Welcome to the Sixers' second four-day layoff in as many weeks, as the team will have ample time to rest and practice before their schedule finally ramps up in terms of quantity of games and quality of opponents.

And welcome to the unofficial start of NBA trade season, as the calendar striking Dec. 15 means nearly the entire player population of the NBA – including all but one player on the Sixers – is eligible to be traded. This is when teams will begin to survey markets and figure out which potential paths are appealing.

Given the enormous amount of uncertainty surrounding the Sixers and their highest-paid player, this is shaping up to be a highly unusual trade deadline. The makeup of their cap sheet is unusual, too, with three max deals, one high-priced rookie contract and a whole lot of inexpensive deals. It makes finding trade partners and trade targets a difficult task, even if it becomes clear whether the team wants to buy or sell.

As always, let's kick off the week with 5 Sixers thoughts, dissecting Tyrese Maxey's new signature skill, evaluating why this will be such an odd trade deadline for the Sixers and then identifying three possible under-the-radar targets on other teams:

Tyrese Maxey and the art of the pick six

Amid a brutal and frustrating season last year, there was one significant piece of growth on the floor for Maxey in his fifth NBA campaign: he experienced a significant uptick in defensive playmaking, finally giving him some real value on that end of the floor. Maxey has also gotten better as a one-on-one defender, but he will never be anything close to a stopper there. Now being one of the better turnover-forcers in the NBA has arguably made him a positive-impact defender in the aggregate, representing a pretty remarkable ascent.

But it is not just about what that does for Maxey and the Sixers in terms of getting stops. Everyone knows he has the ability to be a lethal transition scorer with his blazing speed and ridiculous finishing talent, but he has never quite been as productive in transition statistically as it seemed he was anecdotally. This year that has changed – Maxey has been the highest-volume shot-taker and shot-maker in transition in the NBA – and part of that stems from his massive number of easy baskets created by his own steals:

"His awareness level seems to be super high," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said on Thursday. "His decision-making seems to be very good. To make those, you've got to be able to kind of sniff those out, kind of break off what the scheme is because you have a sense what's coming, and he's done that great."

Nurse also described Maxey's pick sixes as having a particularly noteworthy mental impact.

"It's been great, and I think those are needed plays," Nurse said. "It not only stops them from scoring, it gives us a quick two and keeps the scoreboard moving. I call them spiritual plays. They're like, big, momentum plays, a pick six for a layup and all of a sudden your defense turns around and everybody's amped up for the next possession, too."

Maxey's growth into an indomitable scorer on and off the ball is what has catapulted him to the fringes of superstardom, but his massive growth over the last year and change on the defensive end of the floor has been a tremendous boon for the Sixers.

Why this is such an unusual Sixers trade deadline

On the surface, it seems obvious that the Sixers would be buyers, looking to find rotation upgrades around Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George. But, a point that has been made here repeatedly in recent weeks: any trade that costs the Sixers draft picks or young players will not just be a gamble on the team having the more valuable return of the deal, but also that Embiid in particular will be healthy enough and productive enough for that to mean something.

Will the Sixers have enough confidence in Embiid's health to invest any additional resources into this team's short-term championship odds? It is a difficult sell, but so is standing pat or subtracting from the roster when Embiid and George are two of the highest-paid players in the entire NBA and Maxey has blossomed into an All-NBA-caliber player.

Quite simply: there is no path the Sixers can realistically choose by the end of the first week of February which will not cause some level of trepidation.

The other angle that must be addressed: the Sixers are about $7 million over the luxury tax threshold as of this writing, and could very well opt to maneuver below that line for the second straight year if they do not deem their team worthy of having more chips pushed in. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond, on expiring contracts worth $8.7 million and $5 million, could become central figures in the discussion of ducking the tax.

Now, three players that could be logical fits for the Sixers if they do decide to try to improve their roster on the margins:

MORE: What will Sixers' strategy be at trade deadline?

