Report: 76ers Informing Teams They're "Open to Trade Talks" if D'Antoni is Hired

The Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly willing to make trades this offseason if they decide to hire former Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni

The Philadelphia 76ers were one of the NBA's most disappointing teams this past season.

Despite having two borderline All-NBA players in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, the 76ers were never able to find the chemistry needed to succeed. They finished the regular season with the sixth best record in the East, 43-30.

Now, after firing head coach Brett Brown, the team is reportedly interested in hiring offensive guru Mike D'Antoni to take the reigns of the organization and is reportedly willing to make moves to make their roster better fit with D'Antoni's system, according to Yahoo's Keith Smith.

Starting to hear a lot of buzz that the Philadelphia 76ers are are letting teams know they are open to trade talks if they hire Mike D'Antoni to be their next head coach. Philadelphia realizes that current roster, with all the bigs, isn't built to be a successful D'Antoni team.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 23, 2020

D'Antoni has made a name for himself throughout his career for being an offensive innovator, first with the Phoenix Suns and the "Seven Seconds or Less" offence and most recently with the Houston Rockets and their 3-point oriented offence.

That's what makes his potential hiring in Philaldphia so strange. The 76ers are the NBA's most post-oriented team. No team in the NBA attempted more post-ups per game this season than the 76ers, according to NBA Stats. Add that to the fact that Simmons, their lead guard for most of the year, attempted just seven 3-pointers all season, and the fit doesn't make sense unless they make some moves.

If the 76ers were willing to move one or both of their young stars, they would certainly get a lot in return. The 24-year-old Simmons averaged 16.4 points eight assists per game this year and will be starting a max contract extension next season that will run through the 2024-25 season. Embiid, 26, averaged 23 points with 11.6 rebounds per game this year and had almost $95 million left on the remaining three years of his contract.