After Ben Simmons saga, Sixers feel different vibe around this season’s NBA trade deadline
The Sixers, who figure to be smaller players this year, still are aware that anything can happen at the trade deadline.
Georges Niang is trying not to focus on next Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Yet the 76ers’ reserve forward acknowledges there is a different vibe around his team than a year ago, when the Ben Simmons saga hovered until the blockbuster deadline-day deal with the Brooklyn Nets that brought James Harden to Philly was completed.
“Definitely, if I’m being honest with you,” Niang said following Wednesday’s shootaround. “Obviously, we had to do something last year. But this year, I feel like we’re in a good position. They don’t pay me enough to make those roster moves, so I’m going to keep it at that.”
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The Sixers enter Wednesday’s home rematch with the Orlando Magic in third place in the Eastern Conference, with a 32-17 record. Before next Thursday, they could be in line for a smaller deal to upgrade a rotation position, or a salary-cutting move. The Inquirer reported that, in recent days, the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors have expressed interest in defensive stopper Matisse Thybulle, who was also in trade speculation at last year’s deadline and on draft night.
Niang, who entered Wednesday scoring 9.2 points per game on 42.4% shooting from three-point range in arguably his best NBA season, is on an expiring contract. He reiterated that he hopes to finish this season with the Sixers.
“I enjoy where I’m at in Philadelphia,” Niang said. “I hope everybody knows that. But it is a business. I just try to focus on something else — the next game, the next scouting report. … I don’t look at that date and try to figure [it out], because then I’m just taking my energy off something else and I’m not good with too many distractions.”
When asked during Wednesday’s pregame news conference about the upgrade he would like to see the Sixers make at the deadline, coach Doc Rivers deflected.
“I don’t touch that,” Rivers said. “I would love my hair to grow out on the sides, if I could have an upgrade. That’s not going to happen.”
Sixers recognize big leads ‘are not safe’
Multiple Sixers acknowledged following Monday’s collapse against the Magic that, after jumping out to a 21-point first-half lead, they collectively thought they would be able to cruise. Instead, Orlando took advantage of the Sixers’ sloppy play — the Magic scored 20 points off 19 Sixers turnovers, 28 fastbreak points and 22 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds — to chip away at the deficit and then take control down the stretch.
Surrendering leads has been a Sixers problem, perhaps most notably when they blew a nine-point advantage in the last 30 seconds of regulation of a December game against the Los Angeles Lakers before prevailing in overtime. Yet it has also drawn research as a league-wide issue.
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Per data-gathering from The Athletic’s Seth Partnow, as of Jan. 11, seven teams had blown at least seven double-digit leads in losses, 14 teams had done that at least six times, and 21 teams had blown at least five advantages of 10 points or more in a defeat. Those figures were calculated before more recent eye-popping swings, such as when the Portland Trail Blazers surrendered a 25-point halftime lead against the Lakers on Jan. 23.
“Those leads are not safe,” Niang said. “You look at the trajectory of this league and how many points are being scored, 20 is like the new 10. You blink and someone has hit three threes and got an and-one and are back in the game.”
The Sixers have also pulled out of their fair share of double-digit deficits, most recently when they trailed by 15 points during Saturday’s marquee win over the Denver Nuggets.