The Sixers, as always, continue to be one of the most confusing and frustrating franchises in the NBA. 

Just around a week or so ago, the Sixers had dropped seven straight games, and it seemed like there was no postseason hope at all for the team. The last of the seven games slide was a 144-109 loss to Denver, where the Sixers allowed Denver to score 82 points in the second and third quarters. 

Currently, the team is 19-29, but recently just went on a four-game winning streak before dropping two very winnable games. During the four-game win streak, the Sixers took down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, prior to losing against Philly that night, had just seven losses on the season.

Tyrese Maxey has been one of the biggest key factors for this run that the Sixers have been able to pull off. 

Maxey has played one of, if not his best, stretches of basketball in his career so far. The 24-year-old guard has averaged 33 and 6 assists in the past 10 games, including a stellar 43-point night against the Lakers on National TV.

But it hasn’t just been Maxey who’s helped propel this team in the past couple of games; key rotational players such as Ricky Council IV, Guerschon Yabusele, Justin Edwards, and Eric Gordon to name a few have stepped up. Edwards, an undrafted rookie, has really started to come on as a solid scoring wing and earned head coach Nick Nurse’s trust, leading to 25+ minutes each night.

And now, with the trade deadline drawing closer, should the team be buyers or sellers?

With the team sitting at 19-29 and just five games back of the six seed, it’s hard to judge how the Sixers will handle this trade deadline. One of the biggest factors boils down to how healthy superstar Joel Embiid is going to be. If the team believes he’s healthy, then they should certainly go in and try to make moves.

However, if he’s not going to be healthy, then there’s no reason to waste assets, and the best possible move would be to build for next year.

At this point in the season, it’s going to be extremely hard to tank for the first overall pick. As it stands, the Sixers have just the seventh-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick and will lose the draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it falls outside of the top six. This was the result of the trade back in 2021, in which the Sixers got Danny Green in exchange for Al Horford and the pick. 

So it’s pretty hard to gauge where the team is at exactly, but these next stretch of games are vital to see what the Sixers will do on Feb. 6 at the trade deadline. 

For comments/questions about this story DM us on Instagram @TheWhitSports or email sports@thewhitonline.com