Brett Brown wants the 76ers to focus to be on capitalizing on playing five straight games at the Wells Fargo Center – not the upcoming trade deadline.
“That’s the message to make me avoid [trade] stuff,” the Sixers coach of Monday of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
Brown pointed the office of team president of basketball operations, Bryan Colangelo, when referring to making roster moves.
“My office is this office,” he said pointing to practice courts. “That’s how I see the world right now. And it comes out of my mouth freely.”
However, Tuesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards could be the last time fans see this particular Sixers unit intact.
That’s because, with Markelle Fultz sidelined, the Sixers (25-25) don’t have a guard who can create his own shot and provide instant offense.
There are two on the market: Tyreke Evans of the Memphis Grizzlies and Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Grizzlies want to receive a first-round pick as part of any package for Evans. A league source has confirmed that the Sixers have expressed interest in the Chester native. There’s also a report that they’ve inquired about Williams, who broke in with the Sixers.
It will be interesting to see what the Sixers decide to do in the coming days. If they make a trade, there’s a good chance that at least one person on the current roster would be shipped away.
But Brown doesn’t want that to be the focus – at least not publically.
“In all my 17 years of doing it, I’ve never had five home games prior to an all-star break,” the former longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant said, changing the subject. “We want to capitalize on that.
“If you said that the start of the year, at this, after 50 games, you are going to be 25-25, I’d say that’s not too bad.”
After facing Washington, the Sixers host the New Orleans Pelicans (Friday) and Los Angeles Clippers (Saturday) on back-to-back nights. Then they will entertain the New York Knicks (next Monday) and Miami Heat (Feb. 14) before the break.
The Wizards headed into Monday’s matchup at the Indiana Pacers with the East’s fourth-best record of 30-22. The Pelicans took the West’s seventh-best record of 28-24 into Monday’s home game versus the Utah Jazz. Meanwhile, the Heat was seventh in the East at 29-24 prior to Monday’s home game against the Orlando Magic.
The Clippers had the ninth-best record in West (26-25) heading into their Monday home game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks at 23-31 are 11th in the East.
The Sixers are eighth in the East with 32 games remaining. The top eight teams in each conference at the end of regular season advance to the playoffs.
“There will be people on teams [and] their minds will be on Bermuda,” Brown said. “I want ours in the Wells Fargo building here in this city. We know what we want. It’s to be a playoff team.
“We have a chance in next five games to make some ground and not play catch up in after the all-star break.”
Sixers to unveil Bobby Jones sculpture
The Sixers will unveil a sculpture of Bobby Jones outside their practice facility in Camden on Friday.
The forward averaged 10.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks during his eight seasons in Philadelphia. He won the NBA’s award for sixth man of the year in 1983. The defensive standout also made two of his four all-star appearances as a Sixer.
The organization retired his No. 24 jersey back in 1986.
Super Bowl celebration
The Sixes will celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory at Tuesday’s game. This is include a variety of in-game activities – including a special guest bell ringer, appearances by Swoop and Eagles players and personalities.
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