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How Should Josh Richardson’s Injury Affect Philadelphia 76ers’ Trade Deadline Plans?

Bryan Toporek

The Philadelphia 76ers scuttled a chance to steal a big road win against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, but they suffered a far more costly loss early in the game.

Four minutes into the first quarter, starting 2-guard Josh Richardson suffered a left hamstring injury and immediately headed to the locker room. He's set to miss at least the next 2-3 weeks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, and his absence could extend beyond that.

For a Sixers team with games coming up against the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers in the next few weeks, the timing couldn't be much worse.

Luckily, the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline could provide a reprieve.

Shooters and on-ball creators were undoubtedly high upon the Sixers' list of trade-deadline targets even prior to Richardson's injury, but his upcoming absence could give them even more urgency to make a move.

After Richardson went down, second-year guard Shake Milton played his first non-garbage-time minutes in nearly two months. He finished with nine points on 3-of-10 shooting (3-of-6 from deep), four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes and was a minus-seven on the night.

On Friday, head coach Brett Brown told reporters that Milton will remain a part of the rotation in Richardson's absence, according to Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Rookie wing Matisse Thybulle will also receive an uptick in playing time, as he'll be tasked with filling the defensive void that Richardson's absence creates. Both he and sharpshooter Furkan Korkmaz figure to remain in the starting lineup until Richardson and All-Star center Joel Embiid return, and Thybulle will likely guard the opponent's lead ball-handler.

The Sixers also called up second-year guard Zhaire Smith from the G League on Friday, and he'll be available for Saturday's game against the Lakers. However, it's unfair to expect Smith to step in and make an immediate impact considering he has yet to play a single regular-season minute for the Sixers this year.

If both Thybulle and Korkmaz continue starting in place of Richardson and Embiid, the Sixers' bench will be perilously thin. Two-way center Norvel Pelle is out of NBA service days until the Sixers convert him to a standard contract. That means they'll be trotting out some combination of Milton, Smith, Mike Scott, James Ennis III and Kyle O'Quinn, all of whom have either struggled or played sparingly this season.

Considering the difficulty of their upcoming schedule, that bodes poorly for the Sixers riding into the All-Star break on a high note. And they might not have much margin for error given their home/road splits.

The Sixers are 20-2 at the Wells Fargo Center this season and have outscored opponents by 9.7 points per 100 possessions at home, but they're 9-15 and have been outscored by 2.8 points per 100 possessions on the road. Before they picked up road wins against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets over the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, those splits were even more exaggerated.

And if they can't secure a top-four seed, they're going to start the playoffs on the road.

Heading into Saturday, the Sixers are the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks are running away with the No. 1 seed, but the Sixers are only 2.5 games behind the second-seeded Heat.

The Sixers' post-All-Star-break schedule appears Charmin soft, as only seven of their final 27 opponents currently boast a winning record. That should afford them the opportunity to make up whatever ground they lose in Richardson's absence. However, they've already lost five games against sub-.500 teams, and their upcoming games against the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies aren't gimmes.

The Sixers' lower-than-expected spot in the Eastern Conference standings and brutal upcoming schedule may spur general manager Elton Brand into action well ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

The Golden State Warriors' decision to trade starting center Willie Cauley-Stein to the Dallas Mavericks for the Utah Jazz's 2020 second-round pick on Friday may embolden Brand. He could point to that price tag when negotiating deals for potential Richardson fill-ins such as Warriors guard Alec Burks or New York Knicks guard Reggie Bullock, as the Sixers have likely early second-round picks from New York and Atlanta to dangle in trade discussions.

However, it takes two to tango in any trade, and opposing teams may prefer to wait closer until the deadline in an attempt to drive up their asking price. That could force Brand to choose between waiting out an arduous few weeks or overpaying for a Richardson fill-in.

When healthy, the Sixers boast one of the highest ceilings of any team in the East. However, their starting five has played only 19 games together, which begs the question of whether they'll have established a rhythm by the time the playoffs roll around in mid-April.

The Sixers entered the season hoping to win 60 games and secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, but that's all but out the window. At this point, they face an uphill battle to have home-court advantage for even one round.

Given their home/road splits, that may be a death knell for their title chances unless Brand can stem the bleeding by finding an adequate Richardson replacement on the trade market.


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