The Knicks Might Make the Sixers Regret Their Trade Deadline Inactivity

While other teams looked to add at this year's trade deadline, the Sixers chose to subtract from their roster.

May 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) brings the ball up court against Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe (77) during the second quarter of game one of the eastern conference semifinal round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Sixers' lack of depth didn't come back to bite them against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs.

The same might not be true against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

By the end of the Celtics series, head coach Nick Nurse had effectively trimmed his rotation to six players—the five starters and Quentin Grimes. Andre Drummond played a few minutes off the bench to buy Joel Embiid some rest, while Justin Edwards and Dominick Barlow got a few spot minutes at times, too. But Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe were all routinely hovering around 40 minutes, and Embiid wasn't far behind.

That helped the Sixers pull off a historic upset, but it left them running on fumes heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Knicks took full advantage of the gassed Sixers by effectively burying them before halftime Monday.

Nurse pulled the plug halfway through the third quarter of Game 1, so the Sixers should be fresher and more locked into their game plan Wednesday. But if they continue to run a tight rotation, they might find themselves running out of steam late in the game against the Knicks' physical defense.

That would put the Sixers' inactivity at the trade deadline back under the microscope.

Why the Sixers stood pat at the deadline

Rather than add reinforcements at the trade deadline, the Sixers instead decided to subtract from their roster so they could get under the luxury-tax line. Their most notable move was trading second-year guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Houston Rockets' 2026 first-round pick and three second-rounders.

The Rockets wound up landing the No. 22 overall pick, and this year's draft is supposed to be loaded, so the Sixers might be able to find an impact player at that spot. That player won't help them in this year's playoffs, though.

You know who could have helped? Jared McCain, who scored 12 points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Thunder in their Game 1 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Sixers' bench combined for nine points total across Games 6 and 7 against Boston.

Beyond trading McCain, the Sixers' only other move was salary-dumping Eric Gordon, who was out of the rotation and wouldn't have helped in the playoffs. No harm, no foul there.

However, the other three Eastern Conference teams still alive in the playoffs all made moves to upgrade their respective rosters.

The Cleveland Cavaliers took the biggest swing by trading Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden. They also sent De'Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings for Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder. Meanwhile, the New York Knicks acquired Jose Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicans for two second-round picks, and the Detroit Pistons landed Kevin Huerter from the Chicago Bulls for Jaden Ivey.

Alvarado is averaging 5.2 points in only 9.3 minutes per game off the bench for the Knicks in the playoffs. Grimes is averaging 6.9 points in 22.6 minutes per game off the bench for the Sixers.

The Sixers' desire to duck the luxury tax effectively closed off their chances of upgrading at the trade deadline. Alvarado is earning only $4.5 million this season, so the Sixers could have flipped McCain for him, but they would have finished a few million dollars over the tax line.

Even if the Sixers were willing to pay the tax, their top-heavy contract structure limited their deadline options. Embiid, George and Maxey are all earning at least $37 million, while Edgecombe is their next-highest-paid player at $11.1 million. That alone priced them out of players like Huerter ($18.0 million) and Schröder ($14.1 million).

Grimes ($8.7 million) and Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.4 million) were the Sixers' largest movable contracts, although Grimes had veto rights over any trade after signing his qualifying offer this past fall. The Sixers could have tried to flip Drummond ($5.0 million) for an inexpensive rotation player, although they also would have needed to land another center to avoid relying solely on Bona as Embiid's backup.

It's worth noting that the Atlanta Hawks acquired Jock Landale ($2.5 million) from the Utah Jazz for cash considerations. Acquiring him would have pushed the Sixers back into tax territory, though.

Luckily for the Sixers, their first-round opponent engaged in even more aggressive cost-cutting this past season. But unfortunately for them, the rest of the remaining Eastern Conference bracket actively tried to get better at the trade deadline instead of worse.

The good news is that Maxey led the league with 38.0 minutes per game during the regular season, and Edgecombe wasn't far behind, so they're already used to playing a ton of minutes. But the playoffs are a different beast, and it's far more physically taxing to play 40-plus minutes night in and night out, especially against a team like the Knicks.

If the Sixers' lack of reliable bench depth comes back to haunt them against the Knicks, they'll only have themselves to blame for their decision to subtract rather than add at the trade deadline.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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