76ers trade Evan Turner & Lavoy Allen for Danny Granger. Have they overtanked?

-Guess who's getting a ring this season Danny?
-Oh, shut the ^&*%^ up, Evan.

OK, I know that everyone is sorta disappointed that the Celtics stood pat at the deadline, but many others also did exactly that. Up until 3:37 p.m., the only (former) All-Star to be traded today was Antawn Jamison, who has been having a quite disappointing season anyways and was part of a salary dump. And then came this:



That wasn't the only deal that the 76ers made today: They have also sent Spencer Hawes to the Cavaliers for a couple of 2nd rounders and Earl Clark, and they have also picked up Byron Mullens in another salary dump by the Clippers. All that movement on the Philly front, and the fire sale mentaity they have clearly demonstrated also explains why other GMs complained that Ainge was overvaluing his players. The 76ers were acting like a manufacturing company that had outsourced all their employees and factories and was thus able to lower its prices ridiculously.

So how does this affect the Celtics? Well, it looks like the 76ers are all-in on tanking and really want that top pick, and so do the Bucks and the Lakers who have also made moves to keep up with them. I can understand the frustration that comes with it for the Celtics nation, yet all that also brings up another question I don't have the answer to yet: Have the 76ers overtanked? Is there such a thing?

The 76ers have a ton of cap space and another ton of 2nd rounders, which undeniably looks delicious. On the other hand, all the assets they have as of now are Michael Carter-Williams, who owes his crazy stats to a really high usage rating and somewhat unnoticeably is shooting below 40% (below 30% from beyond the arc), Nerlens Noel, a 6'11'' guy who is recovering from knee injury and hasn't yet played in an NBA game, and Thaddeus Young, who is undoubtedly talented yet isn't the superstar that can carry a team to the Finals. Now, if the 76ers get a superb talent from this year's draft, great for them, but I feel like they don't have a backup plan anymore since they have given away all the Bird Rights they held onto for 2nd rounders. Can they turn all of that into meaningful assets in the near future?

Claiming anything about the 76ers' future with certainty would be a dumb thing to do. They have played the tanking game right so far, yet I just feel like they got caught up in that and forgot what it was all about in the first place. Only time will tell, sure, but I guess what I'm saying is that just don't immediately assume that the Celtics have emerged as losers from this Philly trade deadline show.

Oh, but one thing is for sure: Larry Bird has done it again. What an awesome move for the Pacers. They have clearly become the favorites to win the Eastern Conference unless the Heat pull a giant rabbit by signing an impact free agent later on.

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