It appeared that the Philadelphia 76ers were finally set at point guard -- at least for this season -- following the acquisition of Ish Smith, the return of Kendall Marshall and the emergence of T.J. McConnell as a legitimate backup option.
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But when you're mired in last place for the third season in a row and have spent the majority of your lottery picks on big men, there's always going to be room for backcourt improvement.
Perhaps that's why, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Sixers have reached out to the Atlanta Hawks to inquire about their point guards, starter Jeff Teague (15.1 PPG, 5.4 APG) and backup Dennis Schroder (10.6 PPG, 4.5 APG) ahead of next Thursday's NBA trade deadline. Here's more from Pompey:
The source said the Sixers have not made a trade offer for either of the two. Mutliple league sources said they don't expect the Sixers to make a serious push for one of the point guards before the Feb. 18 trade deadline.
That's because centers Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor have the biggest trade value on the team. As a result, teams have been calling about those two. However, the Sixers don't want to part ways with either until they know if Joel Embiid, a third center, will be healthy enough to play. [philly.com]
Teague has reportedly been on the block for some time now, and there have been talks between the Hawks and Pacers about moving the guard before the deadline. If the Sixers aren't seriously interested in acquiring one of Atlanta's guards, however, maybe the call was to see if the team could help facilitate a trade, and walk away with a draft pick for their efforts.
The Sixers will host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in their final game before this weekend's NBA All-Star Game. And with their next game not until next Friday (Feb. 19), it will also be the team's final game before the trade deadline.
Odds are, the roster will look somewhat different the next time they take the court.
I'll have more from the Wells Fargo Center tonight. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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