As the February 21st NBA trade deadline approaches the rumors and possibilities are mounting. Among them is Philadelphia 76ers Evan Turner. Read more after the jump.
The idea was to pair Evan Turner on the wing with Jrue Holiday at the point, then put Andrew Bynum in the paint and suddenly you have the beginnings of a pretty good team in the East.
And maybe that still works out, we have yet to see Andrew Bynum on the court and how that impacts all things Philadelphia.
But in his third season Turner has turned out to be a nice but not franchise foundation kind of guy. Not what was hoped for with the No. 2 overall pick. He’s a good playmaker, his three point shooting is above 40 percent this season, he’s had some big games, but in general he’s solid but not spectacular.
So the Sixers are testing his market value, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.
The Sixers, sources say, are open to a shakeup as they continue to wait for the return of Andrew Bynum to give All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday some badly needed help. And I’m told Philly, as such, is shopping (or at least making calls to gauge the value of) swingman Evan Turner.
I think this is more about gauging value than it is anything else. And frankly, teams test the market value of pretty much every player but the untouchables over the course of a year.
Of course, if a deal they loved came their way they’d move, but more likely this is just some long-term thinking. You can’t judge what kind of team the Sixers will be with Bynum until they actually have Bynum playing, but it is good to know your options.
