Jan. 30, 2026, 5:31 a.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA — As the Philadelphia 76ers and the rest of the NBA prepare for the upcoming Feb. 5 trade deadline, one has to wonder what President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey will do in terms of any trades. One has to believe he will make some type of move when considering he has made at least one move at every deadline he’s been a part of since taking over in Philadelphia in the 2020 offseason.

The Sixers are sitting at 26-21 following a thrilling 113-111 win over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday and one has to wonder if the focus for Morey and Co. will be on improving the roster. Philadelphia could use another perimeter scorer off the bench or even another big man to help improve the rebounding department, but a big thing for the Sixers in the past has been avoiding the luxury tax.

Financial flexibility has been at the forefront for Philadelphia in the past, but Joel Embiid wants to see something different this time around. He has always been big on continuity and would like to keep it.

“Obviously, we’ve been ducking the tax the last couple of years, so hopefully we keep the same team,” Embiid said. “I love all the guys that are here. I think we got a shot. So, hopefully—I don’t know what they’re gonna do, but I hope that at least we got a chance to just go out and compete because we got a good group of guys in this locker room, and vibes are great.”

At the moment, the Sixers are roughly $7 million over the tax. In order to get under, they have to move either Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.3 million) or Quentin Grimes ($8.7 million) and not take any salary back. Grimes, of course, has a no-trade clause after signing the qualifying offer to return to Philadelphia. The Sixers could also move both Andre Drummond ($5 million) and Eric Gordon ($2.3 million counting against the tax) in a deal.

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It remains to be seen what the Sixers will do, but Embiid wants to see Philadelphia improve at the deadline. With the way he, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George are playing, the Sixers are going to have a chance to win in the Eastern Conference.

“So yeah, like I said in the past, we’ve been, I guess, ducking the tax,” he finsihed. “So, hopefully, we would think about improving because I believe we have a chance.”

Feb. 5 will prove to be an interesting day in Philadelphia and the NBA as a whole.