Report: Philadelphia 76ers GM is ‘open’ to trading lottery pick

You know what’s hot right now? Teams with high picks in the lottery being “open” to a trade if the “right deal is available”. This time it’s Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie making the claim following the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery.

"Hinkie doesn’t currently envision trading his team’s top picks. But he expects to be active in seeing what might be out there, and is open to the possibility should the right offer present itself.“I think you have to be open to sort of whatever may come along,” Hinkie said. “But you ask me today, on a night like this in New York, we’re excited about the players that we might get and being able to add them into our program.”via Sixers GM open to trading pick, but won’t shortcut the rebuilding process"

The reason general managers make statements such as these is to leave the window open in case one of the leagues top stars become available. Right now that star is Kevin Love, but neither Love or the Sixers have been connected to each other through the rumor mill.

There is a big chance the Sixers make a trade in the draft. That’s the luxury of having two lottery picks in a deep draft. Their top pick likely won’t be the one traded. They’ve a chance to land a franchise-changing prospect in Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Jabari Parker at the number three pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, giving them a centerpiece to build around for years to come.

But with the tenth overall pick and other teams willingly available to trade up, it gives them options. They could take another young player and add them to the group of Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, and whomever is chosen at pick three, or they could package them with Thaddeus Young and bring in a player who is proven and could make an impact immediately.

With so many teams wanting to move up and move down in the draft, June 26 looks to be an interesting day.