After a four-day layoff last week, the Sixers have another string of three consecutive days off before their schedule intensifies again, with many wondering if 2024-25 has already become a lost season amid a devastating slew of injuries and consistently underwhelming performances.
Let's talk about it: the day is Tuesday, which means the time has come for another Sixers mailbag. Once, questions came from my followers over at Bluesky. Let's get to it:
From @mikelederer.bsky.social: Any scenario in which you think the Sixers consider trading Paul George at the deadline? Could PG quietly seek a deal to a contender? This season is certainly not what he was expecting when he signed.
I have a tremendously difficult time imagining any sort of genuine discussions about a trade involving George actually getting off the ground. As disastrous as the Sixers' season has been to date — and while acknowledging that the 34-year-old George is likely primarily focused on maximizing his championship odds — what team out there has the bandwidth to trade for George in the middle of the season and be legitimate championship contenders after the fact? After departing from his hometown after a half-decade with the Los Angeles Clippers to come to Philadelphia, would George really be willing to blow things up and force his way elsewhere a few months into a four-year contract?
Conversely, even if George did decide he may be better off elsewhere, he would have no leverage over the Sixers whatsoever. He is locked in for two more seasons after this one before he must decide on a $56.5 million player option for 2027-28, his age-37 season. Unless a player with that much time left on their contract is willing to forfeit many millions of dollars and, in this case, their final post-prime years, they have no alternative to playing with the team they are under contract with.
It is still early, but in the grand scheme of things, nobody involved should be pleased with how George's time with the Sixers has gone so far. The players around him have underperformed and consistently been unavailable, but George himself has also experienced two extended absences and has only looked like an All-Star-caliber player sporadically.
This marriage has disappointed so far, but of course that does not mean it is inconceivable that things turn around — as unlikely as such an event may seem at the moment. George is still capable of being one of the better wing players in the NBA. If the Sixers can finally play up to the level of talent on their roster (a significant "if) or Joel Embiid ever plays with consistent health again (and even larger "if"), things could coalesce into a situation that is at least more appealing than the one that exists right now.
I definitely would not spend much time thinking about trade scenarios centered around George at any point in the near future. But given how poorly all of this has gone, nobody can be faulted for asking.
MORE: Dec. 15 has arrived. Who can the Sixers trade for?
From @mred315.bsky.social: Are the Sixers fixable and can the season be salvaged?
I oftentimes struggle with this sort of question, because all of it is subjective. Is there any outcome short of a deep playoff run which "salvages" this mess?
Back in September, I ran a survey taking the temperature of the fans' hopes and expectations for the 2024-25 season. When I posed the question, "What do the Sixers need to do for 2024-25 to be a successful season?," 48 percent of respondents said the answer was reaching or winning the NBA Finals. 51 percent of respondents said an Eastern Conference Finals appearance constituted a successful season, with one percent believing a single playoff series victory would do the job.
Now, the Sixers even being involved in a seven-game playoff series this season feels like a major uphill battle. In that sense, how could this cataclysmic year be fixable? But there is another perspective. It is not necessarily one which I hold, but it is worth pondering.
What if this season gives the Sixers a year's worth of information on how they need to manage Embiid's knee moving forward, enabling them to have a stronger understanding of what their plan needs to be in 2025-26 and beyond? The team's unfortunate circumstances have also enabled Jared McCain to prove he must be considered a pillar of the organization's future with a brilliant beginning to his rookie season. They have clearly found a rotation-caliber player in Guerschon Yabusele, too. Maybe their draft pick will leap into the top six at the NBA Draft Lottery in May, and the Sixers will be able to add a highly-touted college player to their team over the summer.
Conceivably, all of those things happening could set up the Sixers for future success. But is it worth the cost of punting a season which Embiid will finish as a 31-year-old and George will finish as a 35-year-old, particularly when both players are at real risk of suffering career-altering injuries?
MORE: What are the odds the Sixers can keep their protected first-rounder?
From @flipstostock.bsky.social: If they were to trade Kelly Oubre Jr., are there any specific implications based on having used the mid-level exception to sign him? Is the guy they acquire then considered to be using their MLE? Does that even matter?
A great salary cap-centric question to finish things up after a pretty heavy first two questions! As some may know, teams are now allowed to use their mid-level exceptions as trade exceptions — meaning the MLE is not solely available to offer to free agents, but can be used to absorb salary in trades. But the Sixers used the entirety of their MLE over the summer in order to re-sign Oubre on a two-year deal containing a player option for 2025-26.
To answer your question: there are no implications involved in the Sixers trading Oubre due to the fact that he was signed using the team's MLE. They will have some form of the MLE available to them again next summer, and the size of it will depend on their financial situation. But, as I will continue to point out, one thing to keep in mind with all Sixers trade discussions this season: they can only take back as much salary as they send out in any deal.
Oubre's salary for this season is $7,983,000. If the team traded him on his own, they would be able to take up to $7,983,000 in salary back from whichever team they send Oubre to. If that team has a player with a salary of $7,983,001, a one-for-one swap would be illegal. That is the most important thing to keep in mind in any Sixers trade scenarios you want to ponder, whether those scenarios involve Oubre, any other member of the Sixers roster or a combination of multiple players.
MORE: McCain out indefinitely, surgery required for torn meniscus
Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice
