is never a crazy expectation that some contending team might take a shot on a shooter of Gordon's caliber, but he would have an uphill battle ahead of him in terms of creating that interest. If the Sixers do hit their stride by February and Gordon is not part of their success, his roster spot should very much be up for grabs.
MORE: Who is the ideal Sixers trade target if things are going well?
*From @handsomeneil.bsky.social:*What’s more likely to you, an unexpected successful season or a Maxey trade request? If the latter, do you just blow the whole thing up?
I will stop far short of saying I expect a "successful" season for the 2025-26 Sixers, but I do think that outcome is more likely than Maxey forcing his way out. More than anything, that is a statement I am making because of Maxey's unrelenting commitment not just to figuring things out with the Sixers, but to figuring things out in general. Maxey is incredibly grateful to the Sixers in many respects, and one of the more determined workers there is.
By all accounts, requesting a trade to get out of an undesirable situation is not exactly in Maxey's DNA.
If we are living in a hypothetical world in which Maxey has requested a midseason trade, the situation becomes pretty fascinating. In theory, the Sixers have the infrastructure to withstand the loss as far as guard play is concerned: McCain and Edgecombe can be the backcourt of the future, and the Sixers would still have one of the more attractive guard pairings in the NBA when factoring in long-term potential. Grimes should be back as well, and if the Sixers traded Maxey without getting any guards back they would still have three young, quality options in their backcourt. If Maxey wanted out and a team made a genuinely appetizing trade offer, there is no reason for the Sixers not to strongly consider making a deal.
But for a soon-to-be 25-year-old with an All-Star nod to his name, the sort of work ethic and leadership chops that translate to major success in the NBA and such a dynamic skill set -- with three-plus years left under contract -- that offer would have to be enormous. The Sixers would be in no rush to move Maxey for anything less than 100 cents on the dollar or more, with the long-term control over the star guard being their strongest piece of leverage.
The goal, of course, is not to maximize a trade return for Maxey. For now, the Sixers' main objective is to win with Maxey as their second-best player.
Maxey contributed to a championship contenderin a massive capacity as a very young player. He clearly has the ability to serve as a critical component of one again. Will the Sixers have a team good enough for him to display that?
MORE: How can the Sixers maximize Maxey?
From @Tim_Meyer23*:*Do you think there’s a world where Nurse gives all four guards at once extended minutes?
I am all for wacky and creative lineup construction, and Nurse should be expected to use plenty of outside-the-box thinking when forming different units this year. I am a staunch small-ball supporter. But Maxey, McCain, Edgecombe and Grimes all sharing the floor at once feels like a bridge too far.
The more realistic idea is Nurse going with three of those guards for extended periods of games. Those lineups will still be undersized, especially when Maxey and McCain share the floor with Grimes or Edgecombe at small forward instead of a true wing. Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey hinted at this during his media availability in Las Vegas last month.
The following quote from Morey stands out:
"Nick does a good job, he’s generally going to put the best players out there, and those four guys we think will be likely four of our top players on the team. Coach Nurse is very creative, I would expect he would find ways to get all those guys pretty heavy minutes, assuming health and assuming VJ plays as well as we hope in his first year. Again, expectations are super high on VJ -- as they should be, we’re very excited about him -- but I will say, it is super rare for a first-year player to come in and play on a team that has championship aspirations, so trying to temper them a little bit with VJ and give him a little space to maybe have some bumps in the road this year. But I do think in our best version of our team, if we can get Quentin back, all four of those guys will be playing pretty heavy minutes and Coach Nurse will have to use creativity to figure out how to best utilize them."
This arrangement will only put more of a focus on the Sixers' lack of size at power forward, where someone like Trendon Watford could become even more important if his frame at the four is essential. Justin Edwards and Paul George should see a healthy portion of their minutes distributed at power forward, too, in an effort to help provide a runway for Nurse to utilize three-guard lineups.
MORE: Everything to know about the Sixers' 2025-26 schedule
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