Early Returns Show The Sixers Nailed It At The Trade Deadline
Trade deadline day was met with hysteria among many Sixers fans. People hated the moves. In particular, they hated trading Pat Beverley for Cam Payne and a 2nd round pick. And even while certain people who cover the team said the Sixers did well at the trade deadline, some fans were losing their minds. But the early returns are telling us that that hysteria was unwarranted.
Let’s start with Buddy Hield. He is exactly what the Sixers need right now with Joel Embiid out. Watching them play without Embiid made it clear they needed more scoring. There was way too much pressure on Tyrese Maxey to both create and score. But Hield has changed that. Since coming to Philly he has averaged 22.3 points per game. And he scored 24 in the Sixers’ impressive win over the red-hot Cavs last night. He has been red hot from 3, shooting .448 from distance in his 3 games with the Sixers. Hield is not only keeping them afloat right now, but he will also give them another top-scoring threat once Embiid is back. And there is no such thing as having too many great shooters around Embiid.
To be fair, that is not what upset Sixers fans. People maybe underestimated how good of a move he was, but the trade itself was not what had Sixers fans angry. So let’s move on to the Pat Bev deal. Cam Payne is averaging 13.7 minutes with the Sixers so far over 27 minutes per game. That is right about in line with his points-per-minute production with the Bucks, he is just playing more minutes. His shooting % is down, but a lot of that comes from 1 bad game where he was 0 for 3. He had 20 points in his first game here.
With Embiid out, they needed more shooters. As much as we all love Pat Bev, he provided very little from that end of the floor. Cam Payne may or may not see the floor much in the playoffs. But they need someone like him to stay afloat while Embiid is out. Right now their goal needs to be to stay above water. Cam Payne helps them do that more than Pat Bev would. Pat Bev’s grit and toughness are nice to have. But that won’t help the Sixers fill up the bucket. Camp Payne can. He helps them right now way more than Pat Bev could.
Believe it or not, the Sixers did well at the deadline. As Daryl Morey said, Buddy Hield might be the best player moved at the trade deadline. They got him without giving up one of their first-round picks. The season still relies on the health of Embiid. But if he does come back, and can be 100% by playoff time, they are set up to be very competitive. A starting lineup of Tyrese Maxey, Buddy Hield, Nico Batum, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid is formidable. And Melton, Reed, Oubre, and Lowry are better than any bench they have had in past playoff runs. We will see if Ricky Council can keep up his high level of play going forward too.
It is still a small sample size. But early returns show that perhaps the hysteria was overblown. And maybe some fans owe Daryl Morey an apology for freaking out on trade deadline day.
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