Sixers mailbags have officially moved to Tuesday, and we have a lot to get to this week. Fresh off a thrilling home win over the Charlotte Hornets and leading into the beginning of NBA Cup Group Play for the Sixers tonight as they host the New York Knicks, let's get to your questions.
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From @sck8182: Come trade deadline, is Jared McCain untouchable in a trade, or would you trade him in the right deal?
McCain was brilliant on Sunday night, and even after just nine games, it certainly feels like the Sixers pulled off a heist with the No. 16 pick in June's NBA Draft. McCain's career-best 27 points powered the Sixers to a thrilling overtime victory, and he looks every bit of the part of an unquestionably rotation-caliber player thanks to his shooting, ability to space the floor and scoring chops. Even on the defensive end of the floor, the rookie has exceeded expectations (though there remains work to be done).
Here are all of Jared McCain's buckets between the final minute of the third quarter and the end of overtime tonight — plus his enormous one-on-one stop against LaMelo Ball. Incredible game for the rookie: pic.twitter.com/FIqVo8wJPm
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 11, 2024
The most crucial thing to remember when Sixers trade rumors begin to swirl is that the team cannot add more salary than it sends out in any trade due to the NBA's new salary cap rules. McCain is only making a hair over $4 million this season, so just trading him on his own is not allowing the Sixers to net a rotation upgrade in return even if they wanted to.
In theory, if the Sixers packaged McCain with as much salary filler as realistically possible — perhaps Kelly Oubre Jr., KJ Martin and Andre Drummond — they would be able to absorb just under $25 million in salary. That at least opens the door for intriguing additions, but not necessarily one worth trading two rotation regulars, a prized rookie and a useful piece for.
Before the season started, the most realistic McCain trade scenario was fairly simple: McCain, combined with KJ Martin's balloon contract and maybe one minimum contract (Reggie Jackson, perhaps) being packaged for someone with a salary in the $12-14 million range. Finding an actual fit becomes tougher in light of McCain's strong start.
Dennis Schröder of the Brooklyn Nets could help the Sixers for the remainder of the season, for example, but is likely not enough an upgrade for the Sixers to justify parting with McCain. New Orleans Pelicans wing Herb Jones is valuable enough to make that move, but there are no indications Jones would be on the table in any deal for the foreseeable future.
If McCain continues his current trajectory, it is hard to imagine there being someone at that price point who is both available for trade and good enough to make the Sixers part with a 20-year-old they are excited about.
From @TheWizWit: A little early for this, but what are the limits on what they can offer Guerschon Yabusele next summer?
It may be too early for normal people to worry about this. Clearly, neither of us are normal:
It is about six months too early to think about this, but Yabusele's non-Bird rights might not be enough to re-sign him this summer if this is who he is. Just looks like a good player.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 11, 2024
Of course, this team has only played nine games. Yabusele has plenty of work to do to establish that the player who has thrived for a few weeks can sustain that level of play for several months. But because Yabusele will be a non-Bird free agent next year — because he will only have spent one year with the Sixers, they have the lowest level of Bird rights on the 28-year-old — if he does continue to perform the way he has to date, it will not be easy for the Sixers to keep him in the fold.
It will be a very similar situation to that of Kelly Oubre Jr. last summer: Yabusele is playing on a veteran's minimum deal right now, and teams can only offer non-Bird free agents up to 120 percent of their salary in the prior season without using cap space or exceptions. The Sixers' only chance of retaining Oubre last summer was hoping teams would not make offers, which blew their greatest available exception out of the water; fortunately for them that came to fruition.
It is far too early to predict which exceptions the Sixers will have to play with next summer, though, as it could be determined by any midseason trade or the player option decisions of Oubre and Andre Drummond following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
From: @alonbro: Last year it seemed like Nic Batum was the only player reliably making entry and inbound passes. Who do you see taking the mantle and do you still view this as a team weakness? How will the Sixers feed Joel Embiid when he gets back?
Finding a new “designated inbounder” was actually one of the very first things Nick Nurse said he needed to address when the team began its training camp in The Bahamas last month — Batum’s height and court vision made him the absolute perfect player to put in that role. It remains difficult to imagine any individual player occupying that moniker for the time being; Nurse will likely use a rotating cast of characters.
I absolutely view passing as a team weakness for the Sixers, and I think you could easily argue it is their single greatest flaw that is basketball-centric (not durability or availability).
Once the Sixers finally see their entire roster in action, how many rotation regulars will actually be high-level passers for their position? Embiid has clearly become one. Yabusele seems to have a chance to be slightly above average as a passing big thanks to his feel. Paul George’s assist numbers have been stellar so far, but how much of that is because defenses are covering him so aggressively with Embiid and Tyrese Maxey sidelined?
Kyle Lowry is one of the most accomplished passers of any active NBA players, but his inability to create separation off the dribble severely limits the kinds of passes he can actually make at this stage of his career. Maxey has made enough strides as a creator for others to be a viable starting point guard, but passing will never be a strength of his. McCain makes strong passes at times, but consistent shot creation for others was not even part of his game in college.
We are not very far away from having discussions about which players or archetypes the Sixers should be coveting in trade talks. I would argue that acquiring someone who can make quick reads and execute frequently on high-level passes should be considered a need.
MORE: Batum talks decision to leave Sixers
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