Philadelphia 76ers: Trading for George Hill was always about the playoffs

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: The Philadelphia 76ers will be without [player x] for the foreseeable future with an [injury x].

I know, crazy, right? Such a basic, blanket statement has become as ubiquitous with Philadelphia’s premier basketball franchise as Dr. J in the late 80s, AI in the late 90s/early 00s, and stinking out loud for a three-year stretch in the 2010s.

Some have jokingly suggested that the Sixers’ fan base may be the most medically literate fanbase in the NBA – maybe in all of sports – and for good reason; because the team seemingly can’t land a viable player without getting them on an injury discount.

From Ben Simmons‘ preseason broken foot to Nerlens Noel‘s torn ACL, Markelle Fultz‘s thoracic outlet syndrome, and a slew of injuries to Joel Embiid that held the future All-Star out of action for the better part of three years, the Sixers have a storied history of getting fans hyped on a new player only to have said player spend a good portion of their time chilling on the bench.

So, you might ask, why are the recent developments involving George Hill all that surprising? The Sixers traded for a guard two months removed from having thumb surgery who hasn’t played in a game since January 24th, did anyone really expect him to enter the fray a week later and start playing 28 minutes a game?

No, as tough as it may be to admit, especially after watching the Philadelphia 76ers’ incredibly uneven performances in games without Embiid as of late, the decision to trade for George Hill was always about the playoffs, not to hotshot their way to the number one seed in a knock-down, drag-out brawl with those pesky Brooklyn Nets.

The Philadelphia 76ers knew what they were getting in George Hill.

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Heading into the final hours before the 2021 NBA trade deadline, the Philadelphia 76ers were as well-positioned as any team in the NBA to make the exact kind of trade they wanted to make.

They had (almost) all of their draft picks plus a few additional seconds, an intriguing collection of young assets, and the contractural firepower to acquire seemingly any contract in the NBA. Outside of the Houston Rockets, who seemingly have made it their mission to try to thwart Daryl Morey at every turn, even if it’s detrimental to their own best interests, the Sixers could have called up any basically any team in sell-now mode and pulled off the deal they felt best positioned the team for success whether that involved going all-in on a win-now trade for Kyle Lowry or something more long-term like the acquisition of Lonzo Ball.

But after executing a pair of high-profiles to acquire starts during the offseason to flip Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Vasilije Micić, a 2025 first-round pick, and two second-rounders for Seth Curry, Danny Green, Terrance Ferguson, and Vincent Poirier, Morey decided against disrupting the chemistry of the best roster in the NBA to make a more incremental trade instead to land a veteran combo guard with an incredibly complementary set of skills.

Had the Sixers been looking to land an immediate upgrade capable of giving them more points per game, they could have easily submitted the grandfather offer to Masi Ujiru for Lowry, landed ex-Sixer Dorell Wright’s brother Delon for picks/players from the Detroit Pistons, or even just have folded a player like Matt Thomas into one of their trade exceptions, but instead, the team chose Hill, injury and all.

Instead, the team procured a soon-to-be 35-year-old guard who led the league in 3 point shooting last season and has appeared in more NBA games than any other player on this current Sixers squad save only Dwight Howard.

That feels sort of intentional, no?

Next. George Hill will do wonders for Shake Milton. dark

When the trade deadline was over, and Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers addressed the media on the team’s activities, the duo presented a unified front: The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the best teams in the NBA, and they didn’t want to disrupt their chemistry for a marginal upgrade. By landing George Hill without surrendering a regular rotation player (sorry Tony Bradley), any of their young players, or a first-round pick, the Sixers were sort of able to have their cake and eat it too, even if they have to wait a little longer to taste test it than some had initially hoped.