Report: 76ers Open to Trades Depending on Coaching Hire

If the Philadelphia 76ers decide to bring in former Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni, then the team's front office is "open to trade talks," according to Yahoo Sports' Keith Smith. 

Just last month, the Sixers wrapped up the Brett Brown era after seven years. Since then, Philly has been linked to several coaching candidates over time. At first, the most notable names were Ty Lue, Dave Joerger, Jay Wright, and Ime Udoka.

After a couple of weeks went by, Billy Donovan left the Thunder while Mike D'Antoni wrapped up his stint with the Rockets. Just a couple of days ago, a report hinted that Lue, D'Antoni, and Donovan are the favorites for Philly's vacancy.

But Donovan's now out of the picture. While Lue and D'Antoni are still in the picture, rumors about the latter coach joining the Sixers are really beginning to heat up. On Wednesday, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor mentioned that "rumblings" of Mike D'Antoni going to the Sixers have "gotten much louder" lately. 

Now, Keith Smith reports that there's "a lot of buzz" regarding the Sixers as they are reportedly letting teams know they are open to talking trades with other organizations if they do, in fact, end up hiring D'Antoni at some point.

Considering D'Antoni's small-ball system is a strange fit for a team as big as the Sixers, it shouldn't come as a surprise they would potentially look into making a couple of personnel changes through trades. 

While many may speculate the team will choose between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to acquire shooters to build around the other, it should be noted that Sixers General Manager Elton Brand already shot down the notion of breaking the duo up before. Aside from those two, though, it could be hard to consider anybody else untouchable as trading season approaches.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_