Justin Champagnie, Washington Wizards

Champagnie, a 24-year-old wing caught up in a numbers game as the Wizards continue to stockpile young talent, is one the team-friendliest of contracts. Given how many players Washington is trying to play amid a rebuild it stands to reason that Champagnie could be available, and the deal he is on should instantly make him an attractive candidate to the Sixers. If they view him as a superior wing option to someone like Justin Edwards, trading for Champagnie could allow the team to have their cake and eat it, too. Take a look at this contract:

Last year, the Sixers acquired four valuable second-round picks from the Wizards at the trade deadline, including Washington's own 2030 second-rounder. Perhaps a few of those picks or ones of equivalent value going back to Washington could get the job done, with Eric Gordon – the only obvious roster spot casualty the Sixers have – either going to Washington, where he would presumably be waived, or a third team.

Any rotation-caliber player on a contract like the one Champagnie is inked to will be a tremendous asset for a team like the Sixers. But what inspires confidence that he can be the sort of wing Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is willing to rely on?

Perhaps the strongest point in Champagnie's favor is that he is a tremendous offensive rebounder; the Sixers have leaned into that skill with two-way signees Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker and the results have been stellar. His three-point shooting sample in the NBA remains pretty small, but Champagnie profiles as a decent spot-up threat. He has moderately intriguing defensive playmaking numbers, too.

Even if there is nothing close to a star profile here, there is the makeup of a quality rotation wing on a long-term, inexpensive contract. That is worth a gamble, especially because Champagnie's price point would enable the Sixers to avoid dealing from their collection of rotation pieces.

Ousmane Dieng, Oklahoma City Thunder

Now we are at the price point where Drummond's $5 million expiring salary would come into play, as Dieng is making just under $6.8 million on an expiring deal before he enters restricted free agency. The 22-year-old former lottery pick has never had much of an opportunity to emerge as a rotation wing for Oklahoma City, and the Thunder could be in the same position as the Sixers, where they aim to create roster space to convert one or two impressive two-way players.

The framework here is simple: a three-team deal that sends Dieng to the Sixers, one of Drummond and Gordon to Oklahoma City and the other veteran goes to a third team. Oklahoma City would be intending to waive the player they receive; if Drummond's resurgent season has convinced a team he is worth rostering as part of a center rotation the Thunder would gladly save a few million dollars by taking and waiving Gordon on his minimum salary instead.

One team that stands out as a possible Drummond destination: the Atlanta Hawks, who have multiple exceptions Drummond fits into and just enough room below the tax to absorb the 32-year-old center while staying under the threshold. Something like this makes sense if Atlanta wants to add some insurance in the middle behind Onyeka Okongwu and the often-injured Kristaps Porziņģis:

Dieng is only a 31.0 percent shooter from long range for his career, but has always been willing to fire away at high volume. The samples have never been high because Oklahoma City has too many good players for an unproven one like Dieng to get consistent playing time, but his per-minute and per-possession volume do more to encourage than his low percentage does to discourage. He boasts an impressive frame as well, standing at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot wingspan.

Ochai Agbaji, Toronto Raptors

The idea and framework are similar with Agbaji, who has done much more than Dieng to inspire confidence that he can be a long-term rotation piece. Agabji, 25, was also a lottery pick in 2022 and is set to become a restricted free agent in the summer. He shot 39.9 percent from three-point range on 253 attempts last season and stands at 6-foot-5. Even if he does not have quite as much length as Dieng, he is much sturdier.

Toronto has an open roster spot but are just a hair over the tax; trading Agbaji for a player with a slightly lesser salary like  Drummond – who could conceivably contribute to a surging Toronto team – would give them enough breathing room to eventually sign a player to a contract for the remainder of the season and stay below the tax.

The Sixers would need to throw Gordon into this deal to avoid a hard cap at the first apron, but moving a minimum salary should be very easy. Something like this feels like an easy win on all sides if the Sixers trust Barlow, Walker or Adem Bona to step into a larger role at the five:

Perhaps the most significant benefit of this deal: the Sixers would have roster spots they could use to convert both Barlow and Walker to multi-year standard contracts via the taxpayer's mid-level exception. 

MORE: Sixers' shrewd two-way signings are paying off