NBA Trade Rumors: 76ers Inquired About Blazers’ Malcolm Brogdon Ahead of Deadline

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 8, 2024

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly “made inquiries” about Portland Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon, according to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports, in an effort to find a “combo guard with the ability to run the offense and a level of comfort playing off of the ball.”

However, the Blazers are “content to hold onto Brogdon unless they are bowled over with an offer,” per that report.

The Sixers find themselves in a weird position ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

On one hand, making a huge splash on the trade market doesn’t necessarily make a ton of sense for two main factors. The first is that the team has the expiring contracts of Tobias Harris ($39.2 million), Marcus Morris Sr. ($17.1 million), Nicolas Batum ($11.7 million), Robert Covington ($11.6 million), De’Anthony Melton ($8 million) and Furkan Korkmaz ($5.3 million) coming off the books, setting them up with a boatload of cap space to pursue a star in free agency rather than give up valuable assets in a trade.

Granted, some of that money will go toward an extension for Tyrese Maxey, and the team may look to bring back role players like Batum and Melton. But the Sixers are going to be able to offer max money and the chance to pair with Joel Embiid to players like Paul George (if he turns down his player option), Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby, among others.

Embiid is the other factor here. It’s up in the air whether he’ll even play again this season after having surgery to repair his meniscus, so does it make sense for the Sixers to go all-in on this season?

Probably not.

But it does sound as though the team still wants to remain competitive in the event he is able to get healthy for the postseason. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports noted on Wednesday that the Sixers have shown interest in Utah big man Kelly Olynyk, while he reported Tuesday that Philly’s approach to this trade deadline has been “prioritizing ways to buy now, while maintaining future flexibility.”

He added that Buddy Hield and Bojan Bogdanović were also on the Sixers’ radar.

Brogdon, 31, is averaging a solid 15.7 points and 5.5 assists in 39 games for the Blazers this season, shooting 41.2 percent from three. Injuries are always a potential concern with the veteran guard, but he would make a lot of sense either sharing the backcourt with Maxey or as a sixth man off the bench, leading the second unit.

At 30-20, the Sixers have some real questions to answer before Thursday. It feels unlikely they’ll make a splash, but Daryl Morey also rarely remains stagnant.