Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers will welcome Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler for the final two months of the 2024-25 regular season.
The Sixers also subtracted part of the veteran presence added during their splashy 2024 offseason, but where do they stand on aggregate?
“Until you think your team’s perfect, you better be trying to improve it.” -Nick Nurse
The Sixers sat in 11th place in the Eastern Conference at the NBA Trade Deadline. Did Morey improve their chances of a postseason berth or maintain the sliver of hope for salvaging what’s been a disastrous season at the Wells Fargo Center?
3 Sixers Moves at NBA Trade Deadline
Adding around the margins and subtracting questionable fits was a practical strategy for Daryl Morey. However, everyone knows the real change that would turn the tide of the 2024-25 season: health.
The Sixers won’t achieve anything in the playoffs without Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey on the floor together healthy.
“What I’m really hoping for, no matter what happens (at the deadline), is some of the guys get back out there, right? That number – six, seven guys out pretty consistently – gets cut down. I’d like to see it down to one or two… Hopefully we can just get some of them back going and then continue to play decent basketball.” -Nick Nurse
Morey’s moves at the NBA Trade Deadline have more to do with questions beyond this season’s proverbial dead horse.
- Are the Sixers better or worse in a supplementary sense after the three trades?
- How will the shuffled cast of role players maximize the opportunities for the team’s three stars to lead a playoff run if they finally take the floor together for an extended period?
Swapping Caleb Martin for Quentin Grimes
76ers Get: Quentin Grimes, 2nd-Round pick in 2027 (more favorable of Denver Nuggets or 76ers)
Dallas Mavericks Get: Caleb MartinQuentin Grimes provides a different type of upside than Caleb Martin.
The 24-year-old will join his fourth NBA team in four seasons. If the Sixers retain the impending restricted free agent, he could bring better size to the future of a backcourt with two undersized starters Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxey.
“Hopefully, Quentin’s going to be a floor spacer for us and also a good defender, a two-way player. That’s kind of what he’s been doing, and hopefully he can fit into that slot with us. We certainly could use the spacing, and we like guys that’ll work hard on defense.” -Nick Nurse
The Sixers signed Caleb Martin to a four-year, $35 million deal entering his age 29 season. His playoff acumen looked like a fit, and he led the charge in a memorable Christmas Day upset against the Boston Celtics.
However, the group of veterans that joined the team collectively haven’t produced the desired results.
Moving on from Martin and Reggie Jackson could ultimately inject some life into a team that’s limped through a rough season.
The Sixers shed long-term money owed to a veteran who hadn’t found his rhythm and had struggled with injuries. The move creates an opportunity for Grimes and Butler to create new energy with younger blood in Ricky Council IV, Justin Edwards, and Guerschon Yabusele.
Grade: B+
Dumping KJ Martin
76ers Get: cash considerations
Detroit Pistons Get: 2nd-Round pick in 2027 (from Milwaukee Bucks), 2nd-Round pick in 2031 (from Dallas Mavericks)When the Sixers signed KJ Martin during the 2024 offseason, the contract looked like a simple set-up for an in-season trade of an expiring deal.
Morey ultimately paid the Pistons just to take him off Philadelphia’s hands.
Martin played his 24th game of the season and final game with the Sixers on December 23. Morey found (essentially) no trade value and cut his losses after botching a small-scale move about as badly as possible.
Trading Martin also won’t help the Sixers sign Yabusele this offseason, which had been discussed in reference to the NBA’s mid-level exception.
Rich Hofmann pointed out that although this salary dump isn’t the most consequential trade, Philadelphia sports fans should also recognize that the Sixers just made a move based on financial motivation that made the team immediately worse.
Does Josh Harris view the financial advantage as a way to improve the Sixers or as a way to improve the Washington Commanders (or the New Jersey Devils)?
Grade: F
Swapping Reggie Jackson For Jared Butler
76ers Get: Jared Butler, 4 2nd-Round picks (2027, 2028, 2030, 2030)
Washington Wizards Get: Reggie Jackson, 1st-Round pick in 2026 (least favorable of first-round picks between Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets as long as Houston’s is 5-30)Jared Butler will team up with Quentin Grimes in a new-look younger backcourt.
Reggie Jackson wasn’t the most appropriate fit, and his short stint with the Sixers never fully got off the ground. A team with point guard Kyle Lowry doesn’t have much use for another veteran ball handler past the best years of his career.
Buter, like Grimes, will also join his fourth team in four NBA seasons. He’s swung back and forth from the G League throughout most of his career.
The idea of dropping him in with Council, Edwards, and a different group to create new energy makes sense after the brutal early months of the 2024-25 season.
However, Sixers fans shouldn’t look at him as a major impact addition.
Grade: C+
Retaining Guerschon Yabusele
While Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond have battled injuries, Guerschon Yabusele has become the breakout story of the season.
The French big man also looked like Morey’s most valuable trade chip approaching the deadline. His fate was the key indicator of whether or not the Sixers were taking the rest of the season seriously or waving the white flag of surrender.
Yabusele remained with the Sixers, and the assumed plan after passing up the opportunity to move him for a considerable return is to re-sign him during the offseason.
The Sixers owe Drummond $5 million for the 2025-26 season, but it’s fair to wonder about the 31-year-old’s future as a reliable backup for the often-injured Embiid. An energy player like Yabusele helps stabilize the frontcourt for the remainder of the season and leaves the opportunity for a future in Philadelphia.
Grade: B+